I simply can't fathom that in this day and age it is possible for a police officer of a 1st world country to murder a suspect in broad daylight. What is more chilling is that there are no charges against the police officer.

Thank you so much, lewelma! Lots of wisdom in your post and I'm learning a lot.

@lewelma, you and your son have put in tremendous effort to achieve these targets in a positive way. Whenever I make any such effort to remediate my son's (9 year old) skills, I face huge protests from him. He would gladly work on it for the first few days or weeks. Gradually he throws tantrums and arguments. He finishes the task with a lot of complaints or bad behaviour that I eventually give up. As you mentioned, it is hard work for both teacher and student. Have you faced any such troubles with your DS while continuing with a task for over several years? How do you maintain your student's motivation and attention for such long periods of time. Most importantly, how do you not lose your patience and up your motivation levels? Can you please share some of your strategies?

This is a new term for me.. motor OE.. does it mean Oral Expression. What specific term/diagnosis should I request the psychologist to perform - complete neuropsychological assessment?

Fantastic suggestions from all of you and a plenty of techniques in my toolbox now. I'm going to have him diagnosed next month for ADHD/ADD. Hopefully, the diagnosis provides some more insights.

I need help in becoming a more patient teacher and a more patient parent. My 9 year old boy pushes my buttons so often that I say something that I regret later. It is an everyday story and my patience level runs thin. He talks nonstop, morning till evening without any break. This tires me a lot. He doesn’t have impulse control and any attempt to teach is vain. Even when I am explaining to him how it annoys me, he continues talking in parallel without paying any attention. This usually ends up in me shouting at him which I regret later. I want to avoid these constant battles. Any ideas or resources that will help me to stay patient through these difficult parenting/teaching hours?

This is exactly how my 6 year old solved the problem in a fraction of a second.

Congrats! Your posts inspired me to choose Miquon curriculum for my son and he is thriving in it. I owe my son's math success to you. I am not sure what curriculum you followed post Miquon and Singapore. Can you share what curriculum and resources you used beyond grade 5.

I have come across many children (<10 years) and I've always easily identified gifted/talented/genius girls. At the very first encounter, I can easily spot them. They are so talented, wise, not-so-shy at strangers and behave very well matured for their age. But I've not come across a single boy who I can identify as gifted. I can say that they are bright or accelerated but definitely not gifted. This includes my son as well. One reason could be that they don't like to show up themselves in public. So, I would like to know if you too hold this opinion or are there any resources which delve into this topic deeply.

We live in Europe and it is just called kindergarten for 3-7 years group. So, there is no segregation like preschool, grades etc. wapiti, I have a strong intuition that you might be correct when you mentioned underachieving/perfectionism/lacking self-confidence as the underlying problem. If you don't mind, can you please share your story and how you solved that 'underachieving' problem. I am wondering if my son has the capability to learn things quickly and to perform things that are meant for 2nd or 3rd graders, then why does he not want to do challenging things (like solving simple known puzzles independently).

He is a very social kid and has several friends in the kindergarten and he loves to go there.

Thanks for asking me lots of questions regarding the kindergarten for which I don't know the answer myself. We have a parent-teacher meeting next week and a parent observation period in the coming weeks. I will get to know more then about my son's behaviour in the class. The teacher has said that overall he is doing good except that he needs constant push in choosing the montessori materials otherwise he chooses some easy tasks and does those repeatedly. I also must mention that the kindergarten doesn't focus in academics this year for 4 year olds and their main focus is on practical and sensorial activities. They don't even read books to 4 year olds and when my son chooses a book they kindly redirect him to other activities. My son feels left out when 5 year olds or higher go to gym or reading classes or some advanced topics which are not available for 4 year olds. All this I heard from my son. Yeah, I think the kindergarten is using the Montessori keyword but not practising the philosophy. Regarding 4 year olds being independent, the teacher's point is that other kids his age are performing much better when told to do so but not my son. So, since my son is an only child I didn't know what is normal and what is not. Thanks for letting me know that it is absolutely normal. At home, since he is an only one of us (parents) sit with him for play. He loves to do things that are new and will not do things that are already done. Like SKL mentioned he would rather solve new puzzles with an adult's help than solve a simple puzzle by himself.

My 4 year old son attends a Montessori kindergarten. He is a very quick learner and he can read at 3rd or 4th grade level and do maths at 3rd grade level. He gets concepts very quickly; be it in violin, piano, maths or any subject for that matter. But he is not willing to practice it to master it. Lately, I have been receiving lots of complaints from his teacher in the Montessori kindergarten that he doesn't do what he's been told to do or that he is not independent. For eg., if asked to go and paint he goes to his desk; just scribbles and goofs around. When asked to solve a puzzle he seeks assistance or support from adults always; though he is capable of solving the puzzle himself. But when given a new task he is all into it enjoying doing that activity. Otherwise he needs a constant push. I don't know if I should address this problem as a boredom/lack of challenge or as a behavioural issue. Can someone help me to think through this?

Can you share some science fiction or non-fiction audiobooks for children under 7 years old.

lewelma, I read in one of your recent posts about 'passion finding' exercise. Can you please elaborate. The reason behind asking this is: I have read several posts here where people discuss about their 2 or 3 or 4 year olds passions in dinosaurs, science, etc. But I have never found any passion in my K-aged son. He seems to like anything that I introduce. So, lets assume that he has some passion in something and that I have not discovered yet. In this case, how should I find out his passion.