I would ask the teachers to do the following: For math, having her practice logic instead of mastering level-based skills.
Prior to speaking to the teacher about this, E1izabethEva... at home, you might want to try some of the logic puzzles recommended in
this thread, to see how this type of work suits your child.
For reading/writing, making her write about/answer questions using advanced critical thought.
As a counterpoint to this, not all students/parents find value in "
differentiated task demands"; Some find them punitive, and a means of knocking down the grades of top students, to help create the illusion of "equal outcomes" in the classroom, closing achievement gaps, closing excellence gaps, etc.
Talk to her about the importance of failure, and mastering the skill of failure. Make it a game or goal. Have her play board games/card games using luck, and practice losing. Engage her in a new activity that she has to learn and fail at (knitting, a new sport, piano, etc.) and work on accepting failure as part of the learning process. Focus the activity more about learning how to fail than succeeding at the activity.
It is my understanding that it is not failure which is important to master... anyone can fail... but rather it is important to master the skill of resilience, the ability to learn from mistakes and from trial-and-error processes, to sustain interest in a game or a goal after a setback, to understand that much of life is a reiterative process, and to have the perseverance to get up again one more time than you fell down. The old adage comes to mind: "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again."
IMO, a child could be encouraged that most "setbacks" are temporary. By contrast, "failure" is synonymous with defeat... rather fixed and permanent. A funny thing about the word "failure"... grammatically it can be applied to a person; This is injurious and not a message most parents want to impart to their offspring. Interestingly, the word "setback" applies only to a situation, never a person; Setbacks do not diminish a person.
I would suggest great caution in using the word "failure".
...intelligence and success are smaller than she is giving them credit
This may depend upon how one defines success. Here's a recent thread: "
What is successful?"
