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In the sentence:
He considered himself wise.
I would parse this as
He - subject
considered - transitive verb
himself - direct object
wise = object complement adjective
My kids ask me why himself is not a predicate noun. I am not sure how to answer them except that considered is not a linking verb and you need a linking verb to have a predicate noun/adjective.
It still doesn't make sense to them. Is there a rule or just common knowledge about reflexive pronouns that can help me out?
I agree with your parsing, and no, there’s nothing special about reflexive pronouns here, other than that they can't normally be predicate nouns. "Himself" is the object of the transitive verb "consider" so it can’t also be a predicate noun. You’re right to tell them that "consider" is not a linking verb, and you could also add that a predicate noun/adjective can occur with both linking verbs and transitive ones:
He seems a fool /untrustworthy. (linking verb, complement relates to subject)
He considers himself/Ed a scholar/trustworthy. (transitive verb, complement relates to object)
