maryknits Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 Please help with any suggestions. My daughter (age 8) is the queen dawdler - I feel like I have to drag her through the entire school day. It is not ability that is the problem. It is lack of focus. She does EVERYTHING so slowly and with so much dawdling. Please help with suggestions that might help. Desperate in Vienna, VA. ~Mary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shalom22 Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 I have one on those too. I hope you get some good suggestions that I could gleen from. I think that my dd inherited her diddledaddle from her dgm from my dh's side. She was definitely the queen of sloooow. Hated to go to the store with her, she had to read all the labels on every item. I am praying that we can change my dd's habits before she becomes a grown woman. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DB in NJ Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 Please help with any suggestions. My daughter (age 8) is the queen dawdler - I feel like I have to drag her through the entire school day. It is not ability that is the problem. It is lack of focus. She does EVERYTHING so slowly and with so much dawdling. Please help with suggestions that might help. Desperate in Vienna, VA. ~Mary Dear Desperate, ;) My oldest used to be the King of Dawdledom. How did we break him of it, you ask? Well, it started with a heart to heart conversation wherein I pointed out his dawdleness to him and showed him how he was wasting time. I introduced him to the word "Dawdle" first. Once he was able to recognize the dawdling, we began a new strategy to try to keep him focused. It began with short lessons or working times. I'm talking like 10 minutes here. I'd set a timer and say, "You only have to work for 10 minutes, but it needs to be a solid, uninterrupted 10 minutes. If you have a question that relates to what you're doing, ask it and I'll answer." If he had a question or comment that didn't pertain to his work, I'd tap his workbook or whatever it was he was working on, and he knew that meant *concentrate*. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny in Atl Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 My dd7 (almost 8) takes pride in going as slow as she can in all areas of her life. I think she is working up to an Olympics of Dawdledom. So, line up your youngin's, I think we should throw a competition of sorts. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newbie Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 Would the dawdlympics be the same as the Imboredalympics. If so we are ready to compete. Meet ya on the eighth. Jet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pink Fairy Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 http://www.amazon.com/Learning-Resources-LER6900-Time-Tracker/dp/B0007DHU0S This is the best $25 I ever spent. We have a set of consequences in place, and I hardly ever have to implement them any more. It's been a year now, so I'm confident in recommending it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Natalieclare Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 My dd7 (almost 8) takes pride in going as slow as she can in all areas of her life. I think she is working up to an Olympics of Dawdledom. So, line up your youngin's, I think we should throw a competition of sorts. :lol: Is there an age limit in this competition? If not, I've got a teen who might run (slowly) away with the medal! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peela Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 I have found that a timer works well, too, especially for my son. Both my kids now have an hour to do their maths in, and then they can stop. Both work much better, sometimes finishing one lesson and moving on to the next, sometimes not finishing a lesson. Now that my dd is older, apart from maths she has a set amount of work. I am available in the mornings- if she chooses to go slowly, I am not available in the afternoons, she will have to finish without me. My dd is not especailly slow for much of her work, but she likes to spend a disproportionate amount of time on subjects she likes, like many writing assignments. So although on the schedule she has 45 minutes to complete a 1-2 page writing assignment, she will often spend 2 hours on it. This would be great if she was a reluctant writer and I was happy to see her enthusiasm, but in her case, sometimes it means she really loses perspective on the rest of her work and leaves herself no time to finish it. So it is an issue of time management, and I treat it as such with her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 ITA with a timer. You might also reevaluate the materials/methods you're using. Sometimes dc dawdle because what they're doing really isn't right for them, and the only way they can handle it is to dawdle. OTOH, it might be fun to have Dawdlympics.:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GSMP Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 http://www.amazon.com/Learning-Resources-LER6900-Time-Tracker/dp/B0007DHU0S This is the best $25 I ever spent. We have a set of consequences in place, and I hardly ever have to implement them any more. It's been a year now, so I'm confident in recommending it. That is the coolest timer I have ever seen......:001_huh: I. want. that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Once Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 That is