Help, my 6yr old ds won't sit still

[rhreinke]

I'm having such a difficult time teaching my ds these past couple of weeks. I'm a little behind and we are finishing up his first grade year. But Math it seems in general seems to make him mad or cry when it's time for the subject. He is 6.5 yr old and we've been hsing for over a year and half now so he knows what to expect. We did just come back from an overseas vacation 2 weeks ago but you would think every thing is back to normal. We've all adjusted back to our time zone and on a regular schedule. I just don't get it? He is my oldest so I don't really know what to expect, but is this typical? I give him plenty of play time outside and breaks but it seems nothing is helping. He just wiggles and wiggles and says he can't concentrate that his brain is all mixed up. He complains when his little brother makes the smallest of noises that it distracts him. I just need some advice from other mom's with active boys to know if this is normal? Is it or what? Math is beginning to be like pulling teeth these days for him and now me because I can't get him to do it without crying. I've already tried Horizons math a year ago, MUS up until 6 months ago and we have been on Singapore math 1A ever since. I think we both like Singapore the best, and i'm not planning on changing curriculum again, it's just learning those darn addition and subtraction facts.

[Whereneverever]

This is normal. Not only with 6 year old boys, but 6 year old girls. 6 year olds are wiggly!

 

Have you tried letting him stand and work? What about doing math first?

[rhreinke]

I've never thought of standing to do math but that might be a good option. I will try that out. And doing math in the morning is a good idea as well as maybe he can think more clearly. I guess I can always do Bible and history at a different time. Good thought. thanks

[Night Elf]

My son was like that too at that age.

 

**We did math on a dry erase board which held his attention more. (There were other reasons, but not relevant to this thread.)

 

**His spelling was done on the run, literally. He would run through the downstairs, stop and spell a word, then run the circle again, stop and spell a word, etc. For some reason, he thought that was great fun.

 

**For work done at the table, he sat on an exercise ball. He would bounce, pause to write, bounce, pause to write, etc.

 

**Read alouds were done with him laying on the sofa with his dead hanging down and his feet resting on the back of the sofa.

 

**I kept lessons really short. Quality over quanity. Copywork was 1 short sentence, not a paragraph. I would rather have a few very neatly copied words than lines of sloppy writing.

[KrissiK]

My son (8 years old) has so much energy if we hooked electrodes up to him he'd supply power to the entire tri-state area. Seriously. But that's just him. I just let him be. When I was reading SOTW yesterday, he was upside down on the couch, then crawling on the ground, then right side up, then whatever...., but I'm telling you, he gave me a very thorough account of how Magellan sailed around the world in search of India and died in a fight helping out a local chieftain in the Phillipines. So, he's listening. He just can't sit still. You have to determine if, amongst all that wiggliness, he's taking things in, or not. If he's really learning, like my DS is, then you just have to put up with it and thank the Lord, for his sake, that he's not in PS where he'd be forced to sit still and be continually getting into trouble because he can't, and then he'd end up hating school.

[rhreinke]

Thank you, thank you, thank you, see this is what I need, IDEAS. He tries to do some to these things and I'm always trying to stop him so he can focus but maybe he just needs to move.

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

Andrew Pudewa gave a great talk about this very thing with boys. It changed the way I look at things. I let my boys stand, kneel, sit, etc. to do their work. It's very hard for me to watch, but it seems to work. I also take breaks in between subjects and make them do 10 jumping jacks or 10 toe touches, etc.

[LibraryLover]

My little nephew lets me read to him...if he's hanging upside down, off the sofa, holding little toys. Sometimes I'll stop and ask a question about the story, wondering if he hears me at all. He can multii- task well, as he can always answer correctly. ;)

 

I love the comment about this age having the potential to light cities with their energy. Wouldn't that be awesome to harness? lol

[nowimscrappin]

That sounded like my son when we realized he had sensory system issues. The statement you made of the little noise from the siblings is what clued me in that maybe your son is struggling the same way. Sounds were my son's issue.

 

I like the idea of sitting on a bouncy ball - just the slight up and down movement usually is enough for them to concentrate. For my son, we needed to make sure he could put his feet flat on the floor, so no sitting at the dinner table, because he couldn't reach. Sat at a small table or desk with a stool under his feet so his feet were flat - its almost like he needed to be "grounded".

 

Also for math, our OT recommended that we play Mozart music during it. Mozart helps to "calibrate" brain waves into a more regular pattern that is conducive to math. So, we would play Mozart during his math lessons.

 

Good luck!

[Spryte]

We have to use all the tricks above to get through a school day.

