Improving Focus And Concentration

[2ppaamm]

jesschan:

My son's class has a boy who is very bright but often gets into trouble with the teachers except for 1 teacher. Almost everyday since P1 and he is now in P4, my son has been telling me stories about why this boy gets punished by so and so. From my son's stories, I note that usually the brighter boys are the ones who get into trouble with many other teachers except for this one special teacher.


Through some chit-chats with my boy, I realise that this teacher is special because she answers all the children's questions unlike many other teachers who simply brush them off. And she is very generous with praise and rewards for any child who does well. Hence, the children including the \"naughty\" but bright ones will try hard to behave well in her class. Just some food for thought for teachers reading this forum...

Wow! You are a very understanding parent. I notice this as well. I notice that my son's behavior will change according to the teacher. If the teacher listens and 'give face' to the child, he will normally try and please her and do everything she asks, and therefore appear obedient.

If the teacher just demands respect, shut up and listen and then leave the class, he will invariably \"switch off\" or miss all the instructions. Which equates \"naughty\".

Sometimes I wonder what are we doing to our kids. For 10 years of their lives (P1 to Sec 4 or even J2), they are asked to just obey and take an answer for an answer, then reproduce that in the exam papers. When they get to the uni, once they do that, they'll fail badly. In the uni, we have to constantly remind students not to do just that.

Are we confusing the kids? No wonder my friends who go overseas report that our children don't do well in International schools enough to 'skip' grades. Our children don't think enough. They mimic. How to change the culture?

[jesschan]

2ppaamm,


Yeah, that's why I find it very ironic - in many preschools, children are taught in small groups, encouraged to be creative and inquisitive etc... then when they go to P1, most teachers will tell them to do obey and follow instructions. Children who ask \"difficult\" questions are considered disruptive in class and gets punished! So gradually, all the creativity and inquisitivity dies off....

My son sometimes asked questions which are difficult to explain and many teachers think that he is trying to be funny... just to give you 2 examples which I posed in P3/4 Maths http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?t=149&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=400
Maybe you can help me to explain to my son....

[2ppaamm]

jesschan, i posted something on that thread… ha ha!

[hardworking_mom]

Actually I find that when my boy attention and focus runs out after an hour of work, I need to switch to do other things before returning and continuing. Else he starts to throw tantrums and refuses to cooperate. Once he is in the wrong mood, it is hard to continue. No scolding or punishing him works. It is wasting our time. So sometimes I wonder if he misses what the teacher says if he is no longer focusing. And I need to think of ways to 'extend' his attention span and focus. Else he has limited time to finish his homework, no need to think of doing additional work(enrichment class) when he can't complete his own school work. I wonder if I am the only one having such problem...... :?

[Funz]

hardworking_mom:

Actually I find that when my boy attention and focus runs out after an hour of work, I need to switch to do other things before returning and continuing. Else he starts to throw tantrums and refuses to cooperate. Once he is in the wrong mood, it is hard to continue. No scolding or punishing him works. It is wasting our time. So sometimes I wonder if he misses what the teacher says if he is no longer focusing. And I need to think of ways to 'extend' his attention span and focus. Else he has limited time to finish his homework, no need to think of doing additional work(enrichment class) when he can't complete his own school work. I wonder if I am the only one having such problem...... :?

1 hour of continuous work for a young kid is actually pretty long. I am assuming that you are referring to sit down written kinda work.

In school, it is different. In that 1 period, the children are doing may different stuff. Teacher explaining, discussions, reading, hands on activities, reflection, then written work. According to DD, the written work portion is usually only the last 10mins or so.

[Luvkid]

lovekidsverymuch:

....... for me he will sit for 15 mins then say wanna go toilet or drink water etc etc

same here.....to DS1 After \"working\" for 15 min or so, \"i want to pass motion, pass urine, drink water.....\" :rant: Before \"working\" together, he will just jolly well idling, play with DS2, BUT did not carry out pass motion, pass urine, drink water..... :rant:

[mrswongtuition]

jesschan:

Through some chit-chats with my boy, I realise that this teacher is special because she answers all the children's questions unlike many other teachers who simply brush them off. And she is very generous with praise and rewards for any child who does well. Hence, the children including the \"naughty\" but bright ones will try hard to behave well in her class. Just some food for thought for teachers reading this forum...

