Concentration in 5 year old - please, please help!!

[Scottie22]

Just been told by ds's teacher that he is really struggling with his concentration in school. Is partly to do with his erratic sleeping pattern - he can't get to sleep at night and is often awake until 10pm.

I wondered if anyone had any tips or proven methods of increasing concentration and focus in this age group - especially for boys! It's maths he is particularly struggling with as he has no interest at all and is refusing point blank to do anything relating to numbers.

Any advice gratefully received as am getting quite worried he is falling behind

he's 5! nuff said surely?

no, seriously, my almost 5 year old has a great attention span- for things he wants to do, like lego. But there are certain things he hates doing, maths and drawing, and he too refuses point blank to do them at school. or, does the minimum he can get away with.
He goes through these phases though, and myself and his teacher are just letting him do things at his own pace.

re the sleeping though, do you think he gets overtired? I know with mine that if they get too tired they get a bit crazed and find it difficult to get off to sleep (i'm the same)

Thanks thisisyesterday - very reassuring! I wouldn't have been worried except for his teacher who is obviously concerned he is now behind in these areas. Like your ds his attention span is great for his interests like sharks and dinosaurs!

I'm just wondering about improving his focus and concentration so that we are not always at loggerheads over his homework!

i dunno with that one, ours don't have homework yet, so it isn't an issue.

i think it's hard to get the balance right where you encourage them, but don't push them soi much that they start actively disliking it.

perhaps you could get a timer or something and say "ds, i'd really like to play lego with you, but first we must do this homework, lets put the timer on and do homework for 10 minuets, then we;ll have tome to play"

this works with trying to get ds1 dressed in the mornings! might work with homework too?
otherwise perhaps ways of incorporating things he likes into the schoolwork? "if we have 10 sharks, and 3 sharks swim off...."

I think you need to address the sleep issue first. If he's tired, he can't concentrate and work properly, plus by the time he gets home from school he'll be shattered and definitely not in the right frame of mind for any homework. The holidays are coming up, so that would be a good time to try and change his routine to get more sleep.

My 5yo boy has problems concentrating. He also is a bad sleeper. I did a star chart for staying in his bed all night, with a little present on saturday for 7 stars. This really did resolve the getting up in the night issue, and hence improved his mood.

The teacher advised that it was important to get him to take tasks to completion (he also has quite poor self-confidence about being able to accomplish a task), so I started doing some quite easy puzzles with him, and simple memory games, that he wouldn't stop halfway through.

I congratulate him hugely on even small achievements, and have been into his classroom to look through all his books and things with him and marvel at how brilliant everything that he has done is. This definitely helped with his interest in school.

I have a 7yo who is a real bookworm, and that has been a good example, as 5yo says things like 'not being able to read is boring isn't it mummy'. He's becoming quite motivated to be able to do things for his own enjoyment.

If he has an attention span for something, then I wouldn't worry that he has a problem as such, he probably needs to mature a bit. Giving homework to 5yo is really unfortunate I think. Especially if they don't like school that much anyway, like mine.

Ds (also 5) was like this at the start of the term. His teacher still says she has never taught a child like him (and that isn't said in a positive way). He refused to engage in class at all. He is better now mainly because he is hugely competitive. I nagged encouraged him to try his best. Our issues were reading and spelling tests. With spelling tests - he was upset that he was only getting four spellings a week and some of the others were getting ten. With reading he was mortified when I told him he was getting the same books as the reception children. Also lots and lots of praise (overly so) for school-related things he did well. Definite improvement in attitude and his teacher no longer thinks that he has SEN.

What is your bedtime routine like? If I have problems with ds I tend to do the bedtime routine in reverse - bath, ready for bed and then homework and tea. Sometimes being in his PJs seems to calm him down. He iis usually in bed by 7.30pm to 8pm but the other night doing that routine meant he was in bed asleep by 6.15pm.

Just to note that my sons are at French lycee. They are not expected to have learnt to read by the end of this academic year (year 1 equivalent, agewise). That is next year's task. They are supposed to learn to recognise letters and numbers and to write them. They do not have homework. Spelling tests don't start until year 3. They at least catch up, if not overtake, in years 4, 5 and 6. I think it's reasonable to expect that 5 yo children may not be ready for such formal learning. I'm very pleased that ds 2 does not have this kind of pressure, as it would be very hard for him. Those that are ready have opportunities to learn (eg my ds1 could read anyway by the end of reception-equivalent).

So anyway my point is that British school culture may expect too much of 5yos re concentration. That is not your ds's fault!

My daughter was 4 this August and started school in September. Her teacher has referred her to the School nurse for her concentration and fidgeting. They think it maybe more developemental and that she's immature for her age but they don't want to miss anything. Even her playgroup noted it in her preschool report to the new school.

My daughter also has sleep issues so that don't help

Grrrr

Vanessaw, you could be talking about my DD2. She is late August baby in reception. Nursery noted her issues with concentration, i.e wandering off mid task, Unable to sit still for long.
Reception teacher even went to her nursery to observe her and talk to nursery teachers last July, so she was perfectly aware of DDs 'issues'. Nursery said she had concentration problems but was within the normal ranges.
So I felt really reassured new school was aware and prepared to put strategies in place to cope with her. No such luck. She has already had several playtimes shortened because she has had to stay in during break time for fidgeting, or wandering off. She is the youngest in the school so maybe should not have the same expectations placed on her as a 5yo.
Teacher has said she would rather be doing things than sitting down, so why not engage her in a different way? We know at home it can be a struggle, but she is funny, entertaining and bright but hard work. Also has always had sleep issues

Wow is amazing how many of our dc have sleeping issues! Thanks for all your interesting replies - Romanarama we thought about Steiner school for ds (can't afford it!) as he is so much more suited to that type of environment. However he is being kept in reception for an extra year so is still able to 'dress up' and do his own thing more than in the Yr1/2 class.

I just think he is a little immature for his age - although he is a boy so needs some leeway bless him! He is great when he's interested in something but school isn't doing it for him at the moment!

We have a really strict bedtime regime - bath, stories, bed and he is always in bed by 7.30pm - he just doesn't go to sleep arghhh!!

vanessaw200 and drivinmecrazy - your kids are 4, they are still very little. I think the schools are being unreasonable to expect them to concentrate for the same length of time as a child of 5. At that age, there is a huge gap between a 4 and a 5 year old. I don't understand the school at all. If your child is fidgeting in lessons and walking away, she should be encouraged to take full advantage of her playtime to work off some of her energy, not made to stay in and sit at a desk.

I'm currently in Germany and kids here stay in kindergarten upto the age of 6. Then they start school and they catch up and sometimes overtake what is happening in the UK.

FernieB, I think the school are just making sure they're aren't missing a trick and they are doing the right things. They haven't jump into this, she was observed for quite a while. Her teacher has got a son with the same problems and is aware of the problems and has tolds us what we can do at home. She does PE and is always out at playtime at the moment she is only part time til the new year. She is in reception at the moment and so they don't spend too much time if much at desks but they do have carpet time and the teacher has said that the only way to keep my daughter from fidgeting is to give her a toy to fiddle with or she fiddles with the teachers shoes i.e laces, bows... teacher doesn't mind because she knows it's keeping her still.

My daughter is also hyper or very energetic but the school nurse is visiting us at home to observe and meet my daughter.

totally agree with Roman. Your son's concentration is probably well within normal developmental limits - the school approach is more likely to be the problem!