DS having trouble concentrating/focusing - any ideas

[3rdnparty]

DS5.6 year 1-always been very social and chatty loves going to school to play with his friends who are a really nice bunch however he is really struggling to get things done...as just can't/won't concentrate on what he has been asked to do.... even if it is something he is interested in now

• started with stuff he didn't want to do like writing but I figured that would come in time as he's a left hander so finding writing hard but now it seems to be all the time.... can anyone suggest any strategies to help get him to concentrate short of blinkers/ear plugs ?

Omega Fish Oil. A high quality one with lots of DHA in it......

does that really work ? have heard mixed revews but happy to try as he probably doesnt eat a lot of oily fish....

It's worked for both of my kids. We have seen noticeable improvements on various things.

Make sure you get a high quality one with very high levels of DHA. Needs to come from fish not plants. Needs to contain lots and lots of DHA. (The one my DD is on contains 500mg of DHA - but I had to look long and hard to find one that good.)

The ones that are like sweeties and easy to get the kids to take don't contain much DHA....

It may or may not work for your son. If it doesn't - stop taking it :) You really should give it 3 months to know for sure. But I would expect you to notice a difference within a week....

Diet and sleep are my advise. Enough sleep and a healthy diet goes a long way to aid concentration. Baring in mind that I have no idea of your sons diet or sleep patterns I'd still like to comment generally. I believe that fish oils work as IndigoBell suggested, its been tested with children and adults who have ADHD. Research with inmates have shown that the hyperactive and agressive ones fed a high (fatty) fish diet became more collected, increased their concentration and emotional well being. Sounds a mirical cure, though I am sure it isn't quite that. But eating 2-3 fish suppers a week along with an omega fish oil supplement could work. Also, make sure he hasn't got iron deficiency, which is connected to lethargy and low concentration/poor attention. Give child appropriate supplement containing iron. AND make sure he sleeps enough. Teacher friends tell me they are shocked at how little primary school children sleep. A quick google search will tell you how long a child of his age should sleep. School is hard work for the youngest and enough sleep is vital. Perhaps make other changes to his diet too if necessary. Since he had writing problems earlier on perhaps his confidence has had a dent? Maybe he feels that he is lagging behind and is "dumber" than his peers? A confidence boost may be what he needs. Make school work a priority at home, give lots of praise for achievements of working concentrated(ish) on homework for say 10 minutes, then increase. Keep the teachers informed of what your doing and ask them to tell you if they see a difference. If you think confidence may be a problem ask them to help you boost his confidence as well. Finally, some children are more daydreamers than others and will be miles away often. Imagination, however, is linked to intelligence so I wouldn't worry to much about that. Good luck!

The fact he is left handed could be significant. Try getting him to do exercises across the midline so bring opposite knee up and hadn down to meet, kneel on all fours and raise opposing leg and hand to balance, throw/catch with alternate hands,and while hopping etc. It all stimulates the brain messages from each side.

Also school need to be breaking down each activity into small chunks and give a visual prompt for each stage, maybe reducing the amount they expect of him (such as fewer sentences, shorter worksheet) to build up confidence. Presumably hearing, vison etc are ok ?

thank you all for your supportive replies - there are some great ideas in there - his diet should be ok but will try and keep a diary - hadn't thought about iron- he goes to bed early enough I think but not sure he actually goes to sleep....has never done more than 10hours even as a tot
LIZS those exercises sound good and I'll talk to his teacher about 'chunking' she is very supportive and energetic but not very experienced..

Thanks a lot off to the healthfood shop to look for some good supplements.......

Have you checked his sight and hearing? Kids often switch off if they can't see or hear properly.

oddly enough off to the optician tomorrow though has been checked before and ok thanks

Mention the fact he is strugglign . There are other tests that can be done other thna a basic visual check, tracking or coloured overlays for example which may highlight if it is a processing disorder. Or he/she could refer you to a behavioural optometrist for further assessment if it isn't their field.

thanks LIZS had a good chat with the Optician who is very experienced and she did a full range of checks- all fine thank goodness, but worth doing- so thanks for your help.

Unfortunately the optician doesn't test for much.

I had 2 opticians tell me that DDs vision was fine. But thanks to this board I took her to a behaviour optometrist who found out she had loads of vision problems - including not being able to focus her eyes at reading distance :(

5 weeks of vision therapy has cured all her vision problems :)

I also had an Audiologist tell me that DDs hearing was fine. However the Sound Learning Centre then checked her hearing, and it too was not at all fine. She has hypersensitive hearing, auditory processing delay and auditory discrimination problems. We're off to do Auditory Integration Problems over half term, which should cure all of that lot....

I'm not suggesting your child has either vision or hearing problems. Just letting everyone know that being declared 'fine' by an optician or an Audiologist means absolutely nothing.