Improving Focus And Concentration
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My nephew is very similar to your child. & he is in a neighbourhood school, nothing fancy so the pace is very slow and the teachers are not willing to give him more challenging questions or give him other work to do.
I called the teacher and we came up with a solution. My nephew will take out his own work (assessments or worksheets assigned by me) to do during lessons if he finished his school work in class. The teacher was agreeable cos I assured her that she does not hv to monitor the extra work I gave. She also does not need to prepare additional materials for him. My nephew is now in P3 and there’s no such pronlem anymore. They hv changed classes & grouped the kids by ability. He’s much happier in class now cos he says it’s more stimulating than in P1-2. He also reads loads of science books/mags which his current teacher leaves in class for them to read.
Try talking to the Eng & Maths teacher to arrange something like what the Chinese teacher did. Give him some responsibilities or extra work to occupy his time. -
I think the boy’s behavior is quite common in the less popular neighbourhood schools. These schools usually have local children who did not have a proper preschool education or foreign students whose English foundation is very poor.
My older boy used to behave like that too when he was in P1. The work was too simple for him and going from a childcare centre enrolment of less than 20 to a classroom size of 30 was a major change for him. In his childcare centre, the teachers taught them in small groups with creative teaching and children were encouraged to ask questions. But the P1 teachers were too busy trying to help the weaker students and couldn’t do activities to engage the better ones. That’s why the better students, especially boys, ended up being punished for disrupting the class.
Luckily, the teachers allowed him to read his own books after he finished his work and he managed to stay out of trouble except for those days when he forgot to pack in a story book. He could finish reading 4-5 Geronimo Stilton’s books in school in a week - imagine how bored he was…
Like what tankee said, the problem will go slowly go away when the weaker students strengthen their foundation. And nowadays, these weaker students are identified by the end of January for Learning Support Programmes to speed up their learning. -
Agree with the rest. Furthermore, these days most school do enbloc promotion from P1-P2 so they will be in mixed ability class for at least 2 years.
In my son’s P1/P2 class there were many weak students (about 6 in LSP and 1 ADHD certified<who>). The more experienced FT will group the pupils accordingly and give additional work/responsiblities to the "better" pupils…to keep them occupied and out-of-trouble. The less experienced or more old-school FT will scold and scold and punish the ‘trouble makers’ or those that walk around the class without permission.
I loaded my son with many good books, always ensure he has blank papers and good supply of stationaries. Watch out for the post-exam period, typically end of terms 2 and 4. Formal lessons will wind down and if the class is not given interesting activities, all the more they will tend to talk and get into trouble.
To me, it is better to invest in good books and let the child spend the time as best as possible than to develop the bad habit of not paying attention in class and getting into trouble with the teacher. Then again, I have heard of 1 case where the FT does not allow pupils to read story books in class even after the assigned work were completed. I guess in that case a discussion with the FT is necessary. -
My DS P1 class has a little library (ok ok shelf) of books and activity corners for those who finished their assigned work to do some reading or play some games to reinforce what was taught.
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Yup, ours too.
However, by term 2, the children read and re-read all the books in the little ‘class library’. In P1/P2, they typically stock the thinner simpler books so those only kept them interested for 10mins top. As for hands-on activities, the FT didn’t allow due to too much noise from the ‘faster’ children plus the ‘slower’ children were distracted and wanted to join in the ‘games’ and hence tend to rush through the work. -
My Girl is in primary 1 now.She is a year end born kid.I sometimes think if only she was born 1 month later she would not have to go through the pressures of primary school early.Her form teacher says she does not have focus and she does not pay attention in the class.She says that it's not that your daughter does not know the concept,but she still gives a blank face when asked to do the corrections.Her mother-tounge teacher says her reflexes are a bit slow.The main concern teacher is telling me is my daughter does not follow instructions.She does not copy what is written on the board for homework.Even though she does sometimes it will be only half of it and if any information is given verbally by the teacher she never conveys that to me.If I come to know about through other parents and I ask her she would have completely forgotten about it.She does'nt have a clue. :shock: I have been getting the same complaints from her K1 and K2 teachers ,but then i was thinking may be she needs more time to pick-up.but now i think if with this lack of focus and attention she cannot go forward in the primary school.Please can anyone here help me out in this matter.How can I improve her attention and how can get her to tell me what is happening in the school.Sorry for the long post.and Thanks in advance
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i face a similar situation with jasmine82. my boy is 9 and in p3 this year. he always has a very nonchalant attitude when it comes to any work. when it comes to games of any types, cartoons, he becomes alive and passionate.
