School stuff I have to share...
Related Topics
"Circe" guav...@yahoo.com
So, I wrote a note to my son's teacher asking if I could meet with her to discuss his workload following his broken arm coming out of the cast. She never called me to arrange the meeting, but things seemed to improve dramatically after the note (i.e., work stopped coming home with him in droves), so I decided not to press the issue. Last Thursday was Open House, so we went to see all the work they've done in the past few weeks and visit in the cl***room. It was a lot of fun, but two things came out of this that I had to share: 1) The teacher says Julian is doing much better and actually finishing a lot of his work before time is up. She also said she'd never seen a child who seemed confused about his/her handedness after a broken arm the way Julian did, so it really surprised her to see how much he was struggling initially.
2) My mother, who came with us, was bowled over by how much writing the kids are doing . She and I agreed that I didn't do that much writing until I was in at least the second grade!
2) The teacher has recommended that Julian's best friend in cl*** be tested to rule out ADD. He has trouble focussing in cl*** and is easily distracted.
Ummmm, hello, he's a FIVE year old boy! Surely there's not a more distractible creature on the planet when it comes to doing boring busywork.
And the expectation in this cl***room for sitting still and finishing boring busywork is more what I'd expect in the second grade than kindy. I just wanted to scream when I heard this. I know this child well; he's often over at our house to play. He no more has ADD than I do. It brought home to me just how much we are pathologizing NORMAL childhood behavior. But now his mother is all freaked out about it. And I don't know how to put her mind at rest :-<.
--
Be well, Barbara --> hoping another kid doesn't wind up needlessly on Ritalin (Julian [7/22/97], Aurora [7/19/99], and Vernon's [3/2/02] mom) See us at http://photos.yahoo.com/guavaln Moderator for the proposed group misc.kids.family-life This week's special at the English Language Butcher Shop: "Increasing the use of seatbelts and child restraints are the most effective things we can do to save lives and reduce injuries on America's roadways." --
http://www.healthdistrict.org/Survey98/factsheets/seatbelts.htm What does it all mean? I have *no* idea. But it's my life and I like it.
kathys ...@weeksfamily.net (Cathy Weeks)
A couple of things about ADD. An ADD diagnosis cannot come from a teacher, and should not come solely from a family practice physician.
It should ideally come from a team of people that usually includes child psychologists, physicians and other professionals. The teachers can only provide imput as to the child's behavior in the cl***room, and the team then uses that to help make the diagnosis. Many ADD children seem fine in environments outside their home and school, so your experience with him in your home may not be the best setting to see it.
We had Garrett (my 8-yo stepson) tested when he was about 3.5 years old, due to the schools's recommendation. What we found was that *if* he has ADD, then it's borderline at best. More of a problem is that he's ... Oppositional disorder maybe? I forget what it's called, but basically he has a problem with authority. Their recommendations?
Nothing. Work with him on authority issues, and help him with school.
They also suggested doing more quiet work with him to help him focus a little better.
I recommend _All About Attention Deficit Disorder_ by Thomas W. Phelan (Same guy who wrote 1-2-3 Magic). Phelan's specialty is ADD/ADHD, and his work with ADHD kids is what lead to 1-2-3 Magic. It really put my mind at ease about Garrett, because when I read it, I realized that the book WASN'T describing my stepson at all. It did however, describe my husband quite well, who *does* have ADD. Tell your friend to read the book, and if she feels it's describing her son, then maybe she should go ahead and get him tested, if only to find out if the teacher is correct. And, an ADD diagnosis isn't an automatic prescription for Ritalin. Only a few kids need it.
Hope this helps! I knew my MA in Education would come in handy occasionally!
Cathy Weeks mommy to Kivi Alexis 12/01 - http://www.bricktopia.com/kivi To reply, remove the spam and fix my name
"Ali's Daddie" Dad...@bonbon.netNOSPAM
The whole subject of ADD was addressed in a silly little movie called "Superstar".. thats right, the "Mary Katherine Gallagher" one lol..
Her grandmother simply said to the headmaster that if God gave his child extra energy and made her more active, then "I'll be damned if I am going to let anyone take that away" Thats exactly how I feel.. Unless it is an extreme case, I feel a child will do better without treatment and so will his/her parents ;-)
--
LES!
Daddie to Alegra Lee. May 25th 2003!
