Lack of concentration

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Tixylixy
Posts: 43
Joined: Wed Jan 19, 2011 2:22 pm

Lack of concentration

Post by Tixylixy »

Can anyone suggest of offer any advice for a 9 year old boy who according to his teachers and assessors is very able but unfortunately is not working to his full potential because he seems more intend on acting as the class clown. I'm becoming quite frantic as he'll be in year 5 in September and will really need to buckle down in preparation for the 11+ exams at the end of 2012. Does anyone else experience similiar problems with their children?

My son is a July born child and some professionals have pointed out that emotionally he may take some time to mature and develop but as I keep reminding him, the exams will be upon us before you know it and he doesn't have time for such nonsense.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
scarlett
Posts: 3664
Joined: Fri Jul 16, 2010 10:22 am

Re: Lack of concentration

Post by scarlett »

Both my sons have quite a strong sense of humour and have a tendency to act the class clown , coupled with now being old enough to want to impress the girls...it can be worrying. What sort of things does he do ? Is he disruptive or just not concentrating properly ? My younger son felt he was a bit dim and had quite low confidence in his abilities and I think that is why he messed around. ..to hide that. He is now 9 ( March born ) and has really buckled down in the last couple of months but he really wants to pass the 11 plus to go to the same school as his brother.He is also with different children in his class who are mostly hardworking which helps.Perhaps in the new school year visit the secondary schools to give him something to aim for...buy him a little dittie if you know he has been working hard.Try and find out why he acts the class clown and boost his confidence.It probably is a maturity thing, so you may find it improves naturally over the next few months.Maybe he's feeling a bit despondent and worried about the impending hard work and 11 plus ?
Manana
Posts: 710
Joined: Wed Mar 09, 2011 3:22 pm

Re: Lack of concentration

Post by Manana »

Tixylixy wrote:Can anyone suggest of offer any advice for a 9 year old boy who according to his teachers and assessors is very able but unfortunately is not working to his full potential because he seems more intend on acting as the class clown. I'm becoming quite frantic as he'll be in year 5 in September and will really need to buckle down in preparation for the 11+ exams at the end of 2012. Does anyone else experience similiar problems with their children?

My son is a July born child and some professionals have pointed out that emotionally he may take some time to mature and develop but as I keep reminding him, the exams will be upon us before you know it and he doesn't have time for such nonsense.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
What levels did he get for the end of Y4?

I think taking him round to visit the schools in September is a good idea to focus his mind on his goal. Can you meet and discuss this with his new teacher and come up with some sort of reward system-where if he's buckled down and worked at school all week-he gets a treat on a Friday etc?
menagerie
Posts: 577
Joined: Thu May 26, 2011 9:37 pm

Re: Lack of concentration

Post by menagerie »

He might be class clown because he doesn't want to be class geek. Does the teacher set them at tables according to their level?
Also, he might be class clown because he's bored stiff. If your child never has to focus and concentrate to get the work done, then he'll get into the habit of silly mistakes and mucking about. He needs work that truly challenges him.

My son is also year 4 July born and used to mess about a lot but has settled down this year (yr 3 was a total wash out.) We've taken him to see some schools and he really fell for one. He's also been shown the work levels he needs to get up to in one single year in order to make the grade for that school, and it sharpened his attitude a lot.

You could try asking his yr 5 teacher for extension work if he completes his work early and gets it right, then say you'll check with his teacher and every time he has got an extension sheet he gets a credit. X no of credits means a treat or outing.
mystery
Posts: 8927
Joined: Tue Jul 21, 2009 10:56 pm

Re: Lack of concentration

Post by mystery »

Yes those sound like good suggestions. Without meaning to sound rude, the way you are dealing with it now does not sound very inspiring, and is potentially worrying for a child, or just a bit of nagging well worth ignoring. If telling a child not to do something worked, every child would be perfect!! It's even less likely to work where you are trying to control school behaviour because you are not on the spot to deal with it; effectively you are wasting your breath or making it worse as not only is he succeeding in winding up the teacher, and amusing his friends, but he got you going too. Great value!!

And will not clowning in school really help his results or 11+ outcome? As well as trying to sort out the clowning, you might need to think about what to do at home to progress things. Is concentration an issue in every situation or just in class? It sounds like the teacher is kind of passing on her control problem to you ....... not easy for you to sort as you are not there dealing with it. Doesn't she have any sanctions and reward to apply herself? A reward at the end of the day for good behaviour in the morning is quite a delay, even for a year 4 child, and it depends on the teacher communicating with you at the end of each school day which is not always easy.

Good luck .......... and it sounds normal. Just many teachers would not have told you.
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