7 year old can't follow directions on paper

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:He can read. He can do all the work - math and literacy - on the iPad at school. I suspect this is because the iPad presents things question by question, and require he hits an arrow or push a button, so he can't miss things. I've been having him do work on paper at home because I believe at least a little math should be done on paper. On the first page he skipped an entire row of question. Another day, he skipped reading "odd" and "even" and just put it an answer (but for the wrong question. It was asking about an odd number and he put an even number).

Basically I can't get him to read the directions, follow the directions, and follow the paper... He does all of this electronically at school just fine. Is anyone else seeing this kind of thing?

7 years old! He's fine. Bless the iPad for helping him learn without being held back by the worksheet format.

Is your job worksheets?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He can read. He can do all the work - math and literacy - on the iPad at school. I suspect this is because the iPad presents things question by question, and require he hits an arrow or push a button, so he can't miss things. I've been having him do work on paper at home because I believe at least a little math should be done on paper. On the first page he skipped an entire row of question. Another day, he skipped reading "odd" and "even" and just put it an answer (but for the wrong question. It was asking about an odd number and he put an even number).

Basically I can't get him to read the directions, follow the directions, and follow the paper... He does all of this electronically at school just fine. Is anyone else seeing this kind of thing?

7 years old! He's fine. Bless the iPad for helping him learn without being held back by the worksheet format.

Is your job worksheets?

iPads are curse, not a blessing. They hinder learning, they do not aid it.

[Anonymous]

Dyslexia specifically has an issue with instruction that have 3 or more steps.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Dyslexia specifically has an issue with instruction that have 3 or more steps.

This is OP. Yes, I'm asking to see if this is common with school tablet use, because I do hear about dyslexia, ADHD, but don't really have experience with it and haven't gotten 7 yo tested for anything. The tip to use a piece of paper to cover the other questions is a good one, I'll pass that on and see if that helps.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dyslexia specifically has an issue with instruction that have 3 or more steps.

This is OP. Yes, I'm asking to see if this is common with school tablet use, because I do hear about dyslexia, ADHD, but don't really have experience with it and haven't gotten 7 yo tested for anything. The tip to use a piece of paper to cover the other questions is a good one, I'll pass that on and see if that helps.

Nothing you have said would worry me. DS is similar in age and has similar problems at times (though not all the time). He is a very high academic performer generally but will make mistakes he should not, often as a result of failing to read carefully. I perceive the issue to be one of stamina to read all directions, understand the problem, then proceed, and finally to check one's answer. At seven years old, that level of concentration is not fully formed. It takes practice. Depending on the kid's mood, you will also see better or worse performance at different times. The iPad is probably just more interesting, so your child is less resistant to putting in the effort needed. (I find the iPad bashing off point too.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dyslexia specifically has an issue with instruction that have 3 or more steps.

This is OP. Yes, I'm asking to see if this is common with school tablet use, because I do hear about dyslexia, ADHD, but don't really have experience with it and haven't gotten 7 yo tested for anything. The tip to use a piece of paper to cover the other questions is a good one, I'll pass that on and see if that helps.

There could be an issue. But it could also be the current teaching methods and lack of rigor so that he does not have the skill and stamina to do the task. Start with more practice including some of the suggestions on this thread and see how it goes. You can look into other possible issues once you have more information.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Try having him use a card to cover everything below the row he's working on, and move down line by line and question by question, to practice tracking the whole contents of a printed sheet in order.

'

I was going to suggest this - my child's tutor suggested this when she's working on worksheets. Just take a piece of paper and cover up the other questions.

(It's not dysgraphia, it's not ADHD, it's just hard to focus on a lot of words on a worksheet.)

This was going to be my suggestion as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sounds normal, unfortunately. Kids learn much better with pencil and paper and books/workbooks/worksheets than they do on the ipad/chromebook. Some teachers know this and will use paper, many don't or don't bother.

OP explained that it's exactly the opposite. Kid does better on the iPad

Things like iPads can be easier for ADHD kids to focus on, perhaps.

[Anonymous]

I teach HS. A huge number of my students miss at least a few points on every test because they don’t read the directions and every question carefully. There are strategies you can teach to get them to slow down and read all the directions but I do not think that your child is exhibiting anything unusual.

[Anonymous]

CUCC. For every sentence in the directions…
Circle the verb in direction.
Underline the words following the verb.
Count how many things need to be completed.
Check off the tasks as completed.

[Anonymous]

Many adults fail to follow written directions as well nor do they read the whole paragraphs.

[Anonymous]

A lot of kids have weak eye tracking muscles bc they use screens so much. Use the card trick and go even lower screens at home to make up for iPads at school (which should never have been allowed to happen).