DD's concentration & work ethic (or lack of)

[TomPinch]

DD13 has had spme maths tests this year. She's failed all but one of them. Her exam papers are full of doodles. She didn't finish any of them, and one, she only did about three questions. Her teacher says that when she concentrates and revises, she has no problem: in fact she does moderately well and her teacher wants to keep her in the same stream. However, he says she tends not to concentrate or revise and plays games on her laptop in class.

Various teachers through the years have complained that she doesn't concentrate. At home, if left to her own devices, she will happily spend all day playing Minecraft or watching Youtube videos on cats doing daft things. She seems a lot younger than the children around her, and worse at organising herself and her things and doesn't seem to have any sort of focus.

How can I help my DD develop some concentration skills and a bit of responsibility?

[redexpat]

Well I would start by asking her why she doesnt finish maths tests. Is it that she cant concentrate, is it too difficult, too easy (is she bored), why is she choosing to doodle rather than answwr the qs. Is it just in tests shes like this or in general?

Depending on the answerd I would look into checking that there are no underlying additional needs like ADD.

Does she have any interests?

[TomPinch]

She says the tests are too hard. The problem is, according to her teacher, who seems like a sensible man, is that she can cope with the work if she pays attention in class and revises as she's supposed to.

The doodling has been a constant ever since she started school, and not just in maths but all subjects. I think her interest tails off and then she doodles. AFAIK her teachers have ignored it.

She has always hated helping with jobs around the house and no incentive I've tried has ever worked particularly well. She will do them at a snail's pace. For example, recently she was going to meet some friends for an ice-cream. I said I would give her a lift once her room was done. It took her 2 hours to pick up some clothes and put away some coloured pencils, and the upshot was that she was 30 minutes late: she doesn't keep track of time.

Hobbies: she's been attending Scouts the last few months and enjoys it, but hasn't got any badges yet. She burns up all her free time on Youtube / Minecraft (until I kick her off the internet).

I'm sure she hasn't got ADD. Her sister does, and we have found ways of overcoming it. This, however, looks like simple lack of effort and the issue is how I can get her to try harder.

[FloraFox]

She could have some executive function issues. Google Connections In Mind - they have useful information on executive function in children.