Concentration at school for ds 6, how can I improve it?

[pepsi]

My ds has very poor concentration. I had a meeting with his teacher yesterday and she said he is doing ok with reading and number work but literacy is poor. She is constantly having to say his name to get his attention when she is talking to the class and to keep him focused and has worries about how this will affect his progress long term. He already takes Eye Q fish oils and has done since last year in an effort to help. He was under a paed until last year but we have been signed off now. The paed does not rule out ADD/dyspraxia. An ed phsych saw him last year and she was that concerned but said she would like to see him again in a year which should be now. the school havent requested this yet so I have asked for them to do so. His behaviour is good in class and he is a really happy non-aggressive child who is kind to others, but there is a difference about him. His co-ordination is also poor, and his has hypotonic muscles which obviously dont help and I think has a lot to do with why he has no interest in writing. His teacher suggested doing more writing with him at home which we will do but wondered if there were any other ways in which we can help. His teacher says he is a very capable little boy but his concentration levels will hold him back.

would marbles work? a reward system?

Marbles?

Distractibilty is a dyspraxic trait as I'm sure you are aware already and leads to appranet dreaminess and poor concentration. Where does he sit in class , is he looking straight at the board or the teacher when she is talking. Does she seat him among a small group of evenly behaved children so he isn't distracted by misbehaviour close by and is he near her desk so she can keep a close, if discreet, eye. Does she break the tasks down into small chunks and prompt him to keep him on track ? ds can't manage a whole written piece of work well but can manage it better if broken down into steps and is not allowed to drift. How is his handwriitng -ds' has come on in leaps and bounds since Septemebr (he's just turned 8) and he has a teacher who takes 2 or 3 kids for handwriting practice once or twice a week.

At home we play lots of board games, do simple cooking, like making pizza, or follow a recipe, make things and try not to let him be too easily defeated by a large task such as clearing up or making something from Lego or K'nex, by breaking it down into very specific parts. He is also starting to do more actual writing as part of role play games with his sister - instructions, lists etc - and becoming more disciplined about doing his homework.

hth

Thanks Lizs that sounds postive. He does sit on the front table and currently the children on his table are well behaved although they changed the tables about reasonably often. Shall ask the teacher if she breaks things down into chunks and will try and do this myself too. His handwriting is poor I would say, although I am not an expert in 6 year olds handwriting. Perhaps I expect too much of him anyway. I think about it all so often that in the end I confuse myself.

sorry, my ds has marbles as a reward system. He is very bright and seemed to be looding it when he moved ot his new school. Someone on here suggested a reward system. Marbles. 10 marbles = a small present.

He had it forlistening, neatness etc....adn it worked like magic!!!!!

Hi Pepsi, DS1, now 7, sounds quite similar - he has dyspraxic and ADHD traits, but not enough for a diagnosis. This year, his teacher has introduced an incentive system for getting down to work in numeracy without messing about. He gets a smiley face every day he does this and after a certain number he gets a merit. Perhaps you could set up something like this with his teacher, even if they don't have merits - you could have another reward.

It has helped DS1, though he is still distractible.

So have you taken your little boy for diagnosis then? If they say "not enough for diagnosis" where does that leave you?

Well, the school will not refer because they don't think he has a real problem, so I would have to pay for an ed psych assessment - I have considered (still am) private assessment but DH is not keen on 'creating problems' in DS1's mind.

He passed an occupational therapy assessment for dsypraxia/ADHD two years ago, where he was pronounced low end normal for gross motor, borderline normal for fine motor, with possible dyslexic tendencies (but reading age of nearly 13 at 7.5 and spelling age of 10+ makes me doubt the dyslexia).

Sometimes I think I am worrying unnecessarily, but then I read other people's descriptions of their dyspraxic children and so much tallies with DS1.

Hope some of the ideas on this thread help with your DS!

singersgirl, have you tried going via your gp as that is how we got a paediatician assessment ? Although many of ds' skills are age appropriate according to his assessment, he has been referred to an OT, but the waiting list is long.

My son (almost 5) sounds very similar to your sons, Pepsi and Singersgirl.In fact, Pepsi's description could be my son! He struggles with writing at the moment - can do his name, but that's about it - but also finds colouring hard. Just recently he has become very keen on dot to dot books and mazes - I got two huge books of them from Woolies for 99p each - and this is really helping his pencil control and, more importantly, his motivation to pick up a pencil in the first place!

Concentration is a more difficult one. I was helping out in his class this afternoon and he seems so much less purposeful than the majority of other children. When I read with him (and his reading is good for his age) he was distracted by every tiny movement or sound around him. His teacher is very very good at refocussing his attention but I worry about next year, especially if he gets a teacher who's not quite so switched on.

Singersgirl - your dilemmas about assessment are exactly the same as ours!

LIZS (and sorry to hijack thread, Pepsi!), did you just ask your GP to refer or did your GP want to assess your son first? From other posts I've read, he also sounds very like DS1.

Sphil, DH thinks I am exaggerating the situation, and is much more of the view that DS1 is a typical, if a little quirky, 7 year old. He's already on a limited diet for food intolerance (which makes a big difference to behaviour), and DH doesn't want him to feel any more different. But seeing DS2 start school has emphasised DS1's issues for me.

Thanks for feedback!

The gp didn't assess him but we had already had access to an OT abroad so just her say so and our request was sufficient for him to agree to make the referral. Similarly our dd's development has highlighted ds' issues. You say your son had a previous assessment so could you ask for that to redone to confirm that he is now on track as he came out borderline and you feel he isn't making up the ground.

As to making him feel different, our ds has long been conscious of his shortcomings and difficulties - even though he is fairly borderline (his locomotor skills were judged a year to 18 months behind) and ostensibly copes well. As a preschooler he actively avoided (we realised in retrospect) the sort of activities which made him uncomfortable . Even now he is reluctant to play "It" at school as he always gets caught and the others are faster. It is n't about making them feel different but getting them help to develop and learn to cope. He used to really enjoy the one-to-one attention from his OT and is very positive about being helped. However I will admit it was hard for us to adjust our perception of ds and accept his difficulties.

hth

Thanks LIZS. Will discuss with DH. He always says "but the OT said he was OK". Yes, but.....