'Average' report as, I think, daughter doesn't put in much effort. Any way to make them put in a bit more?

[Janus]

Oldest dd is a summer born baby who has always struggled a bit and needs to work but doesn't want to!!!
We have just had her school report and, again, she is doing 'OK', not excelling in anything but not falling behind either. I find we have battles when it comes to any kind of homework or reading or practising. She is in Year 3 and I am now worried that she doesn't seem to be growing out of this (I used to put it down to her being a summer baby but I can't do this forever!). She has always lacked concentration (ie whether it's doing work or something like swimming lessons), she likes to chat to whoever is next to her and doesn't really like to listen to the teacher. I'm at a loss as to how to break this. I keep thinking that with a bit of effort on her part she could do really well at school. I could accept her 'being average' if she had really worked hard and that was genuinely the best she could do but she doesn't want to work at all!
I suppose her main problems are not listening/lack of concentration/not wanting to put an effort into her work/not caring about any of this!!
Has anyone gone through something similar and did you have any way to deal with it?
She's a nice, popular, friendly girl which is actually very important to me too but I just wish she could do a bit better academically.
Any ideas?

[Janus]

Ruby, sounds so familiar!! I have actually stopped reading with her now as I was afraid I would put her off the enjoyment of reading which, for me, was more worrying than forcing her to read so she improve for the teacher. She does now pick up a book and read to herself so I've left it at that. We end up having such showdowns when I (or partner) suggest we do some work but I won't give up doing the homework, practising times tables, etc (only the reading) but I HATE the constant 'Kevin the Teenager' response every time I say we have to do something!

[overthemill]

i have sympathy with this but wonder if in the end it really matters? average is ok and gives room to improve later on. school is also about learning to be a social being so does she have lots of friends? we have 3 kids and the middle one was like this then suddenly blossomed and is now 'gifted' heaven forbid!

[Janus]

overthemill, when did she 'blossom'?
Yes, I did mention, she is popular and friendly and she is a genuinely 'nice' girl who does care for her friends a great deal and I think this is very important.
I just don't know whether to not worry about this too much (as I have been doing) or whether I should be more pro-active now in trying to change her as she may keep going through life with this 'can't really be bothered' attitude and, ultimately, fail.
I think I worry about her the most and just wonder what other people have done if they have been in this position.

[stealthsquiggle]

Could you perhaps find some summer project she might "engage" with to work on concentration span? Summer diary/scrapbook with cool papers and stuff, maybe?

I don't know what you do about the not caring bit TBH - I have the opposite problem with DS (5) who sets himself impossibly high standards and then gets angry with himself and/or gives up when he fails to meet them.

[Janus]

Ruby, at least yours does get disappointed, ie she cares about her work, mine doesn't give a fig, never worries about the end result! Maybe I do the worrying for both of us! I don't let her have much TV but have just had my third child and so we have slipped into more TV after school when I am feeding/getting tea done, etc. Think we may have to go back to having just half hour a day or something.
What are the BBC games you mention (sound great), how do you find it on the website? She loves the computer and would probably do this sort of work (ie not too much like school work for her). Thanks.

[MumtoPhoebeboo]

My DD (in Year 2) has always been happy to work hard at school, but I wanted to reinforce what she was learning as well as make her a bit more disciplined about homework. We started doing Kumon Maths last September (maths was her "weaker" subject) and I have to say that it's brilliant for helping her to concentrate, take responsibility for her work and improve her maths generally. She does a worksheet every day and attends a Kumon class once a week. I've found it helps her to manage her work and she realises that by consistently working at something, it brings results. Kumon also do English programmes too. Might be worth investigating as option?

[Janus]

Mum, have thought of Kumon in the past but every time I ask a teacher they say no, particularly for maths as they teach them in a different way than the school does so it sometimes confuses the child. However, for English this may actually be a really good idea. Think I will google and see if there's one locally (we have moved house, new area, etc and, no, I don't think that's one of the reasons!)

[overthemill]

blossomed at senior school. loved being stretched i think

[Janus]

Ruby, thanks so much for that link, she has come home from school and played it for nearly 1.5 hours! Great!
Overthemill, that's comforting about the senior school, I hope it works out that way for mine too, thanks for letting me know.

[overthemill]

we also let ours use education city but it does cost about £20. worth it when they are younger - i think the school recommended it. there si also funbrain which again school suggested as well as bitesize