Dd's teacher (Y1) says she 'daydreams' too much ... anyone with similar?

[imaginaryfriend]

Like many others I just had parents' evening.

Dd is brilliant at literacy and not bad at numeracy. She's shy but fitting in better all the time and expanding her group of friends.

The one issue that keeps coming up time and again at these meetings is dd's lack of attention when the teacher's giving out tasks to do. The teacher says she often sits down at the table and does something totally different to everyone else and to what she's been told to do. As a result she keeps having to stay behind at break time to finish work as she's starting it much later than the rest of the class.

Any advice, tips, comparisons?

kid, I had her eyes tested a couple of months ago and she was fine.

Prior to her work starting to fail was your dd reading / writing fluently? Were there any other signs?

Her reading was great, she couldn't tell you anything about what she had just read though!
Her writing was very scruffy, infact almost impossible to read.

There are some checklists that you can look at to see if a child has indicators of dyslexia. I do believe it is too young to be able to tell if your child has dyslexia. From what you have said about her, I don't believe she does. I just wanted to let you know to be aware of her daydreaming as thats one of many indications.

This link is quite good, it breaks it down in to different ages. signs of dyslexia

Thanks kid. Having looked at the signs on your link I don't think dd has any signs of dyslexia - many of the things on the list such as rhyming words / bead patterns / co-ordination of left and right are actually some of her strengths. She also has very neat handwriting.

I do think getting her hearing checked is worth while though. I was thinking about how hard she finds it to hear her swimming teacher in the pool. I know it's a noisy environment but the others all seem able to hear better than she does.

DD1 was a complete space cadet all the way through primary school and didn't do particularly well there at all. Think she found her own little world more interesting. Still as scatty as a scatty thing in scatty land (Year 8 now) and loses things with alarming regularity BUT is doing absolutely fine now in extremely academic school and especially well whenever a bit of spark or imagination is required. Had her assessed for SEN in Year 6 but no serious problems (low on a score that measures ability to process instructions but we knew that already!) No hearing problems either (just selective deafness).

Basically, they are still babies in Year 1 and I wouldn't worry just yet. It also would seem harsh to punish her by missing breaks if she really can't help it because she isn't being consciously naughty.

If she is still away with the fairies in KS2 then might be worth a check but she sounds completely normal (and rather lovely) to me!

She is very lovely maggotts - I wouldn't change her for the world. She is who she is. I just wondered if I could help her to focus slightly more when it's required.

At our first Y1 parents evening, the teacher said that my dd2 sometimes seemed to be in another place, especially during the group teaching on the carpet. She is quite good academically (not G&T), and does not seem to find year 1 hard (unlike dd1 who did).

The problem that I have with my dd2 is that she is not very sociable. She is incredibly shy and finds it very difficult to ask other children if she can join in with their games at playtime. Consequently, she spends most playtimes alone. I approached the school about this a few days ago, and they are now trying to address this.

I suppose it keeps coming back to the posters who noted that they are still babies!

Actually my dd would quite like to be kept in at playtime to finish the work. As I said, she finds playtime hard. Does your dd enjoy staying in at playtime to finish her work?

Madsometimes, playtime can be very hard for little ones (even big ones) especially if they are shy. But playtime is just as important as maths and english because learning to socialise is essential.

If she is struggling at playtime (and a busy playground can be a lonely place) then you were right to raise it with the school and they really should address it quickly. IME the lunchtime staff can do this very successfully (engineering games so no one is left out) so you should see results soon.

Hope it goes well for her.

Thanks, things seem to have improved in the last few days. She is preparing a dance for a school show with some of the girls in her class, (encouraged to join in by lovely TA).
Sorry for going off the subject a little.

Playtime is very important for my dd - her best friend is in Y2, they've been friends since they were babies, and if she doesn't get out at playtime she doesn't get to see her! So, yes, it's very important for her to get her work done and not miss playtime. She gets a full fix of fantasy with her friend as they do all kinds of imaginative stuff.

I sometimes think that in dd's case the imaginative play etc. takes over everything else and I wonder if / when she'll ever fully connect with the 'real' world. Whatever that's supposed to be.

Today dd had all her work rubbed out by the TA as she hadn't followed the instructions. She tried to start it again but only got to write one sentence. She was really upset about it. I wish I could do a bit more to help her.

I must say a big thank you to all the posters in this thread. I have been reading it with interest as I too have a 3.8 dd who daydreams and zones out at times. I love to see her that way, immerse in her own world and playing with nothing rather than the amount of toys she has. And it is also true that she is therefore a grea thinker and a great talker which adds to the amusement.
However sometimes it is unnerving i.e. when getting ready to go out, getting dressed, eating etc. Or worrying for example when walking on the road as if she goes in her own world she could easiliy, I think, forget where she is and walk into the road.
I can see when I tell her things that she is not listening and recently she has learnt to say 'yes mummy' so that I shut up and leave her alone. but then she doesnt do as she's told because she has no idea what she was told in the first place and we all get upset. I'm sure you all get the picture.

well after reading your posts today I've implemented the 'look at me' when I tell her things and IT WORKED!!! I told her the same thing 3 times and in and out it went. then I told her to look at me while I was saaying it and I made her repeat it. even she was surprised!

ahhh this will save us some shouting and upset.

thanks again

I do that with dd quite a lot. I hold her hands and get her to look at me and focus on listening. But unfortunately that doesn't translate into her being able to listen at school properly!