Poor focus at school

[Lozzalou9191]

Posted in primary but no response so posting here for traffic.
Just had parents evening for my DS who has just gone into year one.
has been flagged that he is unable to focus for long periods. Apparently bright for his age but as he only does the work that interests him, I’m concerned his lack of concentration will make him fall behind.
He often seems to be daydreaming and not listening to what you say but will keep focus on something if it interests him. He communicates well, although is a big chatterbox and often interrupts which is slowly improving.
i mentioned whether teacher thought adhd but he was very noncommittal.
wondering if anyone had any advice on how to help him learn to not become distracted!
AIBU to be getting myself worked up and most boys have issues with focus or yanbu that if teacher has flagged then must be a problem

I think being unable to listen for "long periods" is fairly typical for many kids at that age. However, if teacher has flagged it I would suggest his lack of focus is at present over and above the "norm". I wouldn't rush for any sort of adhd diagnosis over one comment but I would talk to your son and lay out expectations and check in with the teacher over the next few months. If continuing to be a problem and hindering his learning outcomes, then I would be wanting to discuss it further and consider how to best support him.

When is his birthday?
Is his achievement on track?
I would get his sight and hearing tests if his is focus is below expected for his age.

I would be working on his focus at home with him

My ds is identical to this except he’s not especially bright - or not in the way school measures “bright” - and I don't think it’s adhd… it’s being 5 years old that’s the issue.

The fact you say he can concentrate when he’s interested tells you everything (my ds will play Legos for hours, for example).

Year 1 is a huge step up from Reception - all of a sudden it isn’t free play any more. Suddenly, they have to sit and listen and do certain tasks when they are told to.

And classrooms are noisy, interesting places with 30 fidgeting bottoms and large windows looking onto the outside world.

I agree with pp that ds needs to practise focusing. I’ve noticed since I started doing the (mountains of) homework set by my ds school, how this has improved. In Reception he really struggled to sit down and do anything for more than a few minutes. Now he is in a routine, all I have to do is I gently remind him to sit on his bottom, put the pencil down while we are talking, etc so he remembers how to sit quiet and still.

My ds can now work for 40 mins at home without tiring, which is ample. But that’s only at home where it’s quiet and there are not a million distractions!

We talk to dc about good focus which means having your eyes on the teacher when teacher is talking to the class, and ignoring noises or movements around you when teacher is talking. It is worth explaining to ds that this is the expectation. And then practice at home with some quiet supervised work?

His birthday is at end of Jan so he’s not particularly young for the year.
i had his sight and hearing tested during the reception checks that are done and came back with no concerns. Thank you though 😊

Thank you for your advice.
we don’t seem to get much homework but perhaps it’s worth me getting some of those text books and sitting him down to work on some of them each day. He does do reading homework every day but is very mixed bag on how focused he is, depending on what is going on in the house.
i do this the biggest issue is being distracted by other things. It’s just trying to work out how to help him drown outside noise out!

Oh DD is similar (and same age), although I'm not sure she's bright probably average. I think she might have non hyperactive ADD but not sure, we are meeting teacher to discuss soon.
Hope you find something that works.

Have you asked the teacher what they recommend to help? I had this feedback with my year 3 child a few times and tried to work on it at home but unsuccessfully as I don't really know what to do except have a chat about why it was happening and what could be done different etc. Then I decided to just ask the teacher for ideas and they have done stuff like giving him a timer so he knows how long he has to work for and being more explicit on expectations and also praising focus a lot more. So far I think it's really working. Will see when the novelty wears off though.

My niece with ADHD, they let the class work more flexibly so rather than at desks they can stand to do work, or sit on the carpet etc. I think they have focus time at desks then they move around when it's the kids turn to practice.

But I would also say that this is really common in the little ones especially going from reception to year 1!

Concentration is part of something called 'executive functioning'. There's a useful book by Peg Dawson called Smart But Scattered which enables you to audit your kid's strengths and challenges with executive function, and then suggests tools to help develop their skills.

Working on concentration at home can and should look different than doing more school work, looking at text books, etc. If it's not fun and engaging there's a risk of frustration and resistance developing. Board games, puzzles, etc, offer good alternatives.

Hyperfocus on high interest topics is not unusual for many children with wobbly executive function. I'd use that too so, for example, if a kid loves Pokemon but found it hard to focus on maths then I'd look for Pokemon number puzzles: use the special interest to hold attention and keep engagement through something they find harder to sustain attention on.

This sounds very much like ADHD though you obviously need a proper diagnosis. Some of the advice on here is astonishingly bad. ADHD children can concentrate if they are engaged - in fact they are capable of far more concentration than a neurotypical child. The problem is when they are not engaged. They are not doing this deliberately.

Practicing "focus" with an ADHD child is just cruel and pointless. Focus is not something that grows like a muscle with exercise. There are things
you can do to help of course - a quiet room, a clear desk apart from what they are working on and they learn best one to one. Try to make what you're teaching interesting. By the way if an ADHD child is focusing they are probably fidgeting with something. If they are sitting still they may well be off in some daydream.

