How do I encourage ds to pay more attention and get his work done in class?

[mogs0]

I had my parents' evening at ds' school today and his teacher has said that he needs to concentrate more and spends a lot of time daydreaming instead of doing his work.

I had the same problem last year when his, less tactful, yr1 teacher said he was lazy.

He's capable of doing the work but not very focused and regularly has to finish work the next day.

I don't know what to do to make him concentrate more. His teacher didn't offer any tips for things to do at home but I really want to help him.

Any advice?

What does he have to miss out on when he finishes the work the next day? It doesn't sound like that's been very effective. Not everyone likes the idea, but sometimes having to take work home to finish it in your own time makes children realise that they will miss out on something they enjoy if they don't focus in class.

My Y1 dd has a similar problem. She's quite a high achiever at school but rarely manages to finish her work and frequently spends time daydreaming according to her teacher.

Last week the TA rubbed out all of her work as she'd done the wrong thing as she'd been daydreaming when they were given instructions. I was slightly miffed at the time but it seems to have been quite effective and dd has worked harder since. I wouldn't recommend it though as it was quite mortifying for dd.

Does your ds do ok at school when he does work? What's his strength - reading / writing or maths?

my dd is a day-dreamer too, she is always mooning off in a world of her own. I think it might just be the type of dc he is.

Can he concentrate for long times on things that interest him - building with lego or reading about dinosaurs, something like that?

Thanks for the replies.

When his work is done I think it is fine. His teacher says he's capable of doing the work. His reading is about average, as is his maths. His actual hand-writing is fine but when it come to writing things down that he has to make-up then he gets stuck.

I was exactly the same at school (and still am!). I was frequently made to stand up at the front of class to read out my work while the teacher knew it wasn't complete. Sadly, this didn't work for me and has made me very nervous of any form of public speaking.

He can concentrate on things that interest him it just seems that school work isn't one of those things!!

Most afternoons are spent infront of the tv because we've just got into that habit. He was so exhausted for at least the first year at school that I just let him chill out infront of the tv. I'm thinking of maybe leaving the tv off through the week and seeing if that has any effect on his concentration. We did have a week without tv a couple of months ago and he played with his toys much more which usually get quite neglected!

If he is that type of child I still want him to achieve good marks at school and reach his full potential.

would it help him to practice writing mind maps, even without following through to actually writing expressive work?

I mean that he would need to decide on a main idea which he would write in a box in the centre of his page. Then he would have brnaches coming off from there and write ideas or words he might use in the other boxes. Needn't be much to get started 3-4 more boxes. Show him how to brain-storm a little by doing it with him?

I find it helps my dd get started with writing although she often does not use those ideas when she is actually doing her writing. It's getting started that can be the problem

Does he have access to drinking water? See here:

www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/parentscarers/wellbeing/Parentswaterleaflet.pdf

It could help .

ask his teacher if he can have a 5 min timer on his desk. when he starts his work he turns it over, when it's finished he goes to his teacher so he/she can give him the next pointer. when he can manage that, give him a 10 min timer.