Talking during school ?

[simka2]

Okay, what do all you wonderful people do about talking during school? Let me be more specific...Dd9 is sitting down to do math and every minute or so, she randomly has to tell someone something!!! It could be about the rain last night, the groceries I bought, the color of her shirt...anything! I also, have 2 others working on their own subjects throughout the house, whom she disturbs.

 

and she's not the only one..who does this, so it gets out of hand pretty quickly!!!

 

This morning I finally, said no talking!!! Unless, it is to ask me a question on something they are working on. Later, we will have subjects we are working on together, they will get breaks for talking...but it was getting out of hand.

 

Now, I am loving the quiet!!! But feel like a bad mom :confused:. They are focused, and working quietly...

 

How do you guys handle this type of situation?

 

Thanks!

[Jean in Newcastle]

You're not a bad mom. You're teaching her and the others that they need to be considerate of others. When people are concentrating on their work, that is not the time to chat. They can chat during meals, during breaks, during chores, during playtime. . .

[Karen in CO]

I put on Music for Concentration to help, and I sit near my chatterbox to try to keep her focused. I don't the mind chatting, but they aren't allowed to interupt or disturb each other. Its a fine line. Like yesterday, the 5yo finished her work first then started doing an Elmer Fudd impression, "Kill da Wabbit!" which irritated the 9yo who was trying to muliply decimals. The 5yo was eventually banished to "somewhere else" until after math.

[Ester Maria]

We also have the quiet policy during study hours.

Now, mine mostly work in their own rooms for individual study, but when they were younger, I would physically separate them within the same room - on the opposite sides of a big table, for example, ideally they can be working on different tables whatsoever, and if needed, make sure they don't look at each other. It works wonders, and you can still be together for group activities. If you need a one on one time with a child, take them away from the others.

[elegantlion]

Obviously with one he is prone to thinking the world should stop and focus on him while he is talking. :glare: I either play instrumental music on a low volume or I get out some of my own work. If he talks I remind him to be quiet he is disrupting the class and don't engage him further. It may take a couple of reminders but he'll get the point.

 

If it's obvious that their words or wiggles just HAVE to come out right then we'll call a truce. We either do a ten minute break, go play basketball for a few, or make him do jumping jacks if it has dissolved into a discipline issue.

[KidsHappen]

I have come to the conclusion that it is physically painful for my youngest one to be quiet. She even talks in her sleep (a lot). I don't know what to tell you though as I haven't found a solution.

[Dobela]

We are in the same boat with ds10. I asked a friend for advice and this is what she said she did: Give the child $1 or $2 a day in dimes. Be very clear of your expectations of when you want them to be quiet and for how long. Each time the child talks out of turn and it is not directly rlalted to what he/she is working on, take away 1 dime. If the child runs out of dimes, they must go get them from their piggy bank or allowance and relinquish one each time they are unable to control their impulse to speak. Any dimes left over at the end of the day the child can keep.

 

I haven't tried it yet though.

[Lilymax]

Glad to read these responses, as my middle child is a chatterbox and I deal with this pretty much every minute of every day!

 

I always feel SO guilty when I hush him before he says a full sentence. I want my kids to know they can tell me anything. And he comes up with some of the funniest things. But I have to balance that with DS1's needs for quiet, and my own sanity! Non-stop chatter just wears me down! LOL

[simka2]

Glad to read these responses, as my middle child is a chatterbox and I deal with this pretty much every minute of every day!

 

I always feel SO guilty when I hush him before he says a full sentence. I want my kids to know they can tell me anything. And he comes up with some of the funniest things. But I have to balance that with DS1's needs for quiet, and my own sanity! Non-stop chatter just wears me down! LOL

 

This has been my exact dilema, but it's been so peaceful since I told them no talking!!!! I think we can balance quiet mornings with more active/talky afternoons!!!

