My Daughter Has Trouble Staying on Task in 1St Grade

It's probably just her age. My daughter did the same thing at that age. She still has a hard time focusing on her school work instead of socializing, but she's just a little more hands on than most I guess. I was the same way as a kid. I would be leary about even mentioning ADD to a doctor or a teacher unless she is having behavioral problems at home as well. I work in healthcare and even I know that doctors are way to quick to write a prescription for stimulants that are very addicting and then if you stop giving it to them, they go through bad withdrawls. If you even think for a second that it might be ADD, then try giving her a cup of coffee or a coke at home, and see if it calms her down or hypes her up. If she does in fact have ADD then the caffeine will calm her down. I also want to mention, that in the case of ADD, there is a non-habit forming drug available that works very well, it's called Strattera.
I started taking privileges away from my daughter, every time I got a bad report from her teacher. When I got a good report, we would do something special, just the two of us, and she got to choose.

Preaching to the choir! LOL!! Mine was diagnosed with ADHD in kindergarden and is now in 3rd grade. We chose not to put her on medication and instead we looked at her diagnosis as a gift! We also affirm her daily! ADHD and ADD are very easily mis-diagnosed. It is my belief that there are no two people designed the same (how boring would that be). She is a visual, hands on learner, not an auditory learner. In public schools the learning is in the majority of auditory.

Every year, we meet with the new teacher, let her know how she learns and how that teacher can save herself a lot of frustration by teaching her that way.

Most importantly we express to that teacher that our daughter works harder for Praises than anything else and that her character above her education in what is most important to her father and I. Isn't that what life is all about anyway!

Your child is special and there is no other child who could replace her and fill her purpose on this earth! Build her up and let her know who she is and what she is capable of doing!

Hope this finds you well!

Hi R.,
Check out www.gocolumbiaacademy.com and click on "Program Elements". Your daughter is fine, don't let anyone scare you into a "drug" solution. There are specific reasons children become disinterested in their studies. It nothing physical or mental, it's just simple barriers to study. You can purchase a book called "Learning How to Learn" or the "Basic Study Manual", both explain why children (and adults) lose interest and give up on a subject, become bored and disinterested. For example:

Have you ever been reading a book and you get to the bottom of a page and can't remember anything you just read? If you look back to when you were doing well and understanding it; just before that you will find a word you did not fully understand. What happens is you go blank after that. Usually we just go back and reread again and sometimes again and again. If you just look up the work in a simple dictionary and then reread the section, you'll be fine. This is just one example of the simple solutions available to you. Columbia Academy uses this technology with the students and get remarkable results. My son has attended there since he was three. He loves it and always wants to go to school and truly enjoys learning!
Good Luck,
B.

It does sound like ADD. My nephew has it and so does my stepson..

But a word of advice to anyone with children that have ADD...

Adderal is a MUCH better drug than ritalin and doesn't have the "not normal" side effects on children like ritalin does...

I would say get your daughter tested for ADD and if you decide to use medication, try Adderal first!

They all said the same thing about my first daughter. She was and still is a very social gal. She is now almost 20 years old. :) She was diagnosed with A.D.D. (not the hypertension kind). It did definitely interfere with her learning. I was very aprehensive about putting such a young child on medication, so I told the teacher to do her best. The next year, I had a different teacher and same problem. So, I took her to her doctor and they did a double blind study with us and the teacher. One week was placebo and the other was ritalin. None of us knew which was which. We completed questionnaires and it was definite that she was doing better on the medication. I felt so bad, but it did help her.

It was hard at first because they have to regulate the medication. She was a zombie some of the time and was just not 'herself'. As we regulated it though, took a couple months or so, she did much better. We tried her on other meds, I can't remember what it was, but I think the ritalin did the best.

It will definitely affect them in terms of social status if they can't control themselves with their peers. I just wish I would've known more then. It was a struggle for her to make friends and the self esteem issue was not great either. As she got older, she knew that she was not 'herself' at school (wild and crazy) and she did not like that she could not be 'normal'. I also recommend counseling and a lot of upliftment from EVERYONE that is around her.

Looking back, we should've told her that it was like having diabetes. It is not something that you asked for, but it can be helped if you take your medications...just like the diabetics do.

Good luck!

well I have a 7 yr old daughter in first grade, adn I swear you are describing her. I have a lot of issues with her at home as well. I can't give her more than one task at a time, because she forgets the others and sometimes can't remember the one task. After several months of this I decided to see a doctor to check for ADHD. We just finished the series of questions filled out by the parents and the teachers seperatley. I have a consult wiht the doctor on Friday to see if she has it. It would explain a lot if she does. That might be an option for you just to rule it out at least. Hope that helps in some way.

My daughter had the same problem in kindergarten and first grade. I had to stay on top of her every day and I kept in close contact with her teacher. When she stayed on task, I would reward her for doing a good job. I would encourage her to do well, and I'm sure you probably already do that. If it becomes more of a problem you may want to take her to see the doctor. If she is younger than the rest of the children it could be because of that too.

My son has the same issues and he is in first grade as well. He had to go to a 4 week class for kids with Behavioral problems at a different school. They taught him many ways to deal with his behavior in this class and for the first month it seemed to work, but now he is falling back to the old ways again. I do take away privledges like his PS2 and dessert after dinner and play time that we look forward too. Instead we talk about what was done wrong and focus on how he can do right and I have him sit in his room and reflect on it for the rest of the night. He usally straitens out the next day, but he seems to always relapse then and again. A lot of my friends and some teachers have mentioned the ADD thing, but I dont want to put him on drugs especially when it seems to be a behavior he can control when he is focused. ADD might be an issue, but then again maybe she is just very social. Your not alone in this struggle for sure. J. P

Have you tried rewarding for monthly grades or progress? Like mom and daughter goes to movie or out to eat?
Maybe she feels left out or not the "in" crowd. Have you asked if this maybe the case? Hopefully its not the teacher is boring lol.
Good luck. Just make sure you ask her thoughts and feelings from time to time. Maybe then you can pinpoint it?