My 6 Year Old Daughter Does Not Pay Attention in Class.

I think people are having problems reading. The post says she will be 7 in July so she's 6 in first grade. Is that a problem for some of you? Why are people trying to pick this post apart?

My only suggestion is to practice with her. Play school. You're the teacher. You might really consider holding her back, unless she is getting good grades. If she's getting good grades and still behaving this way, she may be bored and need more challenging and stimulating work. If she's not getting such hot grades, I would consider holding her back.

Good luck! I know how hard it is to know what to do!

Well what I would have suggested at the beginning of the school year is to pop in and observe the classroom environment, more than likely there may be too many distractions in the classroom, or there can be a conflict in personalities with the teacher. She may have thrived in another classroom setting if changed earlier in the school year. Since this is the end of the school year, I suggest that she attend summer school and go onto the next grade, if she is not doing well in summer school, then other avenues need to be explored, but I suspect that she will do well, another option is something like sylvan learning center for her, they can evaluate her and help with specific areas she may need help in for instance they can teach her skills to work independently. Just from what you have said here i would not hold her back, it does not sound like an academic problem since she is capable of doing the work. Good luck and keep us updated!

Well...I can tell you my daughter is very, very similar.
Actually one of the big reason's I chose to homeschool her. And keep her in K this year (she'll be 7 in Oct.) though we work very hard-I'd imagine as hard as 1st grade.
I know I would be facing a similar situation as you if I had put her in 'away' school.
My daughter reads very well...but if we come to something new and it is slightly intimidating-the waterworks begin.
If I walk away from her while she is doing work-she will try and get up and run to play.
Weekly, I have to explain why we have to have school.
"I hate school!" WAAAAHHHH!
I do think she gets it honestly-I hated school too. BUT I really struggled to read for a long time and no one took the time to help me until I was in 2nd grade, and then 4th for math. My daughter does not have that excuse.

I don't know what to tell you. I'd definitely have her repeat 1st-I don't think it would harm her.

The more I go over things, the clearer they become, the better she does.
She stills wants to play 24/7...but that is the nature of children, right?
I would venture to guess, she is struggling to understand exactly what is being asked of her. Like I did as a child. I'd work on her reading and comprehension as much as possible.
Hope this helps!

We used this book to help our reading/comprehension: http://www.amazon.com/Teach-Your-Child-Read-Lessons/dp/06...

Has she had her hearing checked and been to the ophthalmologist recently?

My daughter is that age, although she is in 2nd grade this year. I really do think it's fairly normal for kids to lack some attention span at this age - BUT if she has been unable to focus on anything, at all, all year, then something else is going on.

I am wondering if she sees and hears properly? Have you had her eyes checked? If she has difficulty reading, that could explain a lot of her problems (i.e. needing an adult to read the question to her... maybe she can't read it herself?) Likewise, if she has had any ear infections (diagnosed or otherwise), she may not be hearing the instructions the teacher is giving her. I would also ask the school to screen her for learning disabilities - dyslexia could explain some of these issues too. It just seems like, given what you've described, that if this is out of character for her, something is happening to cause these problems for her.

Good luck, and I hope you find a solution quickly!

Has she been evaluated for learning disabilities?

My daughter was the exact same way in first grade. She didn't pay attention, she didn't want to do her work (or refused to), would write answers that make no sense, etc. Otherwise she was a happy and social child.

I couldn't believe they passed her from first grade to second! We did some homeschooling over the summer to help her out and that's when I discovered just how deep it went. She couldn't read, she couldn't sound out words. She couldn't remember things, she couldn't understand things.

We ended up re-doing part of kindergarten and then we re-did all of first grade. Then we decided to homeschool because she did the best with one-on-one instruction. She doesn't have ADHD. She did have some issues following directions "because she didn't want to" so basically she was a willful child but we brought all that under control.

She would be in 5th grade this year, but she's doing 4th grade curriculum. She's advanced at one grade per year if you count having to re-do first grade. If she was in public school, she would have benefitted from being held back.

What I have discovered homeschooling her is that sometimes their brains just aren't mature to "get" the material when it's taught. For example, I was teaching her how to read an analog clock and it was taking forever. She was frustrated, I was frustrated so I dropped it for a few months. 2 months later I picked it up again and she got it no problem! I didn't change what I was doing or anything. I just gave it some time.

So if homeschooling isn't your thing (and it's not everyone's thing) then I would suggest pursuing holding her back a year. Based on her personality and and such, it could be the best things for her.

Kids who are held back may drop out of school later on because the root of their problems were never solved. Try to work with someone to find the root of her issue. For my daughter it was reading, she needed a lot of help reading.

Good luck!

My experience with several children with similar problems is they may be in the process of developing certain talents which school does not. For example, imagination, creative play and dream-building. If so, they are preoccupied with their own inner worlds which are much more fascinating to them than studies or homework. Identifying if this is the problem is quite easy using an astrological chart. The solution I've found to be effective is giving more respect, time and love to the child's play life at home (rather than enforcing and demanding better work at school and with homework), with oodles of emotional love and support. Asking the child to share his or her fantasies/inner dramas/inner art/inner stories with you. These children need a constant stream of emotional love and support for what is not applauded in school. The teachers and you cannot give this constantly. However, you can at home fill your child to the brim with support for his or her whole being. Oddly enough, I've seen this inspire the child to put forth the effort in "uninteresting" school and homework tasks.

