Reply to Shall I disregard what teacher says and let DS read his books in the class? Advise please.

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Reply to "Shall I disregard what teacher says and let DS read his books in the class? Advise please."

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Letting him read his own books rather than participate in class doesn't solve the problem.  Is he able to complete assignments correctly?  Is the issue is that he doesn't need the amount of instruction the teacher is offering in order to complete the assignments correctly? Or that the work is too easy? Or that he just spaces out and doesn't do the work?  Each of those issues would require a different solution.  He should be completing assignments first before reading his own book.  I would ask if the teacher would keep his book in her desk, and once he showed her that he had completed his work correctly, he could read on his own.  If he's not able to to complete work, you should ask for an evaluation.[/quote]

We have to learn impulse control.  Young children want to eat ice cream for every meal because, well, it tastes so much better than vegetables.  Young children want to play and leave their toys out, because cleaning up is not fun.  When children feel the urge to defecate, they want to do it in their diaper--until they eventually learn to make the conscious choice of holding it to use the toilet.  And some children may want read a book rather than listen to the teacher.  Most children may opt to forgo what they truly want to do in favor of listening to the teacher, and for various reasons:  avoidance ("i dont want to get in trouble"), attention ("look at how god I am"), intrinsic interest ("I want to learn, so I should listen to the teacher"), positive reinforcement ("I get praise when i follow directions"), etc.  Does your son have a disability because his impulse control is still developing?  Not necessarily.

You want your son to follow along in class because, when he's in a lecture hall at Harvard (or any amazing college I'm sure he's destined for), the only thing that will keep him from texting his bros about that night's kegger the entire time will be his impulse control.  You want him to be able to do this.  Work with the teacher.  Let the teacher try his/her plan, but follow up to see if it works (if not, change it up--sticking with an ineffective plan is a waste of time) .  Talk to the teacher about also giving your son praise, recognition, and the occasional "prize" for opting to pay attention; that will encourage the preferable behavior.  I put "prize" in quotes because what is of value to one child may not be to the next.  You've got to make paying attention more attractive to your son than ignoring the teacher and reading his own book.

Hey, having to get up, go to his backpack, and interrupt the class to get a book may be less attractive to him than paying attention...worth a shot.[/quote]

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