9 year old perfect student~help/advice??

[4ofus]

This might not be what you're thinking~

 

Here's the deal~

 

I have a 9 yr old "perfect" student. He was PS'd for K, 1, & 2, HS for 3 & he's coming up on grade 4. He is smart, he listens, he reads, he applies. All in a very shallow, recipe-following type manner. He tests well, he communicates well, etc, etc, everything is there. BUT. I'm his mom & I see what I'm working with. He NEEDS a recipe. He NEEDS very very direct instruction on very very specific things. So he doesn't actually have to use his brain, y'know what I mean? I'm not sure I'm articulating this correctly & I'm not sure how to bring the best out in him. The part that actually questions the recipe, or experiments to come up with his own recipe. Or isn't paralyzed with inaction if there is no or tiny step-by-step instruction.

 

Does this make sense?

 

If he was still in PS he'd be floating along without difficulty, but I want more. I want him to learn. Not just nod & parrot back, but also to be able to figure things out.

 

Any suggestions? As I was writing this out it came to me that this might be a stage-of-development thing. I don't know. My 8-yr-old is different. He'd rather discard the steps & try his own way, only returning to the steps if he can't see the way for himself.

[myfunnybunch]

I started a "book club" with my eldest ds. We read a book together, chapter by chapter, and discuss it. He does a project at the end, something that forces him to think beyond getting the "right" answer. It's not his natural way of thinking. (He's a lot like his dad.) I also ask him to help design the end project; the guidelines that I offer are more about what I want him to learn from doing the end project than they are specific directions. he has to tell me why he thinks a particular activity will help him meet the goals I've set. I framed the whole idea as mom-son time, and extra challenge because he's growing up, and he really enjoys the whole process. :)

 

It's not a fix-it, but it's a start. It's helped me learn a lot about how he thinks and learns so that as we cruise into middle school, I can be mindful about how to incorporate "think for yourself" challenge into his days.

 

Cat

[Tammi K]

I have one of those kids, too although his strength is primarily math and science. But, he remembers EVERYTHING he's ever heard. I don't think I've ever 'taught' him anything in math. He started algebra in 5th grade and all it takes is one read through the book and he 'has it'.

 

One of the things that works well for this kind of kid (note: I said it works well - I didn't say it was easy!:tongue_smilie:) is to use 'lateral' thinking activities. Look into things like projects that don't have a single answer - they can be worked more than one way, etc.

 

TOPS science has great (and inexpensive) task cards that are quite open ended in the approach but cover some really great material.

 

You might want to consider setting us scenarios and letting him problem solve. "What can you use to build a catapult that will launch a 5g mass 20 feet? Can you build a trebuchet instead? How can you maximize force, etc....) Provide the tools and let him go.

 

I found a bit of grumbling at first because he couldn't just 'get it done' but after awhile he was better at going with the flow of the challenge.

:auto:

[4ofus]

I have one of those kids, too although his strength is primarily math and science. But, he remembers EVERYTHING he's ever heard. I don't think I've ever 'taught' him anything in math. He started algebra in 5th grade and all it takes is one read through the book and he 'has it'.

 

One of the things that works well for this kind of kid (note: I said it works well - I didn't say it was easy!:tongue_smilie:) is to use 'lateral' thinking activities. Look into things like projects that don't have a single answer - they can be worked more than one way, etc.

 

TOPS science has great (and inexpensive) task cards that are quite open ended in the approach but cover some really great material.

 

You might want to consider setting us scenarios and letting him problem solve. "What can you use to build a catapult that will launch a 5g mass 20 feet? Can you build a trebuchet instead? How can you maximize force, etc....) Provide the tools and let him go.

 

I found a bit of grumbling at first because he couldn't just 'get it done' but after awhile he was better at going with the flow of the challenge.

:auto:

 

 

These are very helpful suggestions~thank you!