Maybe you corrected a typo... 6 in first grade is very normal. My 7 year old is in 2nd grade and from what you're saying, I would absolutely consider holding her back. Do it now while it's not a big deal. I would also have her tested/evaluated though as just refusing to do her work is a bit unusual unless it's bc it's all been too difficult for her up until now and she's throwing in the towel. It's just going to get harder from here. Math in 2nd grade steps up so fast i can't believe it. My daughter's even younger than yours for her grade and part of me wants to hold her back yet she's doing "ok". If she was still in 1st and I knew what i know now, I'd be even more tempted. Is it possible she's dyslexic? Something like that which makes it hard for her to follow the written questions? She may have some kind of learning disability that is easily worked with but does need to be id'd. Good luck.

I'm sorry, but I am a little confused...she's in 1st grade NOW but not turning 6 until July? So she was 5 this whole school year and would be 6 in 2nd grade? If that is true, she sounds like she is already a grade ahead of where she should be, and really ought to be in 1st grade starting this fall, not 2nd. If she was 5 this year, she should have been in kindergarten.

Is she possibly easily distracted or having a hard time concentrating? Could you talk to your pediatrician about this or see about having her evaluated (ADD, etc.). But if she is only 5 now, she should not have been expected to be doing 1st-grade-level work in the first place!

Just know... that 2nd grade is a LOT different than 1st grade.
In 2nd grade, kids are expected to be a bit more independent. And less hand holding.
And the complexity of what they learn, increases.
And in the 2nd half of the year, they will be prepped for 3rd grade.

That is how it is, at my kids' school.
Public school.

I do know some parents, who have kept their child in 1st grade to repeat. For the reasons you mentioned in your child.

This may be a silly question but if she is not six years old yet, why is she already in first grade? Is it possible that she does not have the maturity level and attention span because she is too young to be in that class? One year is a big deal when you're that age.

Also, when my son does this at home, I make him stop what he's doing that is distracting him, and look me in the eye without touching, moving or doing anything else. It takes a lot of effort but I think it helps.

sounds like a learning disability...my add daughter is the same way. we have had to have weekly desk and daily backpack checks to make sure their is nothing to play with. ask the teacher what her ideas are on a learning disability and go from there

Hi J.,
I am going to answer in a different direction. I was started first grade at 5 years 9 months. OK not as young as your daughter...but they skipped me up a year at some point...

So...is perhaps your daughter bored? Or perhaps very intelligent? maybe she learns things better differently?

check out Sir Ken Robinson's Tedex talk...

or his book "The Element"

GL.
Jilly

Sounds like she is bored to me. My daughter behaves this way when she is bored (she is only 4, however.)

Seriously, if I was 6 I'd have no interest in doing boring writing assignments.

She may benefit from repeating 1st grade. She is too young to even be in first grade, kids her age in Texas are still in kindergarten...

*Cheryl, it originally said she would be 6... the 7 was just changed prior to you answering :)

First grade is a tough year, it's the year they go from playing almost all day to having to sit and do work most of the day.
It does sound like your daughter could benefit from being held back in first grade or get some tutoring over the summer.
I would likely have her tested to rule out ADHD or another learning disability (ie dyslexia).

Have they done any evaluations to see what level of work she is capable of doing? Is there some particular part that she is trying to avoid such as writing, reading, or math?
Maybe they could set up some sort of incentive plan- First do this worksheet, Then do a fun activity. Or complete this work, get a sticker?

I would find out the why she does not do those certain things. It could be many reasons from its too hard or even too easy. Saying 5 is too early to start school is silly as mine started preschool at 3 and my youngest 2 are in the gifted program though they too have times when they just don't want to do the work. Good luck with this though it may be she needs extra help.

My oldest two, 6 and 4 have each struggled to concentrate at various times during school and lessons. They have no disabilities or medical issues, they have just tested "refusing to do" boring things in the past. For my daughter (6), there were times when she refused to move on to new songs in her piano lessons, and cried, and did not listen well to the teacher. For my son (4) he recently acted up VERY badly in Tae Kwon Do by not listening AT ALL in class for the entire 45 minutes when he KNOWS better...but he had been gradually getting a little worse each week until BLAMMO-totally way out and impossible to rein in that class.

For each of them it took firm explanations and firm discipline and warnings the next time to set them back on track. I knew they just didn't "feel" like putting their effort into things, and that they could and it was important to develop the respect and discipline to cooperate in the situations.

I can't tell from your post if there could be a medical thing (slow learning, advanced learning), and I don't know what her consequences are at home when you hear she has not cooperated with the teacher. Has she been firmly disciplined for refusing to cooperate and warned the next day what will happen if she doesn't try and respect the teacher? These are the factors to consider going forward.

Mine are both great in their classes now, but they know there is no option and momma's always watching and asking the teachers....