Teaching How to Take Ownership

On a related note to the last post, as most of my students are learning piano and theory for the first time, I am trying to be careful about making sure they actually understand what is being introduced to them.  I know some things really can only be taught by rote, and it will come together for them later, but I am trying hard to connect the dots as soon as possible.  Maybe it's my personal love for theory: new doors opened for me when I began studying improvisation further and learned about chord substitutions and extended chords, which would have been gibberish if I didn't understand a few basic things.  So one thing I do appreciate about some students who don't "get" it is that I can try to figure out just what it is that might be the missing link of their understanding.  For example, this particular student was never taught pentascales (or if he was he's forgotten them all!), so it's very difficult for him to figure out simple major and minor chords.  He can play a full scale, but has difficult picking out just the first, third and fifth notes to form that triad.  So I am constantly reviewing a pentascale here and there during my new student's lessons.  They can figure out the chords, they know what "position" they need to be in, even if it changes throughout the song.  It's just such a simple skill that we can all benefit from.  Next, I've noticed my student doesn't connect scales with their key signatures. When he plays G, he doesn't know if it's an F sharp or G flat, and still can't identify it when its written.  So now I am teaching scales by having them say the letter names (G, A.....E, F#, G), and showing them a picture of the key signature.  I am slowly working on these things with my older student as well, but it will take time, as he knows many scales.  I've missed the opportunity to build on them one by one though.  How important that firm foundation really is....!  I desire above all that my students don't just play things by rote, but that they really do take ownership of the music itself, learn how to learn it, and desire complete freedom at the keyboard to pursue whatever they wish.