the coolest timer I have ever seen......:001_huh: I. want. that! :iagree: Thanks from me. Grrrr from dh who thought spending was done for the year! :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starr Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 "Ds what are you doing?" "I'm thinking thoughts." Good luck. LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newlifemom Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 We use a timer too, if she doesnt finish in the right time she must put it aside and finish it after her school day is done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom to Aly Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 I have always thought I had the champion dawdler (I call her a piddler), but she only piddles when it is something she doesn't want to do. Between piddling, and "Mommy, just five more minutes, just three more minutes, one minute, all I ask is one minute", she drives me so nuts some times I just can't take it! When I can, I let her know that any time she wastes piddling comes directly out of her fun time, and, if I stay right on top of her, she will go to it. But it requires me staying on top of her, and her being in the right mood. Sorry, no great advice here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VaKim Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 My 9yo is just like that! She will be doing her copywork, and take a half hour to copy 5 lines! Drives me crazy! She will start off, and I look up at her, and she is sitting there piddling with a pencil, picking flees off a kitten, or staring off into space. Usually just sitting there staring though. I have tried and tried to get her to focus all her attention on what she is supposed to be doing until it is done, but to no avail. Maybe I will try the timer thing. It won't work to give her a certain amount of time to do the work though, but perhaps I can set it to record how much time she takes, and see if she can beat it or something. But then, I am kind of afraid she will just be messy. :confused: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maryknits Posted July 19, 2008 Author Share Posted July 19, 2008 Thanks to all for the advice. We already use a timer, but she just wouldn't accomplish the work. I may try that timer with the warning lights - that might clue her in to the fact that time is passing. Today went much better - I had a discussion with her last night about dawdling and about how much more fun her day would be if she didn't have to use all her breaks to finish her work. She actually got her work done on time or ahead today and was able to enjoy more breaks. I think I may also offer some incentive such as a particularly interesting thing she might want to do on her break - some game or activity that hasn't been out lately, or some craft material or something she'd be interested in, or let her choose where we go for a walk on the break. Thanks to all for the support. ~Mary in VA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
summer Posted July 19, 2008 Share Posted July 19, 2008 Oh my gosh..if ANYONE had a cure for this..I would be sooo happy. I told DD to pick up the trash in the living room. She and her brothers had watched TV all afternoon while I was gone and they had made a huge mess. She sllloooooooooooowwwwwwwlllyyy walked in there and then sat down. Then I reminded her again, she said "huh?" I swear..she even talks slow! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSMom2One Posted July 19, 2008 Share Posted July 19, 2008 My dd7 (almost 8) takes pride in going as slow as she can in all areas of her life. I think she is working up to an Olympics of Dawdledom. So, line up your youngin's, I think we should throw a competition of sorts. :lol: DD 9yo is a definate candidate a dawdling throw down! I'm seriously checking out the rainbow timer in the other post. Looks like a fantastic tool to me! Blessings, Lucinda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
home4school Posted July 19, 2008 Share Posted July 19, 2008 Mamabegood, I was reading the reviews of the Time Tracker on Amazon and a lot of people said it was impossible to program and operate. Do you think it is difficult to use? In the middle of a hs meltdown day from dawdling, I'm generally not the sharpest tool in the shed! Blessings, Kim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pink Fairy Posted July 19, 2008 Share Posted July 19, 2008 Yes, it is difficult to figure out. But not impossible. You just have to read the directions carefully. Now that it's programmed I don't ever change it. If I needed to, I'd have to dig out the directions--it's not intuitive at all. But if you have a timer like this, you are probably desperate enough to spend the time to figure it out--I was! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lwilliams1922 Posted July 19, 2008 Share Posted July 19, 2008 I'm ordering the timer today! I try sooooo many things with dd/12. She's bright but if doesnt involve what she feels like doing she doesnt stay focused. I swear she could sit at the table ALL day staring into space, no matter how many times i tell her she only has less than 30 mins of work and she can do something FUN. She will moan and groan when she sees the timer (some times we use the oven timer) but I WILL give it a go. If I had a dollar for every doodle she instead of doing work, we could feed a small nation! oh... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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