Getting my very wiggly 6 year old to focus?

[Xuzi]

Okay, how do you teach focus to a 6 year old? Obviously I don't want her to be an automaton who sits completely still and only speaks when spoken to, but not constantly jerking around in some way during the lessons would be nice. :glare: It was the one comment her Kindy teacher always put on her report card "Great student, learns quickly, needs to work on her focus" If I'm writting on the blackboard she's constantly asking for her own turn, or shifting the way she's sitting, or asking what we're doing next. During reading time she's constantly asking questions relating to the topic, but when I tell her that if she just listens the answer will come up shortly (like in a book about rainforests she asks what animals live in a rainforest, and I say we'll find out on the next page, but she'll ask at least one or two more times before I finish the -very short- reading on the current page). During handwritting practice, if she makes a mistake it's always met with a loud growl or exclamaition, accompanied by arm waving and maybe some exagerated wiggling in her chair, THEN she'll pick up the eraser, and put it through this big flourishing flight before putting it on the paper to actually erase the mistake.

 

I'm thinking of maybe something she can twiddle in her hands or something so she can get her energy out during her lessons in a non-disruptive way? Usually I have to resort to dangling a carrot infront of her to get her to listen to what I'm trying to explain or read (like promosing to let her have a turn to draw on the white board *only* after she's done with her current assignment, or something like that), but that doesn't always work

 

Any ideas?

 

(and just as an interesting FYI, she is a former IEP student, but it was *only* ever for her language. She was evaluated at least 4 times between 3 and 5 1/2 covering language, social/emotional, and all the normal evaluation-jazz, and only her language ever came up as an area of concern. Her ability to pay attention was never raised any flags in the evals.)

[Faithr]

I have several suggestions:

 

1) Let her chew gum while she's working. This can help with concentration. This addresses the same impulse that makes people 'work' their mouths when concentrating on something.

 

2. Let her actually answer questions while she is jumping up and down. You can get one of those training trampolines from a sporting goods store.

 

3. Use a timer. Tell her she should try to focus and not fidget but when the timer goes off she can run around the house 3 times or do forward rolls on the couch or whatever it is that pleases her. You might have to start off with really short times like 5 minutes or maybe even less but tell her she'll get better and better at sitting still. Gradually build to longer sessions as the year goes on, always letting her feel successful. No chastising allowed! Just a 'we'll try again next time.'

 

4. Have her do as much stuff as she can standing up at a whiteboard or chalkboard.

 

5. Try do stuff in a hands on way in different parts of the house. Reading while snuggling in bed; handwriting at the table, math on the living room floor with lots of manipulatives.

 

Remember she's only 6 so she really can't sit still for very long. Keeping lessons short and sweet and always ending on an upbeat note is the best way to work on concentration at this age.

[johnandtinagilbert]

I have several suggestions:

 

1) Let her chew gum while she's working. This can help with concentration. This addresses the same impulse that makes people 'work' their mouths when concentrating on something.

 

2. Let her actually answer questions while she is jumping up and down. You can get one of those training trampolines from a sporting goods store.

 

3. Use a timer. Tell her she should try to focus and not fidget but when the timer goes off she can run around the house 3 times or do forward rolls on the couch or whatever it is that pleases her. You might have to start off with really short times like 5 minutes or maybe even less but tell her she'll get better and better at sitting still. Gradually build to longer sessions as the year goes on, always letting her feel successful. No chastising allowed! Just a 'we'll try again next time.'

 

4. Have her do as much stuff as she can standing up at a whiteboard or chalkboard.

 

5. Try do stuff in a hands on way in different parts of the house. Reading while snuggling in bed; handwriting at the table, math on the living room floor with lots of manipulatives.

 

Remember she's only 6 so she really can't sit still for very long. Keeping lessons short and sweet and always ending on an upbeat note is the best way to work on concentration at this age.

Awesome suggestions.

 

We also like play-doh, clay, or building blocks while listening to read alouds.

 

Sometimes I set a limit of # of problems, too. "You can stand up and play one round of hopscotch after 10 math problems (mark the problem with a highlighter).

 

6 is wiggly...let her wiggle, just teach her when to wiggle!

[Xuzi]

I :001_wub: this board. What would I do without you ladies?? Great ideas so far!

[Jennefer@SSA]

You've gotten great ideas so far. The other things you can consider trying:

 

1. Allow her to work while sitting on one of those large exercise balls instead of a chair. That can satisfy the need for movement for some kids.

 

2. Exercise before school. Ds9 runs up to 2 miles before school and it really helps b/c he's getting out all the excess energy before he even begins! Jumping on a trampoline or a kids' aerobic exercise video would also be great for this.

 

3. Learn as much as you can with movement. Ds learned all his skip counting while marching around the living room hundreds of times! :001_smile:

 

4. Protein for breakfast, esp. eggs. No sugar of any kind (even fruit for some kids will trigger extra energy - if you want fruit for breakfast do low gi fruits so the sugar is released slowly into the bloodstream). Egg yolks contain choline which is excellent for the brain and can really calm some kids down. Often it takes 2 eggs to get the effect you want.

