Odd observance in my kids:Independence vs help from teacher....how do you balance it?

[Tap]

Both of my kids are fairly independent when it comes to school. I didn't force them to be this way, it was just a natural progression for them. In fact they often graded their own work, made the nec corrections and then give me the work. They were doing it honestly, they just understood the steps well enough to skip me in the grading process. I am talking about subjects like math/science/grammar where one answer is the correct one). They would ask me clarifying questions but since they read all the material, for the most part, the clarifying was just them rereading the information provided. Even for lessons that we did together, they would do the research to find the answer themselves instead of asking me.

 

Ds16 is in college and sometimes I see that this independence is great and at other times, if he doesn't know what to do with something..it doesn't occur to him to ask the professor for clarification. LOL

 

Dd12 is in private school and her teacher noted the same thing on her progress report. She is 'too independent'. She is getting good grades, the teacher would just like for her to ask more questions. She noted that she is both a great leader and follower in group situations and there are not problems there, so it is more of an independent work....means independent work, type issue.

 

 

 

Has anyone else noted this with their own children? How did you get past it?

[Meriwether]

:bigear: Dd7 -7!- does most of her work independently. When I ask her if she wants me do something with her, she turns me down most of the time. Which is great when I'm busy, not so great if we are missing out on spontaneous learning situations.

[Jean in Newcastle]

My kids have a tendency to do that. When I find a situation where they've spun their wheels or gotten things needlessly wrong because they didn't ask for clarification, I go over (again!) the need to ask for appropriate help. I tell them that that's why I get the big bucks!:lol:

[Sasharowan]

I know I used to greatly prefer learning situations where I can learn from a book and often hate asking for clarification. Dd loves things that allow her to learn for herself.