Hey multipilot, I feel I am that student for a reason or another. I am just about to finish my IFR training, and I do the exactly same things that your student does. I am not an instructor, but I can give you a feedback from the other sit. I work full time (is your student working?) and I am studying full time. I try to fly as much as I can since my goal is to fly commercial. When I fly during the week, it is usually late after work, so that all my energy are gone by then. Concentration at that point of the day is fairly poor. I try to do the best I can, listen to liveATC every morning, practicing with COMM1sim, flight simulator, etc.. The only thing I do not do often is "chiarflying", which I believe is really helpful. My instructor is great, but sometimes I feel like I am too "pampered". Like you were saying about trying to stay ahead of the plane. He takes corrective action before I realize that I made a mistake. For instance with radio com. If I dont answer the radio after the first call, He will do it automatically so that after a couple of times I think that it is ok not to answer or I just think that he will do it out of pitty. Also there is always a friendly relationship between us so that I feel he does not want to tell me what he really thinks about my way of flying.
Another point is that I am part 141 and the syllabus we are using has just two stagechecks. I feel like I need to fly with some other instructor to have a different opinion.
I hope I am not that student but the things you said, really opened my eyes about my future. I think that us students need to know what you instructors think. Even if that means that flying is not our destiny.