 

5. Consider possible dietary triggers. Red dye #40, sugar (even in the form of white rice or flour), and/or additives & preservatives are the first things I would consider eliminating. For some kids food sensitivities are a VERY real issue. They don't show up like traditional allergies but can manifest in ways like you have mentioned with your daughter. She may just be a naturally wiggly gal, or there could be something triggering her wiggles. :D

 

6. Begin habit training now. Use a timer like mentioned above and expect her to sit still for one minute with no wiggles when it is required. Start small so she can experience success and reward, reward, reward! When one minute gets easy move to 2 and so on. At that age it is fair to expect a child with no dx to sit still for at least 10 minutes imo but that doesn't come naturally for some kiddos. Work with her and train her...and make it all fun and never punitive. ;)

 

Best of luck. Hopefully others will chime in with even more ideas.

Edited August 10, 2010 by Jennefer@SSA

[Crimson Wife]

Some folks just naturally have a lot of excess energy. Even as an adult I'm very fidgety- I can focus on the task just fine but I'll be jiggling my foot or whatever. There's actually a scientific term for it called non-exercise activity thermogenesis (or NEAT) and researchers at the Mayo Clinic have found that it can burn up to an extra 400 calories per day.

 

Cathy Duffy's book is helpful in figuring out the kind of curricula that will work best for what she calls "Wiggly Willy" learners.

[ClassicalTwins]

I :001_wub: this board. What would I do without you ladies?? Great ideas so far!

 

There is actually book for this called "How to get your child off the refrigerator and onto Learning"

http://www.amazon.com/How-Your-Child-Refrigerator-Learning/dp/1883002702/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1281487158&sr=8-1-spell

 

 

Has helpful hints and ideas....6 is very very wiggly, I can tell a difference in my 7 year olds...

[Guest]

Specific suggestions for learning with lots of movement can be found in Peggy Kaye's books Games For Math, Games For Reading, Games For Writing. You'll be working on exactly the same basic skills you would otherwise be doing from workbook pages.

[sarawatsonim]

I second the bouncy exercise ball suggestion. My dd5 is constantly moving around and is hard to get her to sit and focus. The ball helps for subjects that can be done orally. Except today she bounced too hard and flew into the wall. But she stood up rubbed her head and stated, le regle et jaune (we were doing French at the time). :001_smile:

[Farrar]

I second the gum suggestion. My kids are allowed gum for while they do handwriting or (starting this year with a more formal math program) math because it really does help them focus.

[kalanamak]

I have several suggestions:

 

 

 

:iagree:

 

I used to read to him while he ran around and around the table. Periodically I'd ask him questions, and yes, he had been listening.

 

My other biggy was doing school AFTER 2-3 solid hours of hard outdoor play. Running, jumping, swinging, not making mudpies. That was key for us. I also started at 5 minutes at a time and worked our way up to 30 minutes a sitting by the end of first. By the middle of second we could do 2 hours if we took a couple short breaks for a cobbler bar or a phone call to Papa.

HTH

[texasmama]

This sounds much like my 7 year old boy. He recites poetry while running in circles through the house. He lays on the table or sits in a strange way with his legs stuck out straight through the back of a folding chair while doing math. He fidgets on the couch, with his body hanging half off, falling on the floor at times, fiddling with objects, etc. while I am doing read alouds. I don't worry about it. I find that he is listening in spite of all the activity. In fact, I think the activity helps him to listen. :001_smile: I look at it as developmental. He is learning so I don't worry about his activity level while doing it. He is not ADHD, either - he is just a regular 7 year old boy.:001_smile:

[ClassicalTwins]

He is not ADHD, either - he is just a regular 7 year old boy.:001_smile:

 

:iagree:

[Gwenhwyfar]

She sounds a bit like me. I don't mean just as a kid either - my husband & friends have often put their hands on my shoulders and said 'whoa' or 'SLOW DOWN' because I'm six thoughts ahead of the conversation and asking questions about bits that haven't even been discussed yet. My hands are always flapping away and I chew the tops off all my pens. And everyone else's pens.

 

I'd give her room to move. If she wants to run in circles while you talk - let her. Ask questions after - I bet she's listening... quite likely even BETTER when she's moving. It takes a heck of a lot for me to "sit still" - I end up missing parts of what's going on because I'm concentrating.... on sitting still! :lol:

[Teachin'Mine]

I remember reading, not that long ago, about a school which has experimented with desks which allow legs to be active. They went on the premise that kids don't have to be sitting still to learn, and giving them something active to do at their desks would help them to be able to focus on the lessons. They designed and custom built these desks, but if I remember correctly, it was a simple bar which they could rest their feet on and swing them back and forth under the desk. I wonder if one of the old sewing machine foot pumps would work ... I'll search for the article. :)

 

 

Edited August 11, 2010 by Teachin'Mine

[jonnia]

Great suggestions here! I have a high-powered little boy, and we've used many of these successfully. When he was 6, he looked forward to "phonics on the floor" every day - usually under a table. He still fiddles with legos or other odd toys for read-aloud time, and during math fact drills, he simply MUST lie on the floor and balance his chair up in the air with his feet. He REALLY does think better when he isn't working so hard to be still all the time. With practice and patience, though, he has learned to sit calmly for longer lengths of time. Age and a little more maturity really do make a difference!