X, Z, and every other letter of the alphabet seem to occupy classrooms these days, but it takes a special kind of teacher, or guide to support the learning for a Y child.
The Y child is the kid who may be nit picky, unnerving, rebellious, rude, and sometimes even belligerent.
The Y kid is the one who can see through your lack of preparation, knows more than you on some topics, and doesn’t often want your help.
A Y kid finds memorization boring (unless it’s on his topic du jour) and is unwilling to learn at times even though you’re sure he can handle the content.
A Y kid enjoys working on his own, but also values the opinions from knowledgeable peers and adults. Y kids are bothered by people who don’t contribute to their skill set. Though they can be intimidated (especially in traditional classrooms), they place people at a high level of respect in accordance with what they perceive as a high level of knowledge and understanding. They enjoy learning from “experts” in their areas of interest.
Uninteresting content to a Y child is frustrating and unworthy of any devotion of time or effort. A Y child will build up resentment towards anyone who assigns busy work and will quickly lose patience with illogical or mundane assignments.
Y kids feel pressured to be perfect regardless of your input. When something makes sense in the world, it is good and right. When it’s unstable or illogical it can throw a Y child into a tailspin.
Y kids are highly logical and often get frustrated by those who are not. If you want to frustrate a Y child, don’t explain the purpose for a rule or process, but instead tell him “Because I said so”, or “It’s how it has to be”. Be prepared to stand back and wait for the frustration level to go through the roof! If it doesn’t make sense in a Y child’s mind, it’s not worthwhile and therefore a point of contention.
Y kids are highly reflective once they tap into that skill. They enjoy in-depth and philosophical conversations. They enjoy the psychology and sociology of how people make choices. They seek guidance, but even more, they seek understanding.
Y children seek understanding in all settings of life. The better you can support your Y learner with logic (where possible), evidence, and understanding where the illogical appears, the better they’ll learn to navigate their way through life.
Let your child ask, “Why?”. Let him investigate. Support his style of learning; though it may be frustrating at times because it’s part of who he is. WHY children are the innovators and problem solvers of the world. Though you may see their constant stream of questioning annoying, it’s how they demonstrate that they truly care. When questions are squelched because of time restraints or experts in their lives aren’t willing to explain, you’re burning out the light in the eyes of a WHY child. They seek knowledge and understanding more than the average child. Enjoy their natural curiosity and knowledge cravings and you’ll find yourself enlightened in the process.
This is actually quite a coincidence. My son has asked this question and this is his favorite astronomer~!