"Daddie's Little Diva"
maryi ...@aol.comnojunk (Maryilee)
And if a child really does have many of the symptoms of ADHD, be sure to have his/her hearing thoroughly tested. Not just the ability to hear, but how the child processes sounds. My son was diagnosed with ADHD. He did go the route of child psychologist, pediatric neurologist and finally family doctor, so it wasn't something done lightly. Ritalin didn't seem to work for him though. However, at the time he was tested,(he was nine) I had completely forgotten about when my son was in pre-school and the teacher had suggested getting his hearing tested. We did get it tested, (the full test, where he was in a sound proof booth and had to do various things like point to the correct picture.) The audiologist said his hearing was fine and only briefly mentioned something about my son being a bit slow to process words. This was back in 1990, and I didn't really understand that there was a problem. Come to find out only last year, when he was 15, that he has an auditory processing disorder. I looked it up and realized the symptoms are almost exactly the same as ADHD. Now, I'm not even sure if my son has ADHD. Maybe it's been the processing disorder all along. He's never had any of the other typical symptoms of having trouble socializing or anything along that line. In fact, just the opposite! He has always had a lot of friends and is very easy to get along with. So, well, I just wanted to let other parents know so that their kids don't have to go all through school having this problem and not getting help until it's almost too late.
Maryilee Maggie's Christmas page http://www.angelfire.com/vi/maggie/christmaspictures.html Info on hereditary spherocytosis http://www.angelfire.com/vi/maggie/spherocytosis.html
"0tterbot" s...@t.com
i might have mentioned this before (but it's boring, so you wouldn't remember ;-) about my oldest son in kindy. the teacher asked me to have his *hearing* tested because during mat time all he wanted to do was talk to his friends & muck about.
/shakes head it's hard to reinstate the full amount of professional respect you had for a professional after they make a bizarre blunder like that - the kind of thing anyone would be able to realise is not the case.
it's amazing the way normally sensible professionals are becoming about ordinary behaviour, like you said. i think in aust. the add thing is not everyone's peak paranoia - that award would go to hearing at this point, i reckon. or sexual abuse. sigh.
kylie
Joni Rathbun jrath...@orednet.org
Huh? Something very similar happened with my son and it turned out he had a 50% hearing loss.
He'd learned to compensate well and those of us who lived with him on a daily basis did not detect the hearing problem tho I do recall grumbling one day when he failed to follow a particular direction. "That boy must be deaf!" I said, tho I was only kidding at the time. But the teacher brought it up not too long after. I thought geze, well, I guess it couldn't hurt to have him checked... and viola: 50% loss.
"Nikki" sefam...@dtgnet.com
Yippee! :-) It brought home to me just how much we> are pathologizing NORMAL childhood behavior. But now his mother is I really don't know much about ADD or ADHD but I have read in more then one place that younger children that have signs of mild ADD or ADHD may just need more sleep. That diagnosis is such a mine field. To many normal kids are labeled but yet it is important for those who actually have it to get the treatment that could really make their lives so much better.
--
Nikki Mama to Hunter (4) and Luke (2)
"0tterbot" s...@t.com
but there was nothing to indicate my son had any hearing loss whatsoever, & (more to the point) *everything* to indicate he is an innate disliker of mat time, and a naturally talkative child. this was about half-way through the year, i feel the teacher should have known better both by her experience of teaching (x percent of children in any cl*** will dislike mat time) and her experience of my child (highly talkative, highly sociable, unable to sit still for long periods, not good at p***ive "listening", etc.) context is everything. i asked him if he can hear the teacher, he said yes.
i asked him why he doesn't like mat time, he said it's boring. voila. in that situation i'd be mad to take the teacher's word & have a hearing test.
the teacher seperated him from the particular friend during further mat times, & solved the problem. :-) kylie
"Sue" sburke9...@wideopenwest.com
Yes, they do a lot of writing than we used to. Face it, they are doing a lot more in school than we did. Trying to compare what we did and the technology we had then, it just isn't going to compare to now. Parents are much too worried about their kids being advanced academically that the schools have had to change the curriculum and give more homework. IMO, parents today push their kids much too hard when it comes to learning. It seems it is a race on who's child can be smarter. Makes me nauseous really.
distracted.
I knew that my nephew was ADHD at age two. He just wasn't right and was very easily distracted. (not the only problem, just the tip of the ice berg).
Sure enough, in kindergarten the teacher saw what I saw and recommended that my nephew get tested by professionals. The kindy teacher p***ed him though because she didn't want to deal with him any more, but when he got to first grade, things had gone from bad to horrible in a pretty short amount of time. He was finally tested in the end of first grade and then repeated first grade over again this year. So, some behaviors are normal for five year olds, but if they truly are ADD/ADHD those problems will crop up much sooner than the layperson will expect and understand and it will need to be sorted out so the poor child doesn't continue to spiral downward in school.
