Any primary teachers or teaching assistants - your advice is MUCH NEEDED please.

[Bugsy2]

DS is 7 yrs old and in a "good" primary school in Year 2. At parents evening it came as no surprise to be told that DS's biggest problem is inability to focus & almost zero concentration. This is a problem that I have been highlighted since nursery school. He is not disruptive or badly behaved, but is unable to keep his mind on any work for more than 2 minutes.
The teacher said that "we need to get him to concentrate better" and I told her I agreed absolutely, but how do we do that and she sat back in her chair and said "well, that's the million dollar question".
She recommended DS be assessed by the SENCO person, but is there anything I can do in the meantime to help DS concentrate??????
He seems to me to be bright & interested in the world but is struggling so badly with spellings & maths that it is making his life miserable.
Any help or guidance you could give me would be very much appreciated.

Have you tried visual aids?
Some of the children at our school have laminated cards on their desk reminding them to "Look at the teacher" or "Listen to the teacher" or whatever their particular problem is, with appropriate pictures - these can help to keep the child focussed.
Some also have tick lists for particular routines, such as getting ready for a lesson, or with targets broken down into small steps "Iam going to write my name and the date" "I am going to write three sentences/ do two sums" etc, perhaps with a place for a sticker or for a smiley face to be drawn if it is achieved. Does the class have a TA? If s/he has a few minutes to spare, s/he might be able to help by writing down the objectives/ focus of the lesson - e.g. "We are learning the 2x table" and perhaps a few key words, then remembering to come back & give praise & encouragement from time to time.

I'm not a teacher but my mum's a senco and my ds has problems with attention too. We found that fish oils really helped and i know my mum recommends them to parents of children with similar difficulties in her school. Obviously you need practical strategies too like the ones rustybear suggests but you may find this helps too.

rusty, he is already sitting on the table with the teaching assistant. The tick lists sound like a good idea though - I think he'd like that.

amynnixmum, I wish that were the answer but he has been taking omega 3&6 supplements (for last 3 years) as well as eating a really healthy diet with lots of fish.

Bugsy2 it took a long time year 2 for this to be picked up. I have a son (year 1) who has the same problem which I was very aware of from his nursery days. I wrote to the local LEA for a statuatory assessment for his educational needs which they did. He has a statement and has one to one help 5 hours every day. I have been giving him eye q fish oils) and has made a hugh diference. I work very closely with the school to devise strategies that will work for him Your son needs to have a proper assessment to determined what his weaknesses are and work on those. Sound he needs constant help to stay focus which my son needed but now with the input he has had he has learned how to stay focus. Hope this helps.

My ds has a statement too and full time 1:1 at school. It makes a huge difference. You can request that the LEA to an assessment yourself but it will definately help if the school supports you in this.

7yo, not disruptive or badly behaved. Is he bored? Have the class moved on and he hasn't grasped earlier concepts and so is now being left behind and giving up? Would it help if you did some spelling and maths at home to bring him up to speed? Then he might be happy to participate in the lessons again.
How about something like scrabble or boggle for spelling games. Or cut your own out and do word snap. For maths - something like playing shop and manipulating money or counters. With access to the internet maybe let him spend time by himself working things out on games. Starfall is a good site. Or maybe find other sites that might appeal to him more. The BBC have some good games for children. Make it fun without pressure to do well. Once he realises that he can do things he may become more interested in class and be less likely to switch off until the lesson is over.

I think you may be right Juule. To try and bring him up to speed, I got a really lovely teacher to give him some extra lessons over the summer, but after one session he just refused to work with her. He was crying & really distressed. He just didn't seem to get the concepts she was explaining (about times tables) even though she did it in a really imaginative, fun way, and he was supposed to have done it at school already.
I do extra things with him at home wherever possible, the reading alone is a sweaty nightmare most nights but we write little notes to people and he works out the money he has saved up in his pocket money pot. I try to make adding & spelling part of our every day activities, particularly as DD is learning now as well. So we spot shop signs that are funny or we count people in shops or add up piles of biscuits at snack times etc.
He likes using the internet though, so I'm going to have a look at the games you have suggested & see if I could get him to give those a try.

I think sometimes the problem with getting a teacher as you did do is that it is still a teacher and if he is associating that type of learning with him having problems and feeling as though he has to 'perform' he might feel as put off by that as he is in school no matter how fun the teacher presented it. I think the writing little notes is a great idea for reading and writing. Let him pick his own books to read to you at night and if he doesn't feel like it, see if he'll let you read to him. On the maths side you're already doing lots of things. I've found computer games can be good for maths even if it's adding up your own score

Didn't tell him it was a teacher though Juule! Just said a lady called Lynn was going to come & make up games about times tables. He was really enthusiastic beforehand!
Choosing his own book doesn't work, because he doesn't actually want to read at all. We have some great books about subjects he is really interested in & he loves looking at the pictures, but trying to get him to read them is like trying to make a horse drink water.
I'm never sure how much to force the issue, given that any pushing usually results in tears, temper tantrum and sense of failure all round.
ARGHHHHHHHHH. Why can't this stuff be straightforward!

I think that you're right to try things with him at home but I really wouldn't force the issue at all. Juuule is right about him associating things he doesn't understand with certain situations. If he feels that you are 'getting in on the act' then he is more likely resist any help you try to give him. Go with the flow and do what you can without letting it become a battle - he'll only resent you for it. I know it sounds like you're giving in to him but keep trying and some days it will work.

Sounds rather like my yr 3 seven yr old DS! It was THE big issue brought up at parents evening. The problem is that in the big, hurly burly world of Juniors he tends to be assessed on his written work- and there ain't a lot of that to assess! Half a sentence when 4 were asked for, and so forth. I have come to realise the big issue is simply maturity for us and I can't see there's much I can do about that, except hold him back a year!

Try building up concentration through different activities. Try jigsaws, model building, craft acivities. Build up his concentration with activities he likes. Try using some sort of timing device. In the past I've used a traffic light timing device. I think blooming marvelous sell it will lookand put a link on here. The SENCO assesment may show that there is a risk of dsylexia. May main suggestion would be build up his concentration with acitivties he enjoys.

Don't know exactly what level your son is at re: literacy, but I find this website quite good here

Hi - I was looking at this exact thing this evening as have just been told that my DS (4) is having the same problem. I found this which looks helpful.