DC Not Completing Any Assigned Work In Class

[Greatdomestic]

I'm a first time poster and am at a loss as to what to do. DC is 7 and is a bit of a dreamer. No identified learning difficulties, not SN etc.

However,since the beginning of the new academic year has been completing NONE of the assigned work in class. As a result the work is being sent home to complete and she's not getting to do any of the good stuff she loves in class with the other kids. she does the work ok at home.

I don't understand how she has become so disengaged - I've tried withdrawing treats, tv etc if she has not completed the work in class, but nothing seems to have worked so far. I feel I am failing her and she will be left behind her peer group.

She's in a class of 28 with mixed abilites.

Has anyone out there had a similar problem and if so, how did you overcome it? I'm due to meet with her teacher tomorrow.

Do you find that she is able to do the work at home with no help at all, or do you need to explain what to do, or do you have to sit with her and keep her focused?

yep. ds1 has pretty much always been like it. if dc are reasonably bright, not causing any disturbances, and the teachers know they are capable of the work, it will just be ignored.

ds1 is now yr5, and the teachers have said the same thing for the last 6 years. oh, he's fine, but he's difficult to motivate/ engage.

they have tried numerous strategies, we've tried numerous strategies. i just don't think he fits the school environment. most of the curriculum is farily abstract and pointless with little bearing on reality, it's no wonder that it doesn't suit everyone. we are lookingat home ed him tbh. (that said, i have 2 dd's who love school and are real crowd pleasers).

but anyway, attention deficit stuff keeps popping up, so after 6 years of 'difficult to engage/ motivate' we're getting a full psycho-ed assessment done. belt and braces, to see if it sheds any light on his inability to stay on task.

i should add that yr2 was when the teachers started to be concerned about ds1's lack of engagement - oooo, sats year, how strange. and obviously. attention issues aren't such an indication in yr r or yr1 - mostly it gets chalked up to immaturity. at some point if they don't grow out of the inattention then it becomes more noticeable, as their peer group does outgrow it. and 7 would be about that age when in context it would become more noticeable...

but there's no magic wand. if you can motivate her at home, the only possibility is replicating whatever works in that setting, but tbh, with 29 other kids in the class, that level of 1-1 is unsustainable.

Thanks for the response.

I don't know if I am exacerbating the problem, as I do sit with her and ensure that she completes it and keep her focussed

If you feel that you should do this, then it is likely that she needs your support. What do you do when you sit with her?

Thanks madwoman. Her teacher last year reported similar but managed to keep her along with the rest of the class.

She says that sometimes she forgets what she is supposed to be doing - as she hasn't been listening - but is scared to ask for help in case she gets a row.

I'm considering another school with smaller classes as I understand that the teacher can't spend lots of 1-2-1 time with her with the numbers she has.

BTM - I ask her what she is supposed to be doing and after she has done it, I check that it is correct. 90% of the time it is correct

ds1's current teacher describes him as attention diverse rather than deficit. there's so much going on in his head that he can't stay on track.

it's a really good sign that dd recognises she wasn't listening, and is scared of getting a row btw. it means that you can discuss coping strategies (using a planner for home work etc) and help her work out how she can stay on task herself... maybe

Madwoman, she is quite sociable and a pleaser. All her reports say how polite and well mannered she is, and she's not causing any disruption in class.

I think attention diverse is a good description. It's not that she can't concentrate, just that she won't concentrate on what she should be at that time.

yy, that's why they haven't done anything about it. she isn't causing them any bother. ds1 is exactly the same.

it's one of the reasons we are toying with home ed - he's on fire when he's engaged, but school just doesn't engage him... it might flick a switch and trigger an idea for a fantastic diversion, but the actual curriculum and timetable doesn't plan for diversions... i wondered if allowing him some time 'off' such a regimented system might reignite his passion for learning. trying to keep him on track is wearing me down as well. he's almost 10 and it's much more noticeable now... still no disruption or anything, but just switched off. and it can't be good for them to sit like that for hours, day in, day out?

What is the class teacher doing to help?

Is your DD at a table with other children who distract her? She might be better on a side table, facing a plain wall, just in the short term, so that there are fewer distractions until she gets into the habit of getting the work done.

Does she listen properly to the teacher's initial input? The teacher could very easily ask her to repeat the instructions back to check that she has heard and understood.

Would she respond to simple rewards, such as stickers, for being on task in each lesson? They could build up to a bigger 'prize'. You've tried sticks, so how about carrots?

Is she simply unchallenged and bored by work that is too easy for her? The teacher could try something a lot tougher, to see what her response is.

Oh, this is DD down to the last detail. She's 8 in January. We homeschool her in literacy/English as we live abroad, but to be honest it's tough going even 1 to 1. Fine if DH or I are sitting with her and teaching, but when left to work on her own it all falls apart.

I've done the same as OP, no tv if work uncompleted. It helps sometimes, but often not. So we have the work from school coming home, and then DH or I have the 'fun' of making her do it. And she is in a class of roughly 18 to one teacher.

I have also wondered about ADHD.

I should add that's she's academically able. She reads & writes at the expected level in two languages, and is coming along nicely in maths. She's amazing at science, and has a tremendous memory for scientific names and detail.

But put a worksheet in front of her and it's all over.

