My son won't focus at school. Any ideas? (kinda long)
My 7 yr old son won't pay attention at all in school. The teacher has to stand over him in order to get him to do his work but when he does it he does a great job. He knows this stuff. Hes smart but he just wont focus on his work at all. She said he isnt playing he just sits there and looks around and plays with his pencil or just whatever. I do his homework with him every night, he reads, he can do this stuff he just won't. He normally gets pretty good grades but we got his report card yesterday and every single one of his grades with the exception of 2 dropped. His english grade dropped from an 86 to 79! His teacher and I have talked several times and neither one of us know what to do so I called my big brother yesterday who teaches k-6 (hes a music teacher) to get his thoughts. He said hes had students like that before and he said that all he can tell me is that A.J.'s teacher and I are the leaders and hes the rabbit, we have to figure out if he needs the carrot or the stick. According to everyone I've talked to hes had WAY too many carrots. So as of monday theres no outside, no video games, no computer, and no cartoons period until he takes at least 3 AR tests a week, his grades come up, and his teacher isn't having to tell him to pay attention (I cant do it to him today or the weekend, the weather has been awful and its finally pretty so he gets a little bit longer).
So my question is do you think that that should work or have any of you had a similar problem with your child not paying attention in school and what did you do to fix it?
Thanks!!
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I was having a simalar problem with my daughter not paying attention in class. She would not complete her work and it has been a struggle at home to het her to do her home work. I had her tested for ADD not to long ago and sure enough. I turned on the parental controls on the Tv so that she has to ask to watch tv. It has helped so that she does not get sucked in while doing her work. The smallest thing would distract her do minamizing things have helped. Homework must be done first before my daughter is allowed to do anything else when she gets home.
I asked him why he cant think straight and do his work and he said that he tries to think straight but that every time he tries thinking straight his brain thinks sideways. Not enitrely sure what to make of that other than probably an excuse.
Quoting sweetalli07:
I asked him why he cant think straight and do his work and he said that he tries to think straight but that every time he tries thinking straight his brain thinks sideways. Not enitrely sure what to make of that other than probably an excuse.
Maybe he is bored and not being challenged enough
Quoting sweetalli07:I asked him why he cant think straight and do his work and he said that he tries to think straight but that every time he tries thinking straight his brain thinks sideways. Not enitrely sure what to make of that other than probably an excuse.
that's not just an excuse....
it's a very typical answer of add/adhd actually...
My daughter had this problem. Her teacher would just send home what she didn't finish in class for homework. My policy has always been homework before you get to do anything else and if you can't do your work you don't get to play. By the time she got to 3rd grade and the second week of school she was doing homework..with my assistance from the time she got home till time for bed EVERYDAY. She would come home crying saying she had missed music and recess already and couldnt play at home either. After a couple weeks of this called the teacher the next crying and finally gave into the 4 years of different schools suggestions that she had ADD. She started on the medication and it was a compleate turn around. She was making 100's and coming home with little to no work. After a while (about 5 months)she has started coming home with more and more work and we are thinking about talking to her doc about the dosage. I am not saying your kid IS ADD but if I could go back I would have listened a lot sooner to the teachers instead of making my daughter battle it on her own (with my support). It ws rough on the both of us and I can imagine her teacher too. I hope whatever his situation is that you guys can get past it. :)
To the PP definately talk to the DR about her dosage. If she has gone through a growth spurt they might need to be increased. The meds are based on weight and when they grow they need a higher dose. Or maybe shes needs another type.
To the OP. I so understand where you son is coming from. I am ADD I was diagnosed as an adult (Imisdiagnosed with depression most of my life). The first day on meds my dh kept asking me what was wrong. They only way I could explain it is for the first time it was quiet in my head. Not that I was hearing things, but I always had so much going on in my mind I coul dnever just think or focus on one thing
Tracie
Wife to Khari
Mom to...
Kyra 11
Justice 7
4 Fur Babies...
Taylor (dalmatian), Rex (boxer), Max (black lab), and Cooper (shih tzu)
Is it hereditary? If it is, is it from the mother or the father? I feel so stupid for asking that. I appreciate all the responses :)
Quoting Idiosyncratic:
Quoting sweetalli07:I asked him why he cant think straight and do his work and he said that he tries to think straight but that every time he tries thinking straight his brain thinks sideways. Not enitrely sure what to make of that other than probably an excuse.
that's not just an excuse....
it's a very typical answer of add/adhd actually...
It's exactly the way I used to feel at that age, and still do now. I only wish that someone had realized when I was younger that I wasn't just lazy or didn't have good study habits. I tried to focus, I really did, and I would get so upset because I knew I wasn't dumb - I was actually in a lot of advanced classes, but I couldn't understand how I was so smart, yet so incapable of focusing and getting my work done. Turns out, I'm ADHD, and it only took 27 years to get a diagnosis. It explained so much! I don't consider it an excuse, but it certainly has been an explanation to all my troubles. Please get him checked out,
There are a lot of different theories on ADD. Some believe it's caused environmentally, kids have constant input all day. Video games, tv, music etc.
What must people don't know about ADD/ADHD is that it's not that the child is overstimulated. THeir brain is actually understimulated and so they go searching for stimulation (hence the hyper part). That's why if you give an ADHD kid caffeine it usually mellows them out (increases stimulation to the brain) if you give them something like Benadryl they will not get sleepy because it lowered the stimulation even more.
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- sweetalli07
on Mar. 19, 2010 at 4:35 PM