Q: How do I get my daughter to apply herself when she is not being challenged? She really does not like to work at anything and puts up a fight.

A: When children complain that their work is too easy and use that reason for not accomplishing it, it is always hard to know if the child or curriculum is the problem. If your daughter earns mostly perfect scores on her tests despite not doing her homework, it is likely that it is a curriculum problem. If she earns only average grades on her tests despite her complaints about work being too easy, she is probably making excuses.

A psycho-educational evaluation can provide you with better answers to your question. A psychologist who specializes in gifted children can test your daughter's IQ and achievement and if both are very high, you can question whether the curriculum is challenging enough. For the independent achievement tests, it is important to get her percentile grade for her present grade as well as the grade ahead of her. If they are high only for her grade, she is probably at the right challenge place. If they are high even compared to the next grade, it is likely the work is too easy.

The psychologist can help you by arranging a school meeting where he or she can explain to the teacher about the challenge needed for your daughter. However, if it appears from the testing that your daughter has simply learned to avoid her work and uses the excuse of a lack of challenge to avoid it, she has a motivation problem. It is also possible that a psychologist could discover your daughter has a learning disability or an attention problem that may be preventing her from putting forth full effort.

Sometimes very bright children find challenging schoolwork threatening. They assume that if they are smart, the schoolwork should be easy. If they do not catch on to the work immediately, they avoid doing it and refer to it as boring. Beneath their excuses is their worry that perhaps they are not as smart as everyone thinks they are.

In addition, you and your daughter's other parent should encourage her work ethic at home. For example, keep in mind that she is listening when you talk about your own work. If you are negative about your work, she may only be echoing what she hears at home and won't be positive about her work or willing to put forth effort.

Family work projects at home help children to develop a good work ethic. If you can combine hard work projects with a good sense of accomplishment and add in some fun and laughter, your daughter is more likely to develop a positive attitude about work.

For free newsletters about raising an achieving child or "Take Our Daughters to Work and Take Our Sons Too", send a self-addressed, stamped envelope for each newsletter to the address below. Dr. Sylvia B. Rimm is the director of the Family Achievement Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio, a clinical professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, and the author of many books on parenting. More information on raising kids is available at www.sylviarimm.com. Please send questions to: Sylvia B. Rimm on Raising Kids, P.O. Box 32, Watertown, WI 53094 or [email protected]. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.