How well does your 6 year old follow directions?

[Anonymous]

DS just turned 6 and really struggles with following directions at home (have not had any complaints from teachers). I can say “put your dish in the sink when you’re done” and he will either forget or leave it somewhere else. I’ll tell him to get his shoes on and it’ll take him 15 minutes of me repeating the same thing until he finally does it. If I say that he needs to get ready for bed, I have to literally stand over him and constantly repeat “brush your teeth”, “get in the shower”, “go pick out pajamas” over and over again. He got gum from a friend today and I told him to please throw it in the trash when he’s done with and I found it stuck in a cabinet. He always apologizes and says okay and then it’s back to forgetting again. Is this normal?

[Anonymous]

Does it happen when he’s asked to follow directions for something he wants or wants to do? Like “go to the freezer, push back the top rack and go under the green beans for a popsicle”.

If no, it’s that he’s probably tuning you out. Get on his level, look him in the eyes and make your demand.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does it happen when he’s asked to follow directions for something he wants or wants to do? Like “go to the freezer, push back the top rack and go under the green beans for a popsicle”.

If no, it’s that he’s probably tuning you out. Get on his level, look him in the eyes and make your demand.

No, it only happens when it’s something he doesn’t normally want to do. I’ll try this advice, thank you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does it happen when he’s asked to follow directions for something he wants or wants to do? Like “go to the freezer, push back the top rack and go under the green beans for a popsicle”.

If no, it’s that he’s probably tuning you out. Get on his level, look him in the eyes and make your demand.

No, it only happens when it’s something he doesn’t normally want to do. I’ll try this advice, thank you.

Stop what you’re doing, get on his level and look him in the eyes - yes! You can even ask him to repeat what you said. But also put a time on the task - like “now”. Say it once and only once (this is key) and impose consequences for his not doing it.

[Anonymous]

Something like clearing dishes is a habit. Right after dinner, don't even let him get up to do anything else. He just clears his dishes. You will have to hover and direct to make that happen. Then it will be second nature. I "trained" my 5 year old old to do this but it was a lot of up front work.

For the shoes thing, if he doesn't put on his shoes, then just have him grab them and walk to the car or whatever.

The constant nagging is going to be old for both of you really fast.