I was exactly like this. I had my hearing tested, epilepsy was considered, threats, bribery, everything. We still don't really know what the issue was, but I found it easier to concentrate with just one distraction, if that makes sense - fiddling with something or white noise for example. Also defined goals instead of 'just do what you can' - one teacher started saying I could work on my own project if I had time after I had done x amount of work (more than I would normally do in a week of that subject) All of a sudden, I was easily completing the work in loads of time with top grades. I just was never a 'school' person.
The same happened in high school - I would totally disengage (not being naughty, I would just not be able to pin my mind down, it would just wander off into a thought and I would emerge and ask a question that only made sense to me) until they put me in a side room half a term before gcses and gave me rigid goals and I was fine.
I wish I was home educated. A room full of 29 random kids with thier noises and confusing behaviour was no place for me - I was either in a panic or daydreaming.
Hopefully schools are nicer places now. I hope so, my bright but odd dd1 goes to one.

lol tx, that's the thing. if kids are reasonably bright, they get away with it, because the teachers 'know' what they are capable of, even if they don't actually produce anything. (for example, ds1 walked away with the 'top student' prize and cheque last year, and won the science fair, despite the teacher showing me acres of unwritten work every time she spoke to me, and expressing her concern about his inability to function. and the fact he was seeing the school counsellor. how is that helpful? it's teaching him he doesn't have to do the work!

being bright often masks some of the more urgent flags for add/adhd.

sense, that's why we're looking at homeschooling ds1. that you think it would helped you, but v interesting for us personally!

Eco lady, I had wondered about the teacher confirming that she understood what the instruction was and asking her to repeat it. It seems simple, but obviously not being done.

The school also has problems with lack of reading resources - the kids get a book for 2 weeks instead of one. She is now on the same one for the second block of 2 weeks and knows it off by heart, and therefore disengages as she finds it boring. However, I plan to take this up with the head.

I'm going right back to basics at the moment - cutting out all tv, increasing chores, no sweet treats, making sure she drinks enough to see if any of this makes the slightest difference.

When I meet the teacher today, hopefully she will have some solutions. She was at a table with a boy who was always in trouble, but he has now been moved.

Sense, I'm glad it all worked out for you.

Tx, well done for you on the home schooling, it must be hard. I'm considering a move of schools if things don't improve.

Wish me luck for today. I'm absolutely worried sick about the long term impact if I don't get this resolved now.

What makes you think she doesn't have any SEN? I would say, by definition, if she works well 1:1 in a quiet area, but can't work in class she does have SEN (Special Educational Needs)

Zinc and Omega Fish Oil can really help concentration.

Could she have ADD-PI (Attention Deficit Disorder - Predominantly Inattentive)?

It's not that you're looking for a label. It's that techniques that help kids with ADD-PI ( or whatever ) may well help her..... (Fiddle toys, sitting near the teacher, frequent breaks, zinc, omega fish oil.......)

indigo, I have had her on omega oils for the past 2 years.

she hasn't been labeled, but what you are saying does make sense. I will investigate.

Indigo, I for one am not denying that DD has SEN. I think that, as madwoman said, it's only now that it's becoming apparent that she is more inattentive and dreamy than her peers. I think there was a lot of 'she's bright and she'll be fine' going on at school, so it's easy to slog on for a couple years without realising the extent of the problem.

GreatDomestic, my point about changing school and homeschooling is that none of this has solved our problem. She is in a fairly small class at school, and as the school day here is shorter than in the UK, we use the extra time to homeschool her in English. Because we do this, she is keeping up academically. But she still has a problem.

Of course it's much, much better to be in an environment where DD is learning - I know she is not falling behind - but I still need to find a way to help her do her work, and to concentrate. It's a vital life skill!

Here's a good Zinc supplement if she's not on one.....

TX, thanks. When something interests her, she can concentrate. Her dancing teacher says she is very attentive for that one hour slot. It just seems to be at school this all goes. In P1, one of her best friends liked to do her own thing and not really listen - however, this girl is very bright and can do very well with little or no effort. DD however cannot do this.

Kids with ADHD can concentrate on things they want to.

And the problem can also be that they concentrate on the wrong thing, rather than they don't concentrate.

Nothing you have said on this thread rules out ADHD :)

Thanks Indigo, I have wondered, but thought that ADHD kids had no attention span for anything.

DD can concentrate too on things she's really interested in. But I don't think that's way ADHD/ADD is about, necessarily. (Warning: not at all well informed on subject). I think it's about being able to concentrate on the task before you, whether you find it fascinating or not. And probably like the great 'What is dyslexia?' debate, it's a whole range of possible manifestations. I think the wooliness of the issue has been putting me off!

oh god no, ds1 can concentrate on stuff for hours if he's into whatever it is.

but there really is no doubt he has serious issues with attention.

and it really is only coming to a head now at 9. now is the point we do have to do something about it.

his teacher is getting him to use a wobble cushion in class (they also have fiddle stuff and a dynaband around the legs of the chair etc) and is really trying to keep an eye on him. but both she and the paed have said he just zones out. and she can then chew him out for x,y, or z and feels really guilty because he clearly has absolutely no idea what he's done/ supposed to have done but not finished/ started. and i'll do the same thing. i'll get his attention and say 'ds, you need to go and get your coat. right now. from upstairs. i've asked you three times and now i'm telling. upstairs, coat. now.' and he'll go upstairs, and come down three minutes with no coat. so i'll go crazy, and then it will be apparent that he has completely no idea what he went upstairs for.

he's getting a full psycho-ed assessment next month. i have no doubt that they will say add or adhd, and will suggest a meds trial.

but give him a topic he loves and let him get on with it, and he flies.

indigo, do you have a link for the epsom salts stuff - it seemed to be really helping, and i can't find any sciency stuff on why?