what do you do when you're son's friend is better at academics?

[Osito]

Ask the kid to be a tutor?

[stan4]

Originally Posted by hueimo

my son has a good friend who's way advanced at reading, math.etc.
they are both 6 year old. my son is a "normal" kid, meaning
he's at this level at reading, math..etc. but the friend, I would call him
gifted. my son does tend to not like to read as much as the friend,
so occasionally, I do encourage him to learn from his friend who loves
to read. however, I don't want my son to feel as though he's less liked or
less valued, or less whatever by me from me encouraging him
to learn from his good friend to love reading.
for more information, my son has other talents that are more advanced
then the friend, like social skills, friendliness and language learning skills...etc.
so I do tell my son that everyone has something that they are good at.

what's the best way to approach this or not say anything at all even though
the friend is more advanced and loves academics?
thank you.

Well, if you are my mother, you will talk about the accomplishments of other children endlessly in some futile effort to kickstart your own children's motivation. And it won't work. But you'll do it their entire lives up until the point that they can't stand being around you because they vividly remember never hearing a single positive affirmation or supportive word from you BUT you will also congratulate yourself and preen because, after all, your kids are a doctor and a patent attorney, so you must have done *something* right with all that harping.

I'm not bitter. LOL!

[beachmel]

Like most of the other posters here, I say you're spending too much time comparing your son to others. It's great to encourage him to read more, but in the grand scheme of things, is your child getting more physical exercise than him? Is your child watching more television than his friend? At 6 years old, it's far too early, as others have posted, to determine whether or not a child is gifted. If you want your child to be better at reading....turn off the tv and make sure he has books that he finds interesting. I'm always blown away at folks who stress that their kids are not reading enough or well enough, and yet they use the television/computer games/video games, for their child's babysitter. Books.....books....books, not TV, is how children become great readers! Please make sure they have plenty of time to run, jump and play though! LOL

[Katarina Witt]

I join the chorus that says, "don't do anything about it". If your son really wants to be in his friend's reading group, the motivation MAY come from within for him to get there. Then again, reading may not be his thing; he may always be an average reader no matter how hard he tries. With friends, "opposites attract" is often the case. Also, first graders are way too young to be pigeon-holed for the remainder of their academic lives. Things change.

In a few years, you will look back on this and laugh, and be giving the same advice to other mothers. Trust me.