joycetai:

Hi, I'm new to this forum. my DD is P2 this year and she loves to daydream. what should I do. her school teacher has complain to me that she is always doodling on her textbook, homework, even exam papers!!. She is not paying attention in class.

MMM:

Every child is different. My 3 kids are different in characteristics as well. Eldest girl is introvert and hence the most discipline and focus. The other 2 are more extrovert and as a result of that, easily lost focus as they tend to be chatty and easily distracted by the surrounding.

Just persist. I personally think one week is not enough. Even if you send her for tuition,etc.... it's still important to have home support to ensure that what she learnt in tuition class is being revised at home so that you can see better results. Sending her to tuition class does not solve the issue if she only learns that once a week. Re-enforcement at home is important.

Eg. my K1. Her teachers told me that she learns very fast but she also forgets very fast. Inorder to help my K1 with her \"short term\" memory (not sure if it helps in your case), over the weekends, I bought vanguard sheets and wrote down all the english and chinese characters that she has learnt/ we've read them together. I pasted that on the wall. So starting from next week, I intend to revise the words with her almost every day (depending on our activities). So that the more she sees it, the better she remembers them. Due to my involvement as I used to be more take it easy type, if I compare my K1 with her siblings' development over age, she is actually ahead of them.

I also recall holding conversation with my son's school teacher during P1 to ask him more questions so as to ensure that he stay awake and focus in class as he is sitting right behind.

In any case, speak to the teachers and see how you can collaborate to help your child.

Just like to share with you that for my P2 son, it was rather bad. Despite attending enrichment classes since K1, he was not able to recognise alot of words (english and chinese) by end K2. I recall that we would \"kill\" him just making him learn his spelling. He would remember now and forget everything 1 minute later :x I used to think that sending him for class is good enough and we never did revision. He was staying with my mum at that point so I didn't really have the time to coach him.

But seeing how \"serious\" his condition was and with P1 drawing near, I actually sent him for 1-1 advanced phonics classes (just before P1) and P1 preparation camp with british council. Most importantly, I also spend time to read with him everyday as I want to build the discipline in him to reach out for a book everyday. That was the time I also implemented the nightly revision time. He went into P1 and ok he managed to get Band 1 results for all his subjects. Though he is not top in class but when his teacher asked me if I was happy with his results? I told her I was considering where he came from.

On the bright side, your girl is only P1 and it's only term 1. There are alot that can still be done. So it's not too late to start doing that now.

atrecord:

we're quite helpless about the situation, as DS is much more focused in comparison, in everything in fact.


And we thought previously that DD was a faster learner than DS, who initially refused to learn writing. He threw tantrums whenever we made him write the alphabets, which DD was able to do so much better when she started.

MMM:

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

MMM:

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).

MMM:

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.

MMM:

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.

mummy of 2:

I agree. I started setting aside time after dinner to do work with DS1. At first he was easily distracted and I was quite frustrated. Over time he became used to this routine and his concentration improved. I noticed this after a period when DH took over coaching as things were mad at work. He's so used to it now that he would remind us if we do not ask him to take out his books to do work. There was once I worked late and DH was also not at hone to coach him. He suddenly said He hasn't doen his work for the day. I said it's ok, since it's quite late, we can do more the next day. He refused, and insisted that we must do it. So i told him we will do less. Setting a routine is important and will take time. So do persevere.

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

atrecord:

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

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....

lovekidsverymuch:

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

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...

lovekidsverymuch:

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

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...... :?

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...

Blobbi:

Ah, DS just had a mock test the other day. No marks cos, of the two pages, he finished one and forgot to turn over to the other page!!


:lol: :lol:

Long road ahead ...

I hear it's very common for young kids btw, so, okay lah.