Should I teach 8 month kitten to jump?

I have an 8 month old kitten that I got when he was about 11 - 12 weeks old. He was a stray. I've never had one this young before. Trjegul is a joy but I've noticed a couple of things about him that prove his missed out on some of his training/learning. One is that he doesn't realy jump. He loves to get up on counters and such but that is because he can get up on an end table to the counter and so on. He follows his 'big sister' up onto the bathroom counter but where she jumps up cleanly, he only jumps up halfway and then has the scramble with the hind legs to get all the way up. I just assumed he wasn't co-ordinated yet. But I noticed today while playing with a feather toy that if I hold the toy up high enough that he would have to jump off the ground to go after it he won't do it. Instead he stands below it, looks concerned and cries. He will not try to jump up in the air to get it. My oldest cat, Xena, I got when she was 8 months old and I remember playing with a wand toy with her and she would make amazing leaps up in the air to get the toy. So I'm wondering if I should make an effort to try to get him to go after the toy or to just let him develop naturally. (It would be a bit of an effort for me as I have a chronic illness and its difficult for me to hold the wand toy out and up in the air for too long of a time.)

Hmmm....I've not heard of something like this before. Have you mentioned it to a vet? I'm really not sure what to think. Someone should come along here soon who knows more than me. Good luck with your kitty!

Two things have happened. One is that I was playing with him with the wand and he did finally jump in the air. He didn't act like it hurt, he just didn't like the idea of doing it and the second was that I read that female cats mature at 6 - 8 months of age and male cats at 9 - 12 months of age. Since I was measuring him against Xena who was able to jump so well at 8 months of age and not only is she female but also Siamese (who tend to mature early) and he is a stray (who will mature whenever he darn well pleases ) I decided its not a problem. He's had pretty regular vet checkups just because he was a stray and I'm trying to make sure he doesn't develop any problems during early developement. That way I figure he'll be super healthy the rest of his life.

Jirel, you sound like a lovely cat mummy. I hope he has a lovely long life with you xx