"We must help the child to liberate himself from his defects without making him feel his weaknesses" - Maria Montessori

Competition and peer pressure are two factors that accentuate student's weaknesses. I have tried, this year in particularly, to accentuate every students abilities, and encourage all students to focus on abilities rather than weaknesses. I have seen students completely give up when they see their peers do something that they just can't do yet. It is important to step in and refocus the child on what they can do. It is amazing to see that when given time, children have a natural instinct to practice and improve on the skills that they internally know they are not good at. Their weaknesses don't need to be constantly pointed out to them..