Helping children deal with a noisy classroom

[codek]

Hi,

I've been trying to find techniques to help a child (aged 6) deal with a noisy classroom - he's struggling with it a bit.

We have mentioned it to the school, but at the moment they're unable to deal with it.

I do think however, we could help him to be a bit more resilient in the environment, and for it to become less of a problem. But searching around I don't actually find any resources to help with this - they're all aimed at the teacher - how to quieten down the class as a whole - that's not what i'm after (although perhaps i should share those links, ha!)

In what way does he struggle and is the classroom the only place that he finds noise difficult?

Why are school “unable to deal with it”?

There is a child at my school who wears ear defenders. He puts them on when he wants and takes them off and puts them back when he feels more comfortable.

He also wears them when he's eating his lunch.

Is he sensitive to noise and bustle? Breathing techniques may be helpful. My DS seems to hold it together at school, then has a bit of a meltdown at home.

They put it down to a noisy class. They just seem to say thats how the class is. It seems to be well agreed between other teachers at the school that that class is just "noisy". I don't like this but don't know how we can escalate it further.

The class is noisy because they’ve been allowed to be noisy. That’s such a crap response.

Ear defenders are a good suggestion but the schools response is really lame.

The way that he struggles, is just reflected in a general desire not to go to school - and he's said that it's the noise that is the problem. I think he really takes it to heart if he can't hear the instruction, so perhaps we should encourage him to ask for more help.

He DOES love learning, we went to a recent science event and he totally loved it.

Has he had his heating checked?

Hearing!

If the class is noisy enough to disturb some children then the school need to take this on board as their responsibility and deal with it. They are not "unable" to - if they use this excuse then that is, as someone else has said, lame in the extreme. It is their job to create a positive learning environment for the children and for themselves.

If the class are noisy when the teacher is giving instructions then that is not just a "noisy" class, it's not great teaching. I'd ask the teacher how they intend to manage children who can't hear instructions due to the noise levels. It's not ok just to shrug and say oh well. The onus should not be on a 6 year old to have to constantly ask for instructions to be repeated, the teacher should be managing this.

he did have his hearing checked (at the hospital) and there did seem to be an issue at one point, but it's all clear now. ( this is where this all started and thats a really great point!). He even started sitting at the front of the class, although im not sure if that continued.

So is it that he doesn't want to go to school because he might not hear the instructions, or is it that he doesn't want to go because he's sensitive to the noise and finds it overwhelming? How does he feel about the dinner hall or playtime?

My ds2 has had some mild hearing problems and though he hears fine now he has some problems screening out background noise. The teacher is award and sits him at the front. For a few month’s after he had his second set of grommets he found the classroom noise overwhelming so he was allowed to go and work on his own in a quieter part of the room.

Some classes are naturally noisier than others. I had a class like this once - they were silent when listening to instructions and during independent work but noisy during paired or group work. They were on task - just noisy. It took a while to deal with but we got there in the end.

If it's upsetting your child this much then it's unacceptable for the school to basically say 'nothing we can do'. In the short term there may be a different place in the classroom he can sit or a different mix of children on his table.

he's fine at dinner time / in the park etc. so i think it's relating to concentration and specifically the learning side of things. we will talk to the teacher again, but will also try and find out a bit more from him exactly what the issue is

Sounds like a good plan. Good luck!

@codek hi I know this was a while ago now but what did the school do in the end for your child to manage this. Does he still struggle with the noise
Weve been approached about the exact same thing with our 9 year old his struggling just in the classroom with the other children chatting and being nosy they've suggested ear defenders but this is a route we feel very strongly about that we do not want to go down

it was never dealt with really. he got used to it in the end. I get that you dont want to go down the route of ear defenders, that should not be necessary.

You may be the first person to agree with me on the ear defenders I find such an awkward situation but I don't like them for various reasons

Currently there sending him out of the classroom to do his work quietly so I can't see why this can't continue
How old and what year is your son in now