I used to revise my son's lessons with him every night and help him complete his homework. His teachers were very good in telling us what bit they were studying and we'd go over the textbook with him and look at some online educational websites so he could see the concept in different ways. Revision is really important for retention - recap the next day. Ask him to pretend to be the teacher and explain something to you.

My son had a lot of additional tutoring as well. He has a respectable degree. I can see now that I had a milder form of ADHD. I have a very succesful professional career in an area that interests me. Over the years I have developed systems to make up for my organisational weaknesses. I have never taken medication but my son used it sparingly - for maths lessons and exams.

Reception sight test is just a screening they still need a proper eye test.

Where are that they do reception hearing checks? That sounds very sensible.

What about little things you might be able to do to help? Look for tips for kids with e.g. ADHD. Is he better if he gets a run around before school? Sensory play before school, even other ways of sensory input like drinking cold milk through a straw.

It is entirely normal for a 5 year old boy. The teacher is dredging around for something to say.
It would be worrying if he was crashing round the classroom, trashing others' work, being mouthy. But he is just being 5 ... surprise, surprise!
School can be a huge challenge for small boys. It is at odds with their nature. Give him lots of running around at escape time each day!

ADHD?!!!! FGS he is just being a little boy!!!
A little boy who is being crammed into a mould that is at odds with who he is. He is 5!!!

He needs to be allowed to be bored sometimes so he learns that not everything is instant entertainment and stimulation.

He's 5 years old and stuck in a classroom listening to a teacher talking about spelling or something. I'm an adult (non adhd) and would also lose focus. Early years teaching is totally not suited to the average boy in my opinion.

I know the consensus will be “he’s only 5, he’s a boy, this is very normal”…
However, very similar points were flagged about my DS in Y1 - incredibly bright and able, but really struggling with focus and writing tasks (his attention issues had already been flagged in reception).
What this meant for us was an assessment by the SENCo, various strategies put in place to try to help him, and eventually in Y5, and EdPsych report and eventual clinical diagnosis of ADHD (combined type).
So I think have an open mind with regards to ADHD, but the key thing now is to have dialogue with the teacher and SENCo and work on strategies to help him.

A real mixture of responses here swinging from ‘he’s 5 it’s normal’ to ‘ADHD’ this is very much how my mind is swinging at the moment!
I have asked the teacher if I can have a further chat with him to see if he can offer any pointers and I guess put them in place and see how he responds 🤷🏻‍♀️ it’s so hard!

Mine is a bit older but I'm a bit concerned about his ability to tune out other kids/distractions at school and also other activities. But not sure if I'm just expecting too much. My older one is extremely well behaved outside home so I may be being overly cautious but I am going to talk to the teachers at parents' evening. I am sure he's bright (older now so maybe easier to tell than at 5) - reads and understands chapter books in no time at all, answered some of his big brothers maths questions etc, has no difficulty with the content of a workbook I got to try to get him practicing writing at home. So I'm concerned lack of focus (and also some challenges with writing which is a whole other discussion) may hold him back from what he's capable of and make him demoralized, especially if he feels he's being 'bad' or he can see his written work is below the level of his peers.

School is a hell of a challenge for a 5 year old boy. He is plonked in the middle of a group of jolly playmates and expected to sit still and concentrate on some stuff he is not remotely interested in. I guess we might find it hard!

Every "diagnosis" needs context. I would bide your time before being tempted to get a label stuck on him; and even if you feel that is necessary further down the line, do not forget the context/environment in which he is being required to conform to rules that make not one whit of sense to his small mind!

A diagnosis of ADHD can easily be applied but it always relates to the context, to what a child is being asked to do - it is always worth asking whether those demands are reasonable ones. The SEND coordinator can come up with ideas, but all of those will be designed with getting him to conform to something that might in itself be inappropriate for his age and who he is. Lots of children struggle with this and have to soldier on.

I remember chatting to one of my now adult DDs when she was at secondary school about how she felt. She basically said it is all a total bore but she would play the game and get the bits of paper as required - and she did. All I could think was what a bloody waste of her childhood and youth, being bored, when I have no doubt she could have found more constructive things to do.

A GC has recently said similar to me - has settled at school, but can take it or leave it as regards the lesson content.

I could have written this for my year 1 child, i also had conversation re ADHD, but same as you, teacher was non commital as she isn't 6 until June, and she feels she needs time to mature. She is very bright, and I think she finds some of the work a bit easy, but it's harder for teacher to differentiate at this age, beyond the groups they have already put then in.
Her school has lots of focus on supporting them to maintain attention teacher says '1,2,3 eyes on me' children say back '1,2' eyes on you with clapping to alert them. They do 'magnet eyes', and word association games with a partner all to work on focus. It doesn't come automatically, and I think we expect too much to ask them to suddenly focus for long periods without prepping them.

We also have a wobble cushion she sits on - we found if we give her body oppurtuinity for movement her eyes abd brain can focus better.

Have also booked in a proper opticians eye check, as the reception one is very quick and doesn't always pick up on more subtle issues, so maybe do that too.