For an introduction, see https://btv-open.dreamhosters.com/2016/08/14/4035/ .

Throughout the years of endless academic benchmarking (and competition), he may have down times, scary moments, but ultimately I think it’s 有惊无险 , basically because he has above-average talent and will find his motivation sooner or later. Subconsciously, I fall into the type of parents /preoccupied/ with

1. ownership, drive/motivation, determination, internal locus of control, consistent effort (effort )
2. bmark, peer comparison (result)
3. efficient and effective study habits, concentration (abilities or effort?)

Other parents could be equally serious but serious about other things. My wife is … possibly not so serious, but she pays more attention to balance, rest, 作息时间. Not wrong. I remind myself everyday that bmark isn’t a good thing to be fixated/obsessed with. How successful is this “unlearning” effort? Decent. This framework is the culmination.

The framework — It varies across domains, but academic (as well as non-academic) benchmark performance ultimately depends on only 2 factors: abilities + effort.

Absorbency —

intrinsic Interest (sustained) — one form of motivation. It’s a minor factor for me but many people stress interest and “interesting teacher”.

extrinsic motivation (sustained) — one major (but not the only) determinant of effort. Motivation is overrated at Grade 6.

Yet, a student without a lot of motivation can still have good tutors and conducive environments to induce the effort. Also, at primary school level, parents can induce study effort, even if the kids don’t have self-motivation.

ownership — Look at my Chinese writing.

Colin Tan (Macquarie intern) said he took ownership only in Sec 4. A 慈济 young men told me something similar. Damien (Macquarie) said he became serious about studies only at uni level.

Note that accumulated effort can increase (uncover) abilities. Look at my Chinese writing abilities. Therefore, I didn’t use the word “talent”. Talent is vague, elusive and hard to measure.

A lot of my primary school’s top 10% students (mostly girls) gradually moved down because … other students of similar abilities pump up their effort.

Colin Tan (Macquarie) also pointed out that in Chinese compo the early bloomers can show a huge lead but others inevitably catch up. Looking back, I think there are truly effective techniques for composition.

Another reason it’s 有惊无险 — beyond standardized tests, he will not be weaker than the top students.

For sports and arts, abilities (mainly talents) play a bigger part. Math and programming mostly depends on talents, esp. above secondary school level.