Oh my word, the wiggling!!!

[Gentlemommy]

Ok, I am going nuts here. My dd, 6.5, is SO wiggly!!!! I *think* there may be some underlying attention issues, because her ability to focus is nil. Now, I know she is young and it can be fairly common for this age, but seriously! She is terrible! :tongue_smilie: Most of the time, during school, I'm just trying to get her to focus on her work. We only do about an hour of seat work per day, which I think is reasonable for her age.

I did just take her to a developmental optometrist for an evaluation, and we will get results next week. I do think that will help. I've been reading that many children who have ADD/ADHD also have vision issues, which makes it even harder for them to pay attention. This describes dd to a T.

I'm finding it very hard to be patient because I just don't get it.:confused:I can sit and crochet or read for hours (assuming the kids would let me lol!) so it's hard for me to understand why she can't just get her work done and then go run around and play!!! She gets a LOT of outside/large motor play. We are usually outside 4-6 hours per day, she rides bikes, climbs trees, rides scooters, plays at the playground, ect. daily. I also try to keep each subject short, so we end up doing 10-15 minutes of each thing. That is as long as I can keep her attention.

 

So, please help me help her. I do not want to squash her energy, I just want to help her harness it, kwim? She is NOT doing it on purpose, it's like she just can't help herself. I really am open to any ideas, it is getting stressful (for both of us!) and that's the last thing I want. If you have an energetic or attention deficient kid;) what have you done that has helped? I have tried having her sit on a yoga ball at the little table, but she says she didn't want to do that any more. Plus, the toddler can reach the little table which makes it really hard to work there.:001_huh:

Any other ideas? Thanks!!!:001_smile:

[kalanamak]

I don't believe my son is ADHD, and an hour of seat work a day would have been too much at 6.5. Not at 7, but still at 6. I did this:

 

3-4 hours of outside HARD play, running, swimming, hiking, skiing a day, 7 days a week. He'd have a light meal and then we'd do sit down work: 3 sessions of 15 minutes with some wiggles and music or art or something else in between. I did as much as I could with reading aloud, and I let him run around while I did this. I'd periodically stop and ask a question, and he was following what I said.

 

We also did verbal work.

 

Now he can do 2 hours of sit down with one break of 10 minutes, but I have to tolerate wiggles.

[gardenmom5]

a balance disk works really well for wigglies to sit on. they can wiggle without the disruption and that wiggling can help her be more focused.

[CatholicMom]

None of my kids have add/adhd and 1 hour straight would be hard for them as well (they are 8 and 7). I think most kids just need to do some seat work here, some there, with breaks. And kids can get a lot of stuff done while wiggling. lol

 

I think she's probably just young and has a lot of energy. I would give her more breaks and also see if some of the "seat work" skills can be accomplished in less sit-still ways. For instance, math facts can be drilled in a lot of ways besides writing them on paper. There are floor mat games that the kids can step on the numbers which might be fun. I know there are books with a lot of creative activities/games for kids who are wiggly and don't like to sit. I would try to think outside the box so that dd doesn't have as much seat work to do and you will both be happier for it.

 

Some of the writing could be done on a whiteboard. A lot of kids like writing on the whiteboard with markers when they are much more wiggly and bored with writing on paper at the table. This is what I do with spelling. If you have a workbook page she needs to do, perhaps you could tape it on the whiteboard or put it up with a magnet and she could write the answers on the board.

 

Even handwriting could be done on the whiteboard if you draw the lines.

 

The other day I was asking ds his math facts and he started singing a line from a Winnie The Pooh movie (the one with the backson in it -lol)... I'd ask "What's 6 x 2?" And he danced back and forth singing:

 

I'm thinking, I'm thinking, I'm thinking,

and now

I will

tell you!

boom-da-boom-da-boom-da

TWELVE!

boom-da-boom-da-boom-da

TWELVE!

 

lol I could have said, OK, cut it out and sit down and do these flashcards. But why bother when he was having fun and the goal (drilling math facts) was getting accomplished?

 

So I say try to think outside the box and cover the skills and content you want to cover without making her sit still if she can learn in other ways. Then break up the remaining seat work with music, art, PE, or other non-sitting-still activities/subjects so that she is only sitting for 10 minutes at a time.