DS doesn't struggle or get anything wrong

[julybutterfly]

This isn't a boast but I am concerned! DS is free reading (after lime band here), gets 10/10 in his spellings every week without even practising them, does the maths homework he gets without thinking about it but still gets it correct. I know this is good and, up until now, have just been pleased he's doing well. But now I'm worried that's he's coasting. He knows all the 'academic' stuff they give him or picks it up instantly and part of me wishes he would get something wrong.

I want him to have to work at things NOW rather than a year down the line when he's gotten complacent and thinking he knows it all.

So, would you be asking for more challenging work? Or should I just leave him be and deal with it when he finally does get stuck with something?

He's 5 and in year 1 btw

Does he seem disaffected or is he being naughty through boredom at school? If not, I'd leave it for now and be thoroughly grateful that he's doing so well.

Alternatively, if you're still feeling restless about it, speak to his teacher at the next parents' evening. Say that you're chuffed he's doing so well, but are there open-ended tasks for the early finishers in the class so that there is scope for him to experience challenge? You can ask nicely..

My dd is a bit like this, particularly with numeracy. I was concerned recently, because she did get something wrong and had an absolute melt-down about it. She simply didn't have the coping strategies to know how to deal with it.

I'm going in next week to talk to the teacher about it, and ask about opporunities for open-ended problem solving where there isn't only a right or wrong answer.

In your case too, I don't think it's necessarily about more harder work, but about work which is more open ended and allows for opinion, decision making, presentation, communication, information processing etc.

I wonder if it actually matters if he's "coasting" a bit when he's five. I mean, he's five!!!

FWIW, dd is exactly the same. Also yr 1, free reader, full marks in spelling tests etc without ever actually learning them. We don't get maths homework, but I know she finds the maths they do in class very easy. BUT I do feel that the teacher has got a really good measure of her and is stretching her in lots of other ways. Her writing has really come on, for example, in terms of the way that she is structuring her sentences, using vocabulary and so on, and I'm sure that this is because she has been given appropriate targets. Yes, she could do harder work in maths, but she's happy at the moment and thoroughly enjoying school, so I'm not going to worry about it.

Do you feel that your son is happy in school? Is he excited about learning or bored? Does his teacher seem to really know him as an individual? Are the targets that he is given appropriate? Personally, I don't think I'd say anything unless my child was showing signs of boredom, unhappiness, frustration or disengagement - then I'd be in to see the teacher like a shot. But if he is generally enjoying school and doing well, I'd be tempted to just relax and enjoy it with him! :)

Having been like that myself, I would say that it it definitely a problem, I sailed through everything until a levels and then hit a wall. Good study habits are the key. My dd doesn't struggle at all with what cones home, but I get her to read her books straight away after snack and, although she doesn't have to learn them at the moment, we write out the hf words that come home so that she has a sense of getting down to work and not procrastinating. Also, it is healthy to do things that are difficult for you. I did not find physical activity easy and I wish I had been expected to do at least something like that. I don't blame my parents, but if you develop good study habits and are expected to get things done, you will cope better in the long run.

It can be a problem later, but it doesn't have to be. Ime the vast majority of children who find school work easy as 5yos will have found something to get their teeth into by the time they reach upper junior school. (in fact, most of the children who seemed so far ahead at age 5 just seem ordinary now that the others have caught up with them)

A child who coasts throughout their school career and who is not the type to motivate themselves to find more work (and some gifted children are) will have difficulties.

But at the moment you don't know if your ds is going to be one of those children.

It wont last sooner or latert5 he will find his 'biting point' until then maybe a bit of stretching at home will help and always encourage his social skills.

It might not matter, but to be on the safe side, personally I would ask for more changing work at school - I don't think it's enough to coast at school then do more at home.

I coasted through my entire school and university experience (always doing very well) and entered the real world with a life-long habit of intensive daydreaming that was very hard to get under control - working at a job was a disaster for a very long time. I have no idea how common that is but I personally would not want dd to coast like that.

At present she is OK but she has had total melt downs if she gets something wrong - especially maths. I have had a lot of success by talking about how I still make mistakes (she knows a lot of my research involves maths) and I do a lot of maths twice just to catch them. It seems to be working and she is more relaxed about errors.

'challenging' even

Like previous poster said, the biting point won't nec come soon- mine was a levels some come much later. But a work habit is very important, even if the work isn't too hard. I got used to successfully dashing off good homeworks on the bus and the later you develop study habits the more things there are to get in the way. Get one early and you'll learn to fit friends, hobbies, boyfriends and ultimately the demands of running a home, around the work.

Have you seen his targets? If not, he should have some - what level is he at? If you know the level you can find out what his next targets are.

Working on his writing could be a very good way of extending him at home (and inevitably at school, as he will keep going there too).

This is something that is really easy to extend - although some very bright children find it easy to read/do maths, writing is so complex....he could write poetry with his favourite topics, he could experiment with adverbs, adjectives, try different styles...the possibilities are infinite.

Maths wise, you could try some good games - chess is a very good one for example. Hope this helped a bit.