 

The exercise ball was a major lightbulb moment here, and another was gum chewing. It is contrary to everything I learned as a public school student, but gum truly helps us get through some lessons. Those little fidgety gadgets look interesting, too - the ones the kids can hold and manipulate while listening.

 

We do a lot of active learning, too. AAS lends itself well to this, for me. I take the cards with us outside, and he has to leap from stepping stone to stepping stone when he gets a card right (this is not when we're doing dictation, obviously). Or we do it inside, on the stairs, and he can go up a stair when he gets an answer correct. Sometimes I set up a "lava field" with construction paper islands, and he leaps from island to island.

 

Math we do standing, sitting on the floor, on the whiteboard, or outside. Sometimes I scribe for him while he basically stands on his head. Or we do "buddy math" and take turns doing problems.

 

I have been doing a lot of reading, and there are some kids who simply need to move, move, move. My kiddo is one of those, so instead of fighting it, I *try* to go with it. It's not always easy though, and it's been a true test of my adaptability and patience. :)

[nowimscrappin]

I forgot about the chewing. Another thing we learned from my son's OT is that humans use their mouth to organize their thoughts. Some kids need extra oral stimulation in order to help organize their brain. In addition to gum, I actually strung a "necklace" for my son. It was fish tank tubing, cut into pieces about 1 1/2" long, strung on a piece of elastic. Every time my son needed to chew, I encouraged him to put this in his mouth and then chew on it (much like you'll see adults chewing on pencils). Saved us a lot of shirt colors and cuffs from being chewed on and helped him think.

[justamouse]

Andrew Pudewa gave a great talk about this very thing with boys. It changed the way I look at things. I let my boys stand, kneel, sit, etc. to do their work. It's very hard for me to watch, but it seems to work. I also take breaks in between subjects and make them do 10 jumping jacks or 10 toe touches, etc.

:iagree:

 

It IS hard for mothers, I think, to let them do what they please as the lesson goes on, but I learned that they learn just as much. The reason I bumped my 8 yo up in some subjects was because while he was having the jittery splits over in the corner, he was actually LISTENING, and learning and when I sat down with him on his lessons-he knew it all, AND his sisters lessons! That's when I learned to start trusting his process.

 

Now, if he HAS to sit down for some reason, I make it short and sweet.

[bdroberts1998]

My son is the same way. We are all over the house when we school. I just let him do it. It drives me nuts!! But as long as he is learning and doing all his work I will learn to deal with it. Now this may sound crazy but sometimes I give him a half cup of coffee. For some reason it calms him down. I just figured this out a few weeks ago. Some days I give him some and some I don't. I don't really like the idea of him having coffee. But I guess if it works a little won't be to bad.

[dangermom]

If you have a mini-trampoline, have him do some problems orally while jumping. My kid loves to yell out math facts on the trampoline.

[justamouse]

If he's really learning, like my DS is, then you just have to put up with it and thank the Lord, for his sake, that he's not in PS where he'd be forced to sit still and be continually getting into trouble because he can't, and then he'd end up hating school.

 

I think of that almost every day with my little guy.

[TXBeth]

Lots of great responses - I will just add one on the academic side of things. If belaboring the math fact memorization is causing him to hate math or think he is not good at it, let it go for now. As long as he knows how to figure out the answer (with manipulatives, by counting up, etc.), just keep moving through 1A. If, by the end of 1B he hasn't gotten them pretty solid just through working with them so much, then maybe take a week or so to review before going on to 2A. You really don't have to stop where the HIG tells you to stop and memorize all the facts through 10. This caused a lot of frustration and tears for my Princess, too, until Spy Car told me to just keep going, keep practicing, and not worry about drilling facts. Now DD says math is her favorite subject. :)

[Pretty in Pink]

Six is such an energetic age. Honestly, I'd be surprised if he *were* able to sit quietly through an entire lesson at that age. My newly-turned 8yo is just getting to that place. You've been given lots of great ideas (and, fwiw, my kids have all *loved* doing their mathematics on a white board at that age).

[serene]

**For work done at the table, he sat on an exercise ball. He would bounce, pause to write, bounce, pause to write, etc.

 

 

My wiggler is a girl and is now 15, but I about lost my mind when she was younger, until I stopped fighting her need to move. She could either learn while moving, or concentrate on sitting still. There was no combination of the two. The exercise ball was a great solution for seatwork. She still uses it when she's feeling antsy.

 

I remember looking into lap weights as an option, but never pursued it because the exercise ball worked.

[Spryte]

Remember that Churchill and Thomas Jefferson both used stand up desks! Churchill did about half his work in bed (some in the bath) and the rest standing up!