[TXMary2]

I have a talker and I am blue in the face with telling him to stop. He INTERRUPTS my instruction so he can talk and it is rarely on topic. I have tried to explain that it is just downright rude to interrupt but he doesn't seem to care. I don't know what to do about it actually and oftentimes his talking interruptions are what starts the meltdowns. Generally it happens during reading instruction.:glare:

[Dawn in OH]

I wish I knew how to get the talking to stop. Simply telling them, "no talking" is no longer working for me.

[eternalknot]

 

Let me be more specific...Dd9 is sitting down to do math and every minute or so, she randomly has to tell someone something!!! It could be about the rain last night, the groceries I bought, the color of her shirt...anything! I also, have 2 others working on their own subjects throughout the house, whom she disturbs.

 

 

 

How do you guys handle this type of situation?

 

Thanks!

 

Both of my kids talk non-stop, as if they are physically compelled to share every thought that runs through their little heads. My family laughs when I complain about it, because the kids totally inherited their motor mouths from yours truly LOL.

 

I've tried a few things that were met with moderate success (background music, metronome, letting them pause school to write their thoughts down) but one thing really got the point home, and definitely improved our quiet time for schoolwork - to the point where I just have to give the kids the Do We Really Want to Go There Again?! Look and they work harder to control their impulsive interruptions.

 

For every interruption I had them recite an excerpt from MLK's "I Have A Dream" speech. It was just something I had on hand on one day when the talking was particularly bad and I said, "If you feel so much like talking, here you go!" We heard that excerpt several times that day, and the next. So much so that we all quickly came to memorize and say it in chorus with the offender LOL. School took longer on those days; so did meals because I'd stop whatever prep I was doing to hear the interruption AND the recitation. Things were better by the next week :)

 

Nowadays I hear the "ooh!" urge which they generally suppress. I let them get up to write on the whiteboard in our kitchen -- they're limited to 2-3 words just so they don't forget what they want to tell me, WHEN it's a more appropriate time to do so (lunch, etc.) Then they get back on task, satisfied for now that they won't forget that ever-important thing they need to share with me!

[RanchGirl]

I have a wiggly, talkative boy and he seems to be getting even more wiggly and talkative as he gets older -- aagh! And he is amazing at math but he can't stand it because it involves sitting and writing. What's working for us with math is I tell him to do 2-3 sections, then tell me the story/listen to a song on the ipod/jump on the rebounder/run up and down the stairs twice, whatever he seems to need that day. Sometimes I say I will give him a "zerbert" when he is done, which he likes -- he is very tactile and ticklish and he loves this. He also likes to give them to me which I dislike very much, but it is another good reward.

 

I give him about 10 minutes of work before a 2-3 minute break, then another 5-10 minutes of work. And then a longer break before the next sit down subject. (But I do not say "10 minutes" -- because then there is no motivation to get it done efficiently and we will be here ALL day.)

[NanceXToo]

No solutions, but I just wanted to say that we struggle with that over here some, too. My almost 10 y/o daughter loves to chat, always has. In fact, when she was in public school (for K through most of 3rd), she was losing her recess constantly, especially in K and 1st, for "talking too much" in class.

 

She always wants to chat with me about random things, too. Sometimes she can't contain herself and interrupts. Sometimes she'll raise her hand (old public school habit lol) and when I say "yes?" she'll say something totally random and unrelated to what I was reading or talking about.

 

Sometimes she'll ask a question and then it will lead to another question and then a comment and then a story and then a different topic and sometimes I just don't know HOW to handle it- like, I want her to be able to explore her thoughts, tell me and ask me things, follow her interests, but sometimes it just gets a little TOO disruptive and I have to tell her to stop talking or "not now."

 

And then I feel kind of bad about it. But sometimes it seems like it's the only way to finish what we're doing!

[hsmom3tn]

You're not a bad mom. You're teaching her and the others that they need to be considerate of others. When people are concentrating on their work, that is not the time to chat. They can chat during meals, during breaks, during chores, during playtime. . .

 

:iagree:

 

When mine were younger, I didn't expect them to be still and quiet for very long without a break; but they should be able to handle it just fine now.