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    How to work with children with low attention span

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Working With Your Child
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    • T Offline
      tamarind
      last edited by

      I thought it is very common for a child to have short attention span ?


      My almost 4 year old boy has super short attention span. When I am teaching him to read, he can read one word, then his eyes will wander off for a couple of minutes.

      I teach him for at most 10 minutes, let him off to play for half to one hour, then call him back to study for another 10 minutes. He is able to read quite well for his age now.

      I also offer rewards. For example, I told him that if he finish reading a page, then he can watch his favourite DVD. Or he can only go out to the playground if he finish studying. This usually work very well.

      I would advise parents to learn about Multiple Intelligences. Please read this page.

      http://www.thomasarmstrong.com/multiple_intelligences.htm

      For example, many children have spatial intelligence (\"picture smart\"), meaning that it is best to teach them using pictures. Such children are not suited to the traditional drilling methods (such as those used in Kumon).

      It is important that we find the correct teaching method that suits our children.

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      • A Offline
        aggellim
        last edited by

        hi parens:

        i don’t think it’s free , in my case . the school { LSP } Coordinator , what they do , first they ran a Questionnaire with parents , two running record observations ( in the class, 3 lesson ),and a symptom checklist done by the class teacher . details of the questionnaire , checklist and the running ra parents record observations are attached together with this document . they’ll gv refer letter go to polyclinics ( fees $4.80 ) that the DR’ll write u a letter go to ( KK hsp or NUH hsp PSYCHIATRIST ) depents on ur DR recommend (fees $37 up ) .

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        • B Offline
          BlueBells
          last edited by

          Hi Aggellim,


          Perhaps you are right, when I checked with the MOE some years back for my cousin, I was told it was free. And yes, it should be psyschiatrist, not psychologist.

          My understanding was, MOE has psychiatrist attached to them and these psychiatrist will visit schools which require their service on a schedule / appointment date. I was arranging it for my cousin who was then in P2.

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          • E Offline
            en107rn.01056yahoo.01056com.01056sg
            last edited by

            Hi


            So far neither my child nor me need to meet up the psychologist. When my daughter was in P2, her math teacher suggested it but my daughter form teacher intervene knowing my daughter’s background & condition.

            She still need loads of help in math but has no problem in other subjects. Learning spelling since kindergarten just take up 20 minutes to tackle 10 words. She gets better now. I think getting her one on one attention for math daily after school helps her to follow through the lesson in school. That will help her to participate, think, ask question instead of falling asleep.

            Just imagine us adult having to listen to a lecturer on a subject of no interest to you for hours. I will try at most 15 minutes & my mind will definitely starts wandering.

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            • F Offline
              Fettuccine
              last edited by

              My son also have this problem of short attention span. In fact, he will be the last one to copy down the spelling test or he will either be talking or playing with his classmates. When its spelling test time, he will forget his teacher’s instructions. Every week, he has to call his classmate to find out. Wonder what will happen if he goes to P1, sigh…

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              • A Offline
                aggellim
                last edited by

                hi parents :

                my son only problem is short attention span ,but super gd memory Eg . spelling since he was P1- P4 never ever leard spelling or do revise but he can get nearly 95 % . P3 onward { in the top class } 20 unseen words or unseen dictation 95% get full marks. :lol: he ....

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                • A Offline
                  aggellim
                  last edited by

                  hi parents , fettuccine :

                  My son has the similar problem as u . 4daily work (school) He do vy slow
                  Eg , chinese ( xi2 zhi4 with 20 words . each word 4time , sometime he was spent 2hrs ) if i sit beside with him only 30min my GOD ... . even do he favourite subj math also ( vy simply question , only few question take long time ) i thought having a DREAM in the same TIME . in the class , he'll be the last one finish he work . Worder what will happen if having exam....... u know what he said : mummy , u don't worry , i really knew all the exam is vy important 4my future life , l'll keep my words,i'll show u my flying colour , i won't waste my time when i having exam l'll do as fast what i can . ( even the teacher said my son who was the first one finish he math SA 1 math paper even other subj and get the higher score in the class ( math , sci ) , but english is second ( in the class . ) HIGHER Chi - 80 . what can i do ? ? ? i hv no idea with him sometime :lol: :lol: :lol:

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                  • E Offline
                    en107rn.01056yahoo.01056com.01056sg
                    last edited by

                    Hi Fettucine


                    My daughter was one of those who did not copy down important notes on the board. Since I have highlighted the short attention span my daughter has, the teacher will check on my daughter immediately after she wrote the notes down. Just to prompt my daughter to copy it down. The short attention span should get lesser when they grow older if you tackle it early ensuring that they are not left behind in class. For eg my daughter hates math & her mind automatically switch off. It takes patience, effort & perseverance in getting her to at least try to learn the subject & be interested.

                    It also pays to be in touch with your kids classmate’s parents or parents from other classes. Our kids might not be able to absorb everything that was said or written. Exchanging ideas or reminding each other helps to alleviate the problems. Even us adults in working world when received an instruction maybe on new project or processes, different individuals might perceive the instruction differently or not able to catch it at all. What do we adults do? Talk to each other & straightened out the information.

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                    • E Offline
                      en107rn.01056yahoo.01056com.01056sg
                      last edited by

                      :oops: Sorry. I tried to submit, it shows error & I re-submit it again & again which resulted in duplicate messages. Wont happen in the future as I know next time to ignore the error message.

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                      • F Offline
                        Fettuccine
                        last edited by

                        aggellim:
                        hi parents , fettuccine :

                        My son has the similar problem as u . 4daily work (school) He do vy slow
                        Eg , chinese ( xi2 zhi4 with 20 words . each word 4time , sometime he was spent 2hrs ) if i sit beside with him only 30min my GOD ... . even do he favourite subj math also ( vy simply question , only few question take long time ) i thought having a DREAM in the same TIME . in the class , he'll be the last one finish he work . Worder what will happen if having exam....... u know what he said : mummy , u don't worry , i really knew all the exam is vy important 4my future life , l'll keep my words,i'll show u my flying colour , i won't waste my time when i having exam l'll do as fast what i can . ( even the teacher said my son who was the first one finish he math SA 1 math paper even other subj and get the higher score in the class ( math , sci ) , but english is second ( in the class . ) HIGHER Chi - 80 . what can i do ? ? ? i hv no idea with him sometime :lol: :lol: :lol:
                        Thats really cute and cool, :lol: ...wish my son will do well too in coming P1 like yours.

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