But, not all easily distracted kids are ADD, but if there is any question, I don't see the big deal in ruling it out. Could be something as simple as he needs to get a little more mature or he does have a learning problem, or he needs his hearing checked out. :o) I hope next year is better for you Barb. I had a horrible kindy year with my Jenny, my middle child, but once we got to first grade, she has done wonderful.
Sue mom to three girls
"Circe" guav...@yahoo.com
Well, I have seen this child in cl*** as well as when he's come to my house, and I don't see any behavior in either place that looks anything like ADD.
(I know a few ADD kids, so it's not like I've no perspective whatsoever.) The reason the suggestion that the child be tested set me off is that, a few weeks ago, *my* son was as distractible as this little boy. And, IMO, the problem ISN'T with the kids, it's with the type of work and the amount of time the teacher is expecting these kids to manage. I just don't find it REASONABLE to think that the average 5yo will be able to fill out worksheets, cut and paste pictures, and the like for three 20-minute periods back to back. Some of the kids have obviously just learned to knuckle down and do it as fast as possible to get past the boredom of it, but other kids are just not going to be able to do that. If the task is too boring, they'll do anything BUT that task until time's up. In this case, I'd lay dollars to donuts the problem would be solved by a combination of maturity and more age-appropriate schoolwork.
Beyond that, it's quite clear that this boy's distractibility (like my own son's) is not causing him any problems when it comes to mastering the material. His academic skills, according to the teacher, are fine. So what's the point of all this busywork if it's not actually building his academic skills? Frankly, it looks to me like MOST of the work they're doing in the cl***room is designed primarily to teach the kids how to sit still and do work. And at the age of 5, I don't see that as a particularly high priority skill. At 7 or 8, sure. I just think this teacher is putting WAY too much emphasis on work for the sake of itself.
I'm hoping it's better, too. Julian's really apprehensive about it, I'm afraid. I suspect the teacher has been harping a bit on how they should be finishing all this work so that they're ready for first grade, which is leading him to think that first grade is going to be even MORE busywork. I told him I'll go to school with him for the first few days to make sure everything is all right, though, and that seemed to comfort him.
--
Be well, Barbara (Julian [7/22/97], Aurora [7/19/99], and Vernon's [3/2/02] mom) See us at http://photos.yahoo.com/guavaln Moderator for the proposed group misc.kids.family-life This week's special at the English Language Butcher Shop: "Increasing the use of seatbelts and child restraints are the most effective things we can do to save lives and reduce injuries on America's roadways." --
http://www.healthdistrict.org/Survey98/factsheets/seatbelts.htm What does it all mean? I have *no* idea. But it's my life and I like it.
maryi ...@aol.comnojunk (Maryilee)
Your son sounds *exactly* like my son. He also is very social, talkative and can hear just fine. However, he can't process what he hears at the same speed most people do. He's a few seconds behind, basically. In a cl*** with a lot of noise, he has a hard time filtering out the other noise and focusing on what he should be focusing on.
His preschool teacher first noticed the problem because she noticed that when she would ask him to do something, he would just look at her blankly for a few seconds before seeming to figure out what she was saying. I thought she was very perceptive.
Maryilee Maggie's Christmas page http://www.angelfire.com/vi/maggie/christmaspictures.html Info on hereditary spherocytosis http://www.angelfire.com/vi/maggie/spherocytosis.html
Chookie ehreben...@foulspambegone.com.au
Given what you have written in the past, I doubt you will be able to convince this particular teacher. What is her supervisor like? Could you drop them a delicate hint that perhaps this teacher's expectations are too high and are driving her to pathologise normal behaviour?
OTOH you may not need to -- the little boy's mother may become rather angry when he's tested and found to be completely normal.
--
Chookie -- Sydney, Australia (Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply) "...children should continue to be breastfed... for up to two years of age or beyond." -- Innocenti Declaration, Florence, 1 August 1990
"Sue" sburke9...@wideopenwest.com
Oh I am sure if something was up with the boy that you would notice especially since he has been to your house. It's only a suggestion from the teacher and certainly one doesn't have to listen to what they say, but if multiple teachers end up having problems, it might be worth looking into. Is your kindy teacher new or very young? Does she have any kids of her own. I am finding that the new teachers just don't have the experience under their belt to know what is normal and what isn't. I know they have to learn, but it gets frustrating.
It's too bad this year has made an impact on Julian. I was lucky in the fact that Jenny is very easy going, that she just went with the flow in kindy and did her best. Since we have wonderful first grade teachers, they were able to make school fun and enjoyable for her. If we didn't have good first grade teachers, then I would have been more worried.
--
Sue mom to three girls
| To Top |