I doubt it's a tic. He would do it even more when he gets home. I'd tell your child if he keeps making noise, he is going to be sent back to kindergarten. Ask VP if they can try this as a deterrent. Just put him in time out in kindergarten class. Or, take away privileges at home. Ask teacher to message you after school with report of whether he made noise or not. Fidgeting isn't abnormal for a pandemic 1st grader. I'd let that go. |
I don't suspect anything diagnosable. She can do what she's supposed to in the end. She'd just often rather not because it's more fun to chat with her friends and fool around. She's very social and smart and of course we're never supposed to say this as a reason (and don't say it to the teacher, they don't react well) but she's sometimes bored. She'll say the teacher repeats the same things over and over and she already got it and so then in her mind, she can do whatever she feels like. But of course that doesn't work. At all. Which I explain to her. You're disrupting other people. I set goals for her and tell her I'm going to check in with the teacher at certain intervals and then if she meets the goal, she gets something she really wants and if she doesn't, something she really doesn't like happens. This motivates her. We work together on the goals, the reward, and the consequence. The consequence should be painful. I do think your thing could be a tic as others are suggesting or something he can't control. But based on what he's saying to you, not sure. An eval never hurts. |
I should also add my daughter did not like this particular teacher. She was a yeller. And my kid (unlike my other kids) is not super motivated by not getting in trouble. If she doesn't like the teacher, she really doesn't care if she gets called out in class. That's the willful part. My other kids - the threat of getting yelled at by the teacher is enough to set them straight. |
| A lot of these involuntary noises and motions are either the fidgets or a tic. My son will hum or clear his throat or tap his hands. It's annoying but he's not trying to and he will stop it if the behavior is brought to his attention. My hope is that he grows out of it but if he doesn't, he'll need help so other kids don't make fun of him and make him miserable. |
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Does your son also do this sort of thing at home, or is this just a school thing? Does he do it at the dinner table, when watching TV, building LEGOs, or when playing video games? I would be more concerned if this is something that is happening all the time in all situations.
Even if that is the case, your son might grow out of it, or it could be an early sign of something else like ADHD, although first grade is too early to effectively diagnose this. |
I think setting up a reward system is good advice. Do you think your child enjoys leaving the classroom? I’d want the teacher to find some other “punishment” than getting to walk around the hallways. This may actually be an incentive for your kid to continue bothering others. |
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Threatening to send kid back to K is a terrible idea. It's completely unenforceable and unnecessary.
I'm also not a fan of the reward carrot/stick approach. I mean ... it's school. You don't get paid for school. If you're rewarding for school in first grade I would really hate to see what happens at your house in high school. Why are you so sure it's nothing diagnosable? |
According to who? Very curious if that’s true. I planned to evaluate him for that. When is the right age? -OP |
If he's distracting other kids from their work or paying attention to the teacher, then it's a problem. |
| Your kid is disruptive, and defiant. Get it under control, stop making excuses for her behavior, it's not because she's smart. |
That's not true. In my son's case, he did it at school because school was the stressor and the tic was his response. He was relaxed at home and didn't do it as much. Although I asked the teacher if it was an issue at school or distraction, and she said it was not. Generally the class was noisy with lots of fidgety first graders so any extra noise on his behalf wasn't noticed. |
Yes I do think they are overreacting |
Those kids need to learn to ignore distractions. |
If the kid won't stop and the mom can't control him, suspensions until they figure it out seems like the best solution. |
I will be flamed, but here is my take. This is the school’s problem. He doesn’t do it at home; you have echoed their message; you have tried to investigate as well. A good teacher would be able to have him comply without making it a power struggle. It becomes a power struggle because she is not superb at classroom management. OP can’t fix that. |