 

What a good point. There is a big trend right now toward standing desks.

 

My DH actually switched to a standing desk several months ago, and it helped his back pain. It is good for the heart, too, and apparently is quite healthy. His doctor thinks it was a great switch. I'm going to tell him about Churchill and Jefferson. :)

 

I had not thought of a stand up desk for the kiddo though. Hmmm, that is food for thought! I think he would like it.

[KrissiK]

I forgot about the chewing. Another thing we learned from my son's OT is that humans use their mouth to organize their thoughts. Some kids need extra oral stimulation in order to help organize their brain. In addition to gum, I actually strung a "necklace" for my son. It was fish tank tubing, cut into pieces about 1 1/2" long, strung on a piece of elastic. Every time my son needed to chew, I encouraged him to put this in his mouth and then chew on it (much like you'll see adults chewing on pencils). Saved us a lot of shirt colors and cuffs from being chewed on and helped him think.

Oh mercy, this is my son. He is constantly chewing on... legoes, paper, pencils, anything he can put in his mouth. I tried to give him gum on a more consistant basis, but he blows bubbles and plays with it and I got tired of cutting gum out of hair and the carpet.

[6packofun]

Ditto with the dry erase board!! My dd16 who is STILL fidgety, ;) , likes to work out her math on the board and she can stand or sit or pace back and forth as she thinks. LOL We have the little lap size white boards, too, but they tend to go back to the big wall board. :)

[Sputterduck]

My parents took us on a month long vacation this year and it took awhile for my son to start acting normal afterwords. Definitely longer than 2 weeks. He kept having little temper outbursts and would stop his feet. (Yes, it was rather cute:tongue_smilie:) He normally has zero temper. Zero. He needed time, I suppose, to rebalance after being on the move by ship, train, or van every day for a whole month.

[Mommy22alyns]

Ditto with the dry erase board!! My dd16 who is STILL fidgety, ;) , likes to work out her math on the board and she can stand or sit or pace back and forth as she thinks. LOL We have the little lap size white boards, too, but they tend to go back to the big wall board. :)

 

 

There's just some kind of magic about whiteboards. Rebecca is my super active one and she's always done better with math on the whiteboard. Now her thing is grammar on the big whiteboard. And sometimes she just needs to tumble while answering questions.

[happypamama]

Lots of great responses - I will just add one on the academic side of things. If belaboring the math fact memorization is causing him to hate math or think he is not good at it, let it go for now. As long as he knows how to figure out the answer (with manipulatives, by counting up, etc.), just keep moving through 1A. If, by the end of 1B he hasn't gotten them pretty solid just through working with them so much, then maybe take a week or so to review before going on to 2A. You really don't have to stop where the HIG tells you to stop and memorize all the facts through 10. This caused a lot of frustration and tears for my Princess, too, until Spy Car told me to just keep going, keep practicing, and not worry about drilling facts. Now DD says math is her favorite subject. :)

 

I agree with this. My 9yo DD is working her way through fourth grade math, but she doesn't quite know all of her multiplication facts cold yet. She's totally getting the concepts though, so I'm just having her look up the facts as needed.

 

My 6yo son is a little wiggly but not as much as my 9yo DD (who was much wigglier at 6)! She really needs to move a lot, or to be fiddling with something (DH is the same way, and he's 36). As long as they are being quiet and not distracting anyone (including themselves), I am okay with them drawing, fiddling with something, playing, etc. while reading or listening.

[justamouse]

I forgot about the chewing. Another thing we learned from my son's OT is that humans use their mouth to organize their thoughts. Some kids need extra oral stimulation in order to help organize their brain. In addition to gum, I actually strung a "necklace" for my son. It was fish tank tubing, cut into pieces about 1 1/2" long, strung on a piece of elastic. Every time my son needed to chew, I encouraged him to put this in his mouth and then chew on it (much like you'll see adults chewing on pencils). Saved us a lot of shirt colors and cuffs from being chewed on and helped him think.

 

huh, my eye Dr flips his tongue the whole time he's figuring out what prescription he's going to give me. And here I thought it was a weird habit.

[justamouse]

There's just some kind of magic about whiteboards. Rebecca is my super active one and she's always done better with math on the whiteboard. Now her thing is grammar on the big whiteboard. And sometimes she just needs to tumble while answering questions.

 

Ds 12, though he's as linear, sit down and straight as they come, LOVES working out math on the whiteboard.

[justamouse]

In another thread, a Mom posted the Calm Christian Parenting website and as I was surfing through and found this for you