Not all teachers are generous with praise because some of them grew up in an environment void of praise and it feels 'unnatural' for them to praise the kids for even the smallest effort. I know of teachers who make effort to praise, but their praises sound so 'half-hearted'.

I grew up with lots of praises (thanks to my highly educated aunt who told my parents that kids thrive on praise & rewards). My aunt even praises me when I flush the toilet and wash my hands when I was in Primary school. Imagine how good it felt!

I love praising the kids because you can see the pride in their attitude after that. They'll take more pride in their behaviour and work.

Not only teachers, parents must also be generous with praise. Work may not be well-done or up to expectations, but if effort is put in, praise is definitely due

[Luvkid]

lovekidsverymuch:

..............Yeah same here same here.... difference between my DS1 and DS2 is also 4 yrs :celebrate:

:celebrate: LKVM. And do u notice our nick is almost like \"TWIN\"??
In another 2 or 3 decades, we MIGHT be MIL to someone else daughters :evil: We will be understanding & reasonable MIL?? :?

Cheers!! :celebrate: Have a good day ahead!

[atrecord]

I didn’t imagine that DD who went to P1 this year, would fare so badly in class. While she would do ok for the spelling and 听写 as DW and sometimes myself would coach her on them, she just showed us last Fri that she scored only 11.5 out of 60 for a test…


Basically, we find the problem being two-fold:

1) She has extremely poor focus and concentration span, and would not focus on what she is supposed to be doing: when telling her story, she would be distracted by the TV; when playing PC, she will be looking at DS (2 yr younger) who is playing with his toys; when eating, she would take her time even after DS, who eats more, has finished brushing his teeth and starts bathing; when it comes to bed-time, she would take close to an hour to get to sleep… and the list goes on.

2) We sent her to a CCC which did not give much emphasis to academic preparation, but adopts this Waldof approach, which stress on developing the self-esteem of the kids, so they were playing, singing, telling stories most of the time. As a result, her English is quite poor and she cannot understand what the test paper asks of the students, so did terribly.


DW has tried coaching her closely these last few days, and is at her wits’ end, as DD cannot pay attention for long, and will throw tantrums when she feels uncomfortable as DW loses patience due to her (DD) not paying attention. This is made worse when she could not follow/learn and do the tasks as taught, and she’ll shut off…


we are thinking of sending her to tuition to try out. Hopefully a group setting will pressure her into paying more attention. the first to try out is English tuition.

Does anyone have any good recommendation on good English tuition centres near to Serangoon?

Has anyone tried or heard of Morris Allan? Is it any good?

tks…

[MMM]

atrecord:

1) She has extremely poor focus and concentration span, and would not focus on what she is supposed to be doing: when telling her story, she would be distracted by the TV

Hi Atrecord, Good to see you again after NEasterner tread.

If you observe the distraction, does it help if your DW could read to her in a quiet place free from TV and other stuff? Also keep it short and make sure the story is interesting for her. Gradually try to increase the length. I am not sure about your TV rules at home. I would usually ensure that the kids are far away from TV distraction when doing homework or study. We would switch off the tv (especially if it is not PILs that are watching).

atrecord:

As a result, her English is quite poor and she cannot understand what the test paper asks of the students, so did terribly.

Is she able to read independently? It appears that she might not be able to do hence she is unable to understand the paper? Did the teacher have any feedback eg. does the school have learning support program that you can put her on? My niece who didn't learn phonics had the same issue when she entered P1. Was put on learning support and now she is doing fine at P3. But of course depending on school only might not be sufficient, so you probably need to provide more home support.

atrecord:

DW has tried coaching her closely these last few days, and is at her wits' end, as DD cannot pay attention for long, and will throw tantrums when she feels uncomfortable as DW loses patience due to her (DD) not paying attention. This is made worse when she could not follow/learn and do the tasks as taught, and she'll shut off....

I think it's important to set realistic expectations. The child will not be able to change after coaching for few days. I also observed that children strive on consistency and discipline. So probably get your DW or yourself to set a time everyday to sit down with her to revise,etc.... I implemented this for my kids last year. It was a big challenge for all of us initially but they gradually get used to it. Eg. no shopping/tv time for mummy & daddy after work and for the kids no channel 8 drama in the evening. Probably you could take turns with your DW. If you DW is a FTWM, it's frustrating actually as after work, still must come home to face a child who don't listen to her. It's just frustrating so this led her to lose patience. It's the same for me too. So daddy do need to take over sometimes.