recent case in hand: i check his school work almost every night. i would sit with him and he flips his school books page by page to check for homework. i had since early this year reminded him everyday to write his homework in his handbook but he had only done it once or twice. tried to encourage by praising him when he did but it didn’t work, he does not consistenyl write his homework list down. he will say he has finished his homework but when i check, will always discover undone homework and when questioned why, he says he forgot so i make him check in front of me page by page. he also needs to complete his work in front of me. if i am not around, he will be day dreaming and not doing his work.
this week, the chinese teacher called to say he has not handed in his chinese homework for nearly a month! i am so disdraught with this piece of news because i do check his work, he check his work but still, i am not able to detect he has not handed in his chinese homework. i had a discussion with the chinese teacher and she is agreeable to work together to ensure he writes his chinese homework in the handwork. sad to say the teacher teaching him english/maths rejected and said she is not able to monitor him so closely due to the size of class.
when asked, my son will reply he cannot remember. he is not afraid of our discipline. we have tried hard way and soft way. it may work for couple of days and he is back to his old self.
i really wonder how i can teach him to be more focus and concentrate on what he is doing. i know if i sit beside him during all his waking hours, he will be doing what he needs to do. but i really cant afford not to work. i am only asking that he be responsible and hands in his school work on time. what can i do? -
This is normal for P1 and P2 children so don’t worry too much about it. They are learning and in time, they’ll do better. If you push them too hard, you’ll get negative effect which is undesirable and may kill their interest for life. Do it slowly by training them to focus and concentrate on their task. For example, start off with 15 mins of work with a 10 mins break. This should cover a page or 2 of assessment. Slowly increase it to 20 mins and then 25 mins and so on. A P1 or P2 child can only sit for 1.5 hours of tuition but gets bored easily so you must give short assessment and changes tasks around to keep them interested. I usually give a comprehension, some grammar exercise, teach a new math concept and do some exercises. The trick is to be ahead of them. Give them incentives to encourage them in their work like if they get all their problem sums right, they get stickers to exchange for favours and gifts. Reward system works well with young children but the best incentive is knowing that their parents are proud of them in getting a job well done. Reinforce the good behaviour like doing their homework without being told and getting good grades in school. However, never punish a child when he fails a paper. By doing so, you are telling him/her that you love the grade more then him/her. Only punish during the process of learning, i.e. the behaviour and attitude towards their work like giving extra assessment if they are untidy in their work or didn’t complete their school homework.
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I have a similar problem with my P1 child this year. I don’t know if it is ‘cos he is new to a big class(his childcare class is only 15) hence gets easily distracted and cannot follow teachers’ instructions closely. Everyday I make sure he finishes his homework, when he pack his bag, go through again the list of homework to be passed up. When I fetch him at the school gate next day evening, immediately check his schol bag to make sure all work is passed up. Worst thing is P1 & P2 no exams, so there are lots of tests ‘assessments’. Which means if he didn’t catch what is taught, there is no time for major revision. I think he needs to adjust
to primary school requirement… -
lovekidsverymuch:
oh i god thats giving me heartattack oredi next yr gonna be DS p1 and he feels if there are more kids he cannot concentrate oh my GOD :!:
Gawd, that was heartfelt :), lovekidsverymuch!
For me, my next year is now!!
Ok my friend says, P1 and P2 really honeymoon years, and P2 is a revision of P1. Sort of. So it's ok but got to help them. Otherwise, P3 will be a shock. She says P3 and P5 are the years which are the \"gap up\" years, like got to move up a big gap in terms of learning. So take your time to prep, but must prep.
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