Struggling with Class Work
By Inderbir Kaur Sandhu, Ph.D
Q:
My 9 year old is in the fourth grade in private school. He
has earned A's all year on his report card, but struggles
getting his class work completed. He struggles in particular
with math. He understands the work, and we have met with his
teacher who agrees that he has no lack of intelligence due
to his test scores, but completing his class work and
homework - at times - is very hard for him. Research on the
Internet has pointed to the possibility that he is gifted
and indicates that repetition for a gifted child can be
torture because the child has mastered the concepts and
thirsts for more, but the teacher must keep pace with the
majority of the class who need the repetition to understand
the concepts.
Based on this skeletal information, do you think our child
is gifted and what are the next steps to be taken? He has no
problems socially and excels at soccer.
A: It appears that he knows his
work well as he manages to score A's all year, so I can
understand your concerns about his incomplete class work,
especially with Math as you mentioned. It is hard to say if
he is gifted, but he surely appears so as he is also an
all-rounder (not in academia alone). You may be absolutely
right - he is probably bored with the kind of schoolwork
given to him as he may have already mastered them. If he is
gifted, he needs to find meaning in everything he does and
when it is not meaningful and stimulating enough, he may get
bored and this may be the cause of his refusal to complete
schoolwork.
Somehow, you need to set a boundary and an expectation, and
following through will help your son to understand his
responsibilities for completing class work. A suggestion is
to actually be with him when he does his homework. If he has
no homework, just spend that time with him where he can just
read quietly. Try to do this at least 5 times a week to set
a routine. You would be surprised at how much homework gets
done when an adult stays around.
You may also want to ask him the reason he dislikes
schoolwork. Direct questioning may not work, so you may want
to take him for a walk or do something he enjoys together
and slowly bring up the topic on his schoolwork. Probe him
into giving you idea on how schoolwork could be more
enjoyable if he were given a chance to decide. Then, work on
his answers and negotiate till you can both compromise on a
effective method in getting him to complete his schoolwork.
At school, you may want to suggest that the teacher gave him
higher level homework to tackle the problem. If you really
feel that he is bored with his schoolwork, you may want to
speak with the principal to see how you and the school can
work together to cater to his needs. If the school is not
helpful, you need to provide him with higher level material
at home to keep him stimulated. There are many sites on
educating gifted children on the internet, so it would be a
good idea for you to read and try out some of the
suggestions. Best wishes.
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