Jumping in a bit late here....
School was easy for me for the most part. Looking back on it, they didn't know what to do with me through 3rd grade.
In 4th grade, we started subjects like social studies and science. We spent a long time studying the geography and cultures of Africa, and I was fascinated by it all. I got out of spelling with a few other kids, and we got to take Spanish lessons.
We even did engineering-type stuff. Once, the teacher challenged us to see who could build the strongest platform out of straws. I came up with a design that supported a math book. Other kids improved on it, and pretty soon we had made some very strong platforms out of nothing but flimsy straws. Fun!
This stuff kind-of compensated for being forced to go through language arts material I'd tested out of in 3rd grade!
For the most part, I wasn't terribly challenged in school. I didn't learn how to study or attack a problem I couldn't figure out immediately. This led to problems in high school. I read the books for English and did my homework, but rarely tried hard. (This was my fault at that point, of course.) In spite, I still managed to graduate around 10th in a class of 396. ??
I make sure that my kids are challenged. My husband and I both try to teach them how to approach a problem or task that appears impossible at first. We take it easy on scheduled activities too.
Silly influence: I was bored out of my little tree in 1st grade reading class. But it's strange how things work out: I remember a lot of the lessons. I guess because I could already read by then, I was able pay attention to how it all fit together.
Fast forward many years. When my DS-then-3 asked us to teach him how to read, I pulled out my old memories and took him through what I'd learned in 1st grade. Trippy, huh?
Val
