Year 2 Not concentrating and not working to ability

[cba]

Just had parents evening and yet again ds is not concentrating or working to his ability.

Because of this he will move into year 3 in bottom sets.

It seems that he has lost confidence to get on and work on his own.

Have you been in this position, what did you do?

ds is really fed up of school at the moment, I dont think the teacher brings out the best in him. I have asked the teacher to praise at least once a day for something, anything to try and build his confidence and give him conviction in his work.

Why do I always come away from Parents Evening feeling totally drained.

He's a boy. He is 6-7. Not concentrating and not giving his best is normal! Don't push it - just carry on making his world stimulating and interesting and don't let him hear any negative words about school from your lips. He only has 4 more months with this teacher, so grin and bear it.

I am expecting to get called in by the teacher tonight after the note i put in.

I am so worried as the teacher said he is below what he should be but dosent offer any other positives such as "but he is such a lovely boy" etc, just full of doom and gloom

Perhaps he is bored rigid?

I hope you do go back to talk to the teacher. As a professional - he/she should be able to offer you some ways forward. Are they setting according to test results or by ability (teacher assessment)? There should be the opportunity for him to move sets should his work improve - but, if he is having difficulty concentrating, then perhaps the lower set is the best place for him at the moment. I hope the teacher offers you some solutions - I'm sure things will feel better once you have had another talk with your child's teacher. Let us know how you get on.

ds has said he finds school very boring. Teacher also said its as though he goes to school because he has to and not because he wants to. Well, if most seven year olds were given the choice I am sure that they would prefer to stay at home.

Just at a loss what to do.

Is he the type of child who would enjoy a challenge? What about goalsetting and rewards? Boredom is a problem, especially with bright children, because often they just switch off. Much depends on whether the teacher has time or inclination to make things a bit more interesting. If the teacher is sure he is underachieving, why is she not trying to make the work a bit more challenging/interesting?

I think you need to consider some of the things on the other thread. If he has a learning issue, for example, that will have a knock on effect on his confidence and you need to be sure not only that he is setted correctly but has additional support if needs be.

I agree with everything everyone has said. His teacher has at least took on board what I have said regard praise and put a lovely comment in his reading diary tonight. I will just take it slow and keep checking in with the teacher, I suppose that is all I can do for the time being.

I will also stay really positive with regard school and hope it rubs off on him

My DS3 was like this in Y2. Sadly he has continued to be like it and is now in Y11. Every year we hear the same thing from school- not working to his ability- coasting.

No constructive advise I'm afraid, but you do need to nip this in the bud now

Sorry to hear that evenhope. Ds1 was like that all the way through to his A2 year, because he was bored. He coasted all the way through, getting "good enough" grades - Then he dropped out of school and went to 6th form college, chose different subjects, was treated like an adult, and finally got motivated. He is off to University this year.

What I am trying to say is that some bright kids are so bored and turned off by school in general, and the constraints of the national curriculum in particular, that it takes a long time for them to get motivated and interested enough to apply themselves.

Education has become so prescriptive in this country, there is very little room or scope for imagination.

3little your comment "Education has become so prescriptive in this country, there is very little room or scope for imagination. ", maybe true in the teens but in year 3, children should be finding most things exciting and new, unless school very odd.

Has the OP checked for SEN? my ds was the same and once we realised he is dyspraxic it has helped enormously. He has a big trouble with concentrating, so he slips behind feels stupid and then hates school. Viscious circlr it takes a while to break it. You are right with the idea of lots of praise, boost his confidence and find something he is good at (a sport, music etc).

There are huge problems with the National Curriculum and huge problems with class sizes but from what I've seen of schools, there is a very real attempt to make lessons engaging and interesting. I'm in my 40s and I remember an education system that was much more disciplined and much more one way of doing things and often much more boring.

I think that children often say they are bored when they mean they don't "get" it. There are, of course, children who are not challenged by the lessons but boredom isn't always a sign of being bright.

The problem is that work is often boring if you don't make an effort. And teaching children to make an effort and to give things a chance and not to switch off after two minutes is really hard.

I actually dont think he is bored by the lesson. But, having thought about it long and hard i feel he just lacks the conviction to get on and try things himself, he dosent like getting things wrong.

Also if at first glance something looks hard, he will say he cant do it. If i then show him he is fine.

I think over coming this lack of confidence and having the ability and conviction to dive in is what I need to achieve.

cba I'm in EXACTLY the same position with ds aged 6.5. They've started throwing in ADD into the equation. He's getting a support teacher soon. But I don't think it's that.... although the symptoms are convincing. He can do the work so easily if there are no distractions! But in a classroom he can do absolutely nothing for a whole morning... doesn't disrupt the class, just day dreams and draws picture unless the teacher constantly prompts him.... which she point blank explained "I have other children in my class to deal with"..

I see her point though. No advice but thought I'd empathise. It's so frustrating and I get so angry with him!

Ds1 has always been like this. He has ADD but we are awaiting a "proper" diagnosis after he was misdiagnosed with dyspraxia years ago. However, the teachers do recognise that he is intelligent, just "elsewhere" during lessons. He also has poor organisational skills. I find we have to do a lot of work after school with him
which is not always easy as I work 4 days a week. The classroom assistant has been fantastic at nudging him into action and helping him to get organised but unfortunately he doesn't have her fulltime until we get the dx.

Chipmonkey - That so sounds like ds. I eventually had to speak to the teacher about the work coming home. I'm a single parent and work fulltime. I get me and the kids home for 6pm...we used to spend an HOUR doing his school work...meantime I've got dd (3,5) screaming for her dinner. It got to the stage where I was almost shaking ds into doing his work. That was my lowest point.

Maybe the diagnosis is right.... I'm almost hoping it is and then he'll get some support. I cant' do this on my own I'm ashamed to say.

oh chipmonkey and toothache you have my sympathy. Maybe we should start a support thread for all those with dc with concentration issues. I think schools sometimes forget that parents needs as much support as the children do.

With ds2, who has dyspraxia, we were offered an assistant who would come to the house/creche and help with homework but tbh I will be going on Maternity leave soon and should be able to cope if I am at home all day. At least I can get the dinner started while they are still at school. Ds4 is going to have to be in a sling A LOT I think!

cba on Thu 13-Mar-08 22:31:46
"I actually dont think he is bored by the lesson. But, having thought about it long and hard i feel he just lacks the conviction to get on and try things himself, he dosent like getting things wrong.

Also if at first glance something looks hard, he will say he cant do it. If i then show him he is fine."

Sounds like my ds last year. In his case, boredom wasn't a sign of being bright, but of not feeling he could cope.

Now that he's moved up to Yr 3, there has been an improvement. It has actually helped him that he is forced to do his homework whether he thinks he can or not (they are kept in at breaktime until they do it). So he's found out that he can do lots of things; it's just a question of being prepared to struggle. He is still in bottom set, but at least he is happy there.

My dd is like that. She is currently being diagnosed with ADHD. Look into it, its not simply a case of being hyperactive or lacking attention 100% of the time. Some kids are more attention deficit & not at all hyper, & some are hyper without the attention deficit. My dd has the combined where she lacks attention & is hyper, but not as hyper as a boy with the hyperactive element would be. Its a more varied condition than people realise. Its not simply black & white. Sometimes dd can concentrate for hours on something, like on her ds at home with no distractions, but in the classroom setting its a completely different story.
Borrow a book from the library & read up on it. Dont wait for a so called professional to point it out to you, because in my experience they wont.