8 yo wants to be an eng but is average at math

[Anonymous]

My 8 yo is determined to be an engineer but is actually gifted in language arts but only average in math. Should I put him in math tutoring or try to encourage things like debate club so he can maybe see some alternative paths?

[Anonymous]

Good grief.. he is 8 years old. I'm sure he will change his mind multiple times between now and adulthood.

[Anonymous]

Neither. He's 8. Let him do whatever he wants right now, he has lots of time to do lots things, there's no need for tutoring or debate club.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 8 yo is determined to be an engineer but is actually gifted in language arts but only average in math. Should I put him in math tutoring or try to encourage things like debate club so he can maybe see some alternative paths?

Is this a serious question?


I'm a woman with two undergrad degs in eng/math and a masters in eng. I'm pretty sure when I was 8 I wanted to be an equestrian, and my math skills were average.

[Anonymous]

It's way, way too early to day whether he is or isn't good at math. I was just kind of okay at math until pre Calc, when it clicked in.

[Anonymous]

I wanted to own a Pizza Hut when I was 8
- engineer

[Anonymous]

My eight year old is good at math and she wants to be a professional cat sitter. That's not a great long-term plan but she's eight, and it gets her to clean out the litterbox, so I'm not worried.

[Anonymous]

Just work on the math. Engineers need math but also a creative streak to solve problems.

[Anonymous]

He’s 8. I hope you’re trolling us.

[Anonymous]

He's 8! You should let him dream. Good grief.

[Anonymous]

No kid should ever be lagging behind in Math. Mainly because Math is an easy to learn skill. Creative writing takes imagination and creativity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:He's 8! You should let him dream. Good grief.

+1

I was behind in math in 2nd grade according to my teacher. I was scared of the teacher and so never raised my hand to ask questions after being made fun of once when asking a question. My mom gave me a "magic pencil" and told me to believe in myself. On the standardized test later that year it showed that I was actually in the highest percentile in math. I ended up being a double major in accounting and business tech.

Let your kid gravitate towards what their passions are, their skills can be grown. Passion is hard to encourage.

[Anonymous]

My kid wants to be an Elvis impersonator, but he doesn't seem to be able to grow sideburns.

[Anonymous]

My kid who is a math major wanted to be a “sleuth” at age 8. Chill.

[Anonymous]

We enrolled my daughter in Kumon Math for 1 hr/week when she was in 3rd grade. It wasn’t a huge time commitment nor stressful for her because the work was self-paced and not graded. We switched over to Mathnasium in 5th grade. She placed into Algebra Honors in 7th and aced that class. She’d the strong student in her math class.