He can't be still!!!! When I give directions for him and his sister, he can't repeat 30% of what I say. How can I teach him if he won't listen? Any advice? Thanks!
I understand your frustration. Maybe some kids won't listen, but some are actually unable to listen because they cannot focus long enough to hear what you have to say. It may seem like useless lame advice now, but all kids are able to learn. I think our challenge is not so much to teach them as it is to help them learn. Your son has already learned many things in his life, so how can you help him learn more? The great thing about homeschooling is that the one person who knows the child best can provide the best possible learning environment for that child. Many parents are very creative in helping an active child learn. They provide a lot of active learning activities. My kids are very quiet, so I don't have specific suggestions for you. I wish you luck, and I hope you can work with your son to find what is best for him - no public school can do that like you can. Erna.
You may want to look into Central Auditory Processing. Some kids have more difficulty processing auditory information. You may have a visual learner on your hands. If you show him visually what to do can he follow those directions? I have one son that has more difficulty processing auditory information although he didn't really have Central Auditory Processing disorder. He is a big wiggle worm and often has problems listening. Last school year he improved a bit. We read lots of high interest stories to him that were full of pictures. All that reading and reading did help him because he had to practice listening. Auditory skills are not his strength, but we do continue to practice listening skills. You can read about CAPD here http://www.bcchildrens.ca/Services/ClinicalDiagnosticFamilyServices/Audiology/Forfamilies/(C)APD.htm It gives a list of symptoms and you can see if it might fit.
He sounds like almost every boy I ever knew! :lol: I used to think the same thing about my son. Ya know, really I think we have higher expectations of them at home because of the one on one thing. In school that teacher would give instructions and he would do it or not, look at his neighbor's papaer or not, and whatever he gets done he got done. The teacher expects the kids to swerve off track, but at home we expect them to stay ON track. It takes time to train a child to learn. My son was like that, in fact he is still like that now (and he's in 7th), but he is much better than he was. Your boy is listening, but maybe not in the way you expect him to.
My daughter has difficulty focusing. I read some articles about the amino acid L-theanine [it's found in green tea] that talked about how it can help relax people enough so that they can focus better. So, a few weeks ago, we started using that along with having her drink the Crystal Light powdered drink mix that's labeled 'Focus.' Her ability to sit and focus on stuff has improved tremendously. One of her karate instructors even made a comment on it in her test booklet when she recently tested for her blue belt. My husband has felt like the difference has been pretty dramatic. You might do your own research on it and see if you want to try it. Since L-theanine is an amino acid and not a drug, there's nothing addictive to it.
I was just going to say he sounds like EVERY boy I know!!! LOL You may want to find out what his learning style is. You don't necessarily have to teach ALL subjects that way, but if you mix up how you teach, maybe it will help him focus more. Also...my son works well with "chosen" distraction. When he's doing what he refers to as "boring seatwork" I let him listen to his iPod. It keeps him from focussing on the other distractions around him...he CHOSES his distraction. He gets done his seat work much easier this way. HTH. Especially to know your boy is normal!!! (this is why more boys are labelled ADD or ADHD than girls).
How are you schooling? A lot of sit-down work? Do you space it out with physical activity? We break for 15 minutes of outside playtime at 10 and 11:45ish. Do you let him "improv"? That is, incorporate physical activity into what he's doing? Beat it out on the table if he's writing a poem or doing math, let him know beforehand that you will be doing an activity based on what he's learning (we're learning about Rome and we're going to make a "movie", but there will be a lot of sword-fighting and gladiator stuff in the interim, LOL)? That might help encourage him to sit longer. I can't give you much in terms of putting stuff into practice; I unschool til my kids are 8 so my 6 yo DS hasn't really gotten started in more formalized learning yet, and my DD just turned 8 and is less-active than my boys, LOL.
He sounds just like my boys though they are a bit younger. I try to incorporate a lot of "breaks" into our day. This way they don't get restless. So for example if I'm teaching math and we are working on our addition facts I will let them get up and jump around and what not as long as they are answering my questions or reciting the math facts with me. If we are working on science and we are studying planets I will toss them a ball and ask them which planet it is they answer and toss the ball back. This really helps get the "squirmies" out so that when I really need them to sit still (phonics for example) they can and will sit still for me. I also allow them to take a 15 minute break for every hour of work if they want it (many times they don't want one because they don't feel like they were working)
Thank you all for your replies. He is a visual and kinetic learner. His sister is an auditory learner like her dad. I've tried multiple breaks, that sometimes include wiggling and jumping up an down. But the way he looks at is, let me just get this over with. I'll say take a 5 minute break and I'll see you back in 5 min. He won't. I ask him to repeat directions so we have no communication problems. 9 times out of 10, he's clueless as to what I have said. This is hindering his reading comprehension. The teacher expects the kids to swerve off track, but at home we expect them to stay ON track. SOOOOOO TRUE! We do improv too. Clapping with syllables. There is a lot of boring reading. He reads well but doesn't want to read. I do have some ideas though and will update when I see that it works or doesn't. He is so afraid he will fail. We do nothing to mke him feel this way. It's a pressure he puts on himself. When his little sister does good he is so proud and claps for her, etc. He is so smart, smarter than he will even admit. He beats himself up though. I told him about the great inventors and that they messed up hundreds of time, but now we have a lightbulb, b/c the inventor never gave up.
