My Kindergartner cannot focus

[Anonymous]

I initiated this conversation with the teacher, and she said this has been ongoing, so it wasn't just one day. I'm not expecting the teacher to give all this focus to my child. But has a teacher, if my child is having issues, particularly if it's disruptive to other classmates, you would share you concern about this. Also, the teacher had mentioned previously (on her own accord) that she would share info weekly on children's progress in their reading group. That was several weeks ago, and I never received any weekly email. That is when I decided to email her. I've had my qualms about this teacher initially. She isn't the most talkative (never rude, just doesn't give off a pleasant facade), and she hasn't been the most forthcoming with the curriculum for the year. I shall see how the next few weeks ago and continue to work with my child. Thanks to all that have given helpful advice.

[Anonymous]

My instincts tell me that if it were a serious problem, that the teacher would have initiated the contact.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My instincts tell me that if it were a serious problem, that the teacher would have initiated the contact.

I agree on that. But how can a child be in class trying to initiate conversations with others during instruction as well as avoiding doing her work in class with excuses not be serious? Again, I know the teacher has a whole class to deal with. But part of her job is to contact a parent if her child is having issues. My husband sees her everyday and ask her about her day (he doesn't get much of a response most of the time, but that's understandable, dismissal is a pretty busy time). Something could have been brought up then. I don't mean to overact, or make my child seem like a special case. I just appreciate better communication with a teacher of a Kindergarten class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My instincts tell me that if it were a serious problem, that the teacher would have initiated the contact.

I agree on that. But how can a child be in class trying to initiate conversations with others during instruction as well as avoiding doing her work in class with excuses not be serious? Again, I know the teacher has a whole class to deal with. But part of her job is to contact a parent if her child is having issues. My husband sees her everyday and ask her about her day (he doesn't get much of a response most of the time, but that's understandable, dismissal is a pretty busy time). Something could have been brought up then. I don't mean to overact, or make my child seem like a special case. I just appreciate better communication with a teacher of a Kindergarten class.

Sadly - we get very little communication from our DD's K teacher. There has been one parent-teacher conference and a couple emails. I don't see the teacher at the beginning and end of the day because DD rides the bus. I know a few families that get a bit more communication but I think this may be somewhat normal. At least for public school. Sounds like you may be in private if you child is dropped off in the classroom. You may want to mention to the teacher that you are hoping for more communication overall.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My instincts tell me that if it were a serious problem, that the teacher would have initiated the contact.

I agree on that. But how can a child be in class trying to initiate conversations with others during instruction as well as avoiding doing her work in class with excuses not be serious? Again, I know the teacher has a whole class to deal with. But part of her job is to contact a parent if her child is having issues. My husband sees her everyday and ask her about her day (he doesn't get much of a response most of the time, but that's understandable, dismissal is a pretty busy time). Something could have been brought up then. I don't mean to overact, or make my child seem like a special case. I just appreciate better communication with a teacher of a Kindergarten class.

Sadly - we get very little communication from our DD's K teacher. There has been one parent-teacher conference and a couple emails. I don't see the teacher at the beginning and end of the day because DD rides the bus. I know a few families that get a bit more communication but I think this may be somewhat normal. At least for public school. Sounds like you may be in private if you child is dropped off in the classroom. You may want to mention to the teacher that you are hoping for more communication overall.

No, it's not a private school. I did mention in our email conversation to follow up in the future if the issue doesn't go away. Hopefully, she will be a little bit more proactive.

[Anonymous]

Frankly, as a former teacher, "talking too much" is a sign of a child who is quite social, not necessarily a bad thing unless the child tries to monopolize the class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Frankly, as a former teacher, "talking too much" is a sign of a child who is quite social, not necessarily a bad thing unless the child tries to monopolize the class.

I think it's more so that she is talking to students while they are having whole group instruction or morning meeting instead of focusing on the teacher.

[Anonymous]

You may not want to admit your kid has ADHD, and they may not, are they on the young side of birtdays? Is she not getting enough sleep? That could be an explanation, but it should not b dismissed. A couple of years of class issues can be pretty damaging, I managed to deny it until second grade and it was pretty damaging to my kid.

See if you can just spend an hour in the class observing, if your daughter appears to be a lot more disruptive then you have some objective data. These conversations are hard, they make you want to feel defensive, but you need to focus on what you can objectively know and then figure out if you need to do gentle reminders or book an appointment.

First kid clearly ADHD, second kid some issues, but some changes and positive reenforcement from home, smoothed out most issues. Just focus on what you need to do, not the teacher.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You may not want to admit your kid has ADHD, and they may not, are they on the young side of birtdays? Is she not getting enough sleep? That could be an explanation, but it should not b dismissed. A couple of years of class issues can be pretty damaging, I managed to deny it until second grade and it was pretty damaging to my kid.

See if you can just spend an hour in the class observing, if your daughter appears to be a lot more disruptive then you have some objective data. These conversations are hard, they make you want to feel defensive, but you need to focus on what you can objectively know and then figure out if you need to do gentle reminders or book an appointment.

First kid clearly ADHD, second kid some issues, but some changes and positive reenforcement from home, smoothed out most issues. Just focus on what you need to do, not the teacher.

What were the signs that made you realize he needed to get check for ADHD? Was your school helpful in this process?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You may not want to admit your kid has ADHD, and they may not, are they on the young side of birtdays? Is she not getting enough sleep? That could be an explanation, but it should not b dismissed. A couple of years of class issues can be pretty damaging, I managed to deny it until second grade and it was pretty damaging to my kid.

See if you can just spend an hour in the class observing, if your daughter appears to be a lot more disruptive then you have some objective data. These conversations are hard, they make you want to feel defensive, but you need to focus on what you can objectively know and then figure out if you need to do gentle reminders or book an appointment.

First kid clearly ADHD, second kid some issues, but some changes and positive reenforcement from home, smoothed out most issues. Just focus on what you need to do, not the teacher.

What were the signs that made you realize he needed to get check for ADHD? Was your school helpful in this process?

I think generally ADHD isn't diagnosed until the child is 6 anyway, because it's too hard to differentiate between normal 5 year old behavior and ADHD.