Any guidance for helping a distracted kid?

We had our conference yesterday. My son's teacher was very positive about him academically but she described him as "disorganized, unfocused and distracted." I 100% know where she is coming from. This was a problem in kindergarten as well.

If I had to describe my son, I would say he's on island time. Not Long Island time, like Jamaican island time. He's very chill, always happy, nothing is ever a problem but he moves at the speed of a two toed sloth. He always looks like he is day dreaming but he is completely listening. She said she will think he has not participated in a lesson at all so she will call on him and he will nail the answer every time.

She said that academically, he is at the level of an end of the year 2nd grader but he can't keep up with the work in class because he spends half the day on another planet. She said that in 1st grade it's not a huge deal but come 2nd grade, he will be getting graded on his in-class work.

I'm not really sure what I can do to help him. I asked her and she said "just give him short focused tasks at home." The thing is, I do that and more and he gets it all done in record time but that's because he is driven to be able to use his ipad. Obviously she can't motivate him like that in school.

Has anyone dealt with this before? Or have any advice on what we can be doing to get him more focused and attentive? I know some of it is just his personality. I don't think there is much I can do to change that but I am concerned that he is not getting his work done.

Any guidance for helping a distracted kid?

No advice, but I'm having a similar issue with my DD, also in 1st grade. She is wicked smart, reads at a 3rd grade level, but doesn't pay attention and is too busy socializing so she makes careless mistakes on her tests. I've tried telling her she needs to focus and she says she will, but then she'll get a test back and I'll see more careless mistakes. Maybe she is bored? I just don't know.

I'm hoping it's just a maturity thing because my son was the class goofball from k-3 and is slowly maturing now in 4th grade.

Re: Any guidance for helping a distracted kid?

This was me. I ended up in G&T

Re: Any guidance for helping a distracted kid?

You are both making me feel better. I was wondering if he's just bored too. Don't get me wrong...he can be a total flake and I see it at home...but he's very smart. Thanks for responding!

Re: Any guidance for helping a distracted kid?

The disorganized, unfocused and distracted makes me wonder if he has an attention disorder. ADHD and the former ADD are about more than being hyperactive and unfocused; it also has to do with difficulies with other executive functions like being organized and knowing how to plan. You can be twice exceptional- ADHD and gifted.

Re: Any guidance for helping a distracted kid?

Re: Any guidance for helping a distracted kid?

Two of my neighbors have this issue with their kids.

One sent kid to a private school. He’s getting focused help there and able to excel in school as well and not get bored.

The other hired an executive function tutor to work with her kid once a week. He does have mild ADHD (he’s not hyperactive and is brilliant in Math) and the tutor has been able to keep him on track and off meds.

Re: Any guidance for helping a distracted kid?

Re: Any guidance for helping a distracted kid?

Re: Any guidance for helping a distracted kid?

My son is the same way and he is in 4th grade. The teacher at parent conferences said "I'm boggled by him, he's legitimately okay with just sitting there and doing absolutely nothing."

She is having success with giving him a daily checklist of things he needs to do and a weekly incentive (a ring pop) if he follows through each day.

Re: Any guidance for helping a distracted kid?

I could have written this post word for word. My DS is in 2nd and teacher said same thing, but she said she does see signs that he knows when he is doing it and snaps himself back into focusing.

She advised to see how the year pans out. She did move his seat to the front of the room which helped allot so maybe try doing that for your Son if he isn't already.

Re: Any guidance for helping a distracted kid?

This is and was my sister. She moves at her own pace. Ironically when it’s something she’s super into, she goes all out. Like one year she was into space stuff. Wanted books, to learn about it, space ice cream, etc. My parents would use whatever her motivators were at the time to get her to focus on her other stuff. Like, let’s get your math hw done (instead of looking at the butterfly outside) and then you can have space ice cream.

Re: Any guidance for helping a distracted kid?

This sounds so much like my DD, who is in 2nd grade. She makes too many careless mistakes in class, especially on tests. I have started to write her checklists, and I believe that is starting to help. Her teacher is even allowing me to write check lists for her to attach to her desk to see if that will help her focus more on tests, bc she understands it all but just doesn’t take the time to double check her work etc.

Re: Any guidance for helping a distracted kid?

This sounds similar to DD who is in 1st grade. She never finishes her school worksheets. She messes with her pencils or snack when she should be doing her worksheets and then never has enough time to finish. Her teacher says that she is perfect after they do their worksheets in the morning. She listens and participates when the teacher is teaching but when they work indpendantly on their worksheets she will be distracted by everything. She gets 100 on almost every single test and knows the work well so she is not avoiding it because she finds it hard.

She keeps telling me that the worksheets and homework (which are extremely repetitive) are boring. I actually have to make her homework more difficult for her and then she is excited and focused! She is just not being challenged enough at this point. Sounds like it may be the same thing with your DS.

Unfortunately, nothing I have done has made a difference with her school worksheets. Like I said, for her homework I try to find a way to make it more challenging for her and she becomes focused and excited.

Message edited 12/12/2017 5:04:29 PM.

Re: Any guidance for helping a distracted kid?

Posted by Straightarrow

This was me. I ended up in G&T

Message edited 12/12/2017 5:06:56 PM.