My 5 year old has distraction problem.

[Bijli]

Hello. My 5 year old aughter is in year 1, she is one of the younger ones in her class. I had her parents consultation with her teacher yesterday.
Her teacher said, she easily gets distracted while doing tasks ( i have noticed that at home as well). Her writing skills need to be improved( her teacher didn't directly say that but that was the underline message). Her teacher was asking if DD had attended school during the first lockdown which she did but it kind of sounded to me like she is behind.
I asked her teacher if DD is behind in her class, her teacher said no. But the only positive thing her teacher said was she is a happy girl and has settled back really nice.
Other thing her teacher said was she reverses her numbers and i have noticed she does that with her letters too ( i brought that to her teacher's attention and she said she will keep an eye on that).
Now all that slightly stressed me out. Is it normal??

Would be grateful if anyone could share their experience xx

She’s five. It’s normal for them to be easily distracted and once she’s a bit older and used to school and sure she will settle more. Re the letters and numbers, just keep an eye on it. My mum a primary teacher said it’s very common to begin with but if it doesn’t go away in couple of years it’s often a sign of dyslexia.

My August born DS used to reverse his numbers too in year 1, very occasionally in year 2 and not at all now he’s in year 3. His handwriting really flourished in year 2. As for the distraction - that’s a work in progress but we’re getting there!

Thank you for your comments. Xx

I used to write backwards (mirror writing), and my DD reversed her d and p and b for years. Not necessarily anything to worry about.

Distraction is trickier. Classrooms can be noisy, work can be dull and difficult.

Don't worry, she is still very young.

She sounds like my daughter. She mirror wrote, and was very distracted. She's left handed which I think was part of it. She's on the dyslexia spectrum and she has ADHD, which took quite a while to get diagnosed. She is brilliant at maths, has a fantastic vocabulary, but struggles to write quickly and still struggles with spelling.
She gets extra time in her exams and uses coloured overlays to read. Fidget toys also helped her to keep still and concentrate when she was smaller.
With help at school and exam concessions she got 10 good GCSEs and is currently taking her A levels.
Just make sure if you think she need help and support she gets it.

Thank you for your messages.

Her teacher didn't say much about how to improve her distraction problem. I have personally never faced such an issue before so got really stressed out, she is my first born.

How do you ladies help your kids keep focused during studying? Would love suggestions. Thank you xx

At 5 I would just focus on reading as that is the very basic of all learning. Read to her all the time and get some early readers books. It will all come. She is only 5!

Try getting books like Where’s Wally or detailed colouring in, puzzle books etc to encourage concentration. Also cooking - so concentrating on measuring and following a recipe.

She is still quite little!

Honestly, at 5 it is normal for attention and frontal lobe skills (that direct attention, help you switch attention) to be poor. Also being young for age matters at her age - shes 1/10th of a lifetime behind! That age difference will matter less as she grows up.

As others have said, play games or books etc that use these skills but please dont fret too much! Shes too little to have pressure on this

She sounds like a pretty normal 5 year old to me , one that wants to play and have fun ,not sat down at a table being told what to do !
Keep reading at home , every day, its a massive help for them , she will settle as she gets older and learns what is expected of her.
I really do feel that sometimes schools go for a one size fits all and lose sight that children differ vastly.
My 3rd child was the youngest in the year , some of her classmates were nearly a year older , this isn't taken in to account and i really think it was noticeable in some aspects in the 1st few school years.
A happy child is what matters most.

Thank you all for your reassurance. She is fine with her reading. I personally think she reads well but her teacher used the word 'fine' so i will go with that.

I feel relaxed and i think i am gonna take a step back and just let her be and do things at her pace. We practice writing/spellings once every 2 days, read every day and maths at the weekends. She loves playing puzzles, she has got quite a few.

Thank you all for your advise xx