How to motivate a very bright child

Thanks!

Message edited 5/28/2014 6:48:11 AM.

How to motivate a very bright child

You need to talk to his teacher and ask for them to differentiate his work. DD is also well above her grade level in all subjects but her teachers challenge her to do more. In ELA, the first grade words are way to easy for her so in addition to the classroom words she is also getting spelling words from the 3/4 class lists. She finishes all her ELA work very quickly so they have her taking her 3/4th grade words and searching for them in the dictionary to understand their meanings. They also have alot of focus on writing so if she is finished early in math or ELA she also writes in her writers notebook - she is on her 3rd notebook already this year. For math it is a bit harder as they all started doing this crazy math this year and it is very difficult to push them ahead because everything builds upon eachother. They can though give him more worksheets that will challenge him more on what they are learning in class. As far as the sloppy writing and not circling correctly, I would make DD do it over and over until she did it correctly. K, 1 and 2 are the foundations of their whole education and they need to learn how to present their work. If it's sloppy it is not correct and needs to be redone. They eventually will learn to write neater and present their work in the way it should be. DD also resists reading at home but I try to make it fun for her. Sometimes we read alternating paragraphs, or we read something silly. I also have a chart, that if she reads for her compete time all week she gets a little prize.

Re: How to motivate a very bright child

I am not a teacher, but I have a 1st and 2nd grader. It sounds to me that he should be tested for gifted and talented.
Is there one subject he really likes? My DS loves math. It is very easy for him to get concepts. Reading not so much. He also loves science. So I try and get him to read books about school or science. He loves the series My Weird School. It is a chapter book but pretty easy and actually funny. I also downloaded a book on the iPad and he though that was cool. He also loves ST math, he will login and do 20-30 minutes easily.

DD is my first grader and LOVES writing and reading. Math is harder to understand.

There are a lot educational app and I think it makes it fun for kids

Re: How to motivate a very bright child

Does your district do differentiated education? My son is also in first grade. He is receiving 5th grade math home work and solving for X. He too was completely board with first grade math. In the middle of the year the teacher had a conference and explained that they were starting differentiated education. It has really really helped us at home and in the classroom. Before, my son was behaving exactly like yours, disinterested, board. He is a completely different child now and happy to go to school.

My son needed reading help, so for part of the year he went to the reading specialist. Now he is at grade level. I know that there are some kids in his class who are reading super large chapter books. My son is at grade level.

As we say in our home, everyone is good at something. What might challenge you, will come easy to someone else, and what you excel at will be difficult for someone else. I also say that just because something is easier for you now, does not mean it will always be easy, so I want you to study and learn so that when you are older and the work is more difficult you will have good study habits.

eta: If my son's work is sloppy, I erase it and make him redo it. I too have given small prizes or activities as rewards. At the beginning of the year 4 100s received something. We are now at 10 100s to earn a prize.

Message edited 5/24/2014 11:20:25 AM.

Re: How to motivate a very bright child

You need to talk about differentiation with the teacher/school. I know you don't have G&T. I hate to say it but the district might not be able to challenge him enough. I have heard of that complaint in my district too, but in mine they are pretty good about differentiation. BUT it isn't enough for some IMO and it can really depend on the teacher. I think some teachers are fabulous in this regard and others nog and much.

Have you written a letter for placement next year? You might be too late, but maybe you need to write and ask for a teacher who can fill his needs. Have you spoken to the principal about what they can offer him next year to challenge him more?

He really might need a private school.

Re: How to motivate a very bright child

Thanks

Message edited 5/28/2014 6:49:30 AM.

How to motivate a very bright child

we pulled both our kids out of public school because of this. school just won't do anything to differentiate. won't consider skipping grades, nothing. so we put them in private school where they have the ability to let the kids work at the level they should be working at.