Reply to 6 yr old 1st grader having trouble "focusing" in class

Forum Index » Elementary School-Aged Kids

Reply to "6 yr old 1st grader having trouble "focusing" in class"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=jjconcern]You have gotten some very good advice in answer to your original post.  In my experience as a school psychologist it is unusual for a child with attention problems to do their homework mostly by themselves.  That is many times when they have a hard time with focusing and motivation.  They also usually have a difficult time listening to directions or lecturing in a school atmosphere especially at 6 years of age.  It sounds like the teacher's style would be more suited to the abilities of older primary grades.  Many schools now place so much emphasis on academics, etc. at an earlier age than many 6 year olds can handle and those who can't are often discouraged and become even less focused because auditory learning is not how they learn best.  Usually more visual and hands on learning works best for that age.    The private school may pride themselves on pushing academics early on which is often viewed as advantageous by many of the parents.  But my experience is that many capable intelligent children get discouraged and tune out.  Very sad to see!  You may end up realizing that her teacher or the school itself is not a good match for your daughter's learning style at this age. 
 From your description of your daughter I am not seeing typical signs of attention problems.  They usually manifest themselves in some way much earlier than age 6 even if there are no behavior problems but your wise to be aware of this possibility.  Her earlier experiences in kindergarten and preschool would  demonstrate some type of difficulty if attention was that great of a problem.   As some of the other replies suggested the teacher's constant talking about her need to focus etc. is not helpful to a 6 year old and there should be accommodations such as sitting close to teacher, visual cues, etc. if she is to remain in the class.  
I would definitely speak to the principal about the situation. By all means observe the classroom before going to the principal or ask if the principal will observe the class before you do.  This wouldn't be out of the ordinary as principals often observe all classrooms at some time in the year.   Please follow up with another post as to how the situation is resolved.  My best to you![/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics