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agonyaunt2019-04-18 09:30 pm
colorwheel) wrote in agonyaunt2019-04-18 09:30 pm
Care and Feeding
My daughter is in second grade. She did great in kindergarten and first grade, and this year she was placed in a twice-a-week gifted program. She is bright, funny, and really loves to learn.
On her midyear report card, we heard from her teacher that our daughter is having trouble getting work done in class. The report card noted several “areas of concern,” along with packets of work that had not been completed or had taken longer to complete than originally assigned.
We were alarmed, and we went in for a parent-teacher conference. Her teacher stressed that our daughter is very bright, a great student, and wonderful to have in class, but that she was having trouble remaining focused when her classmates were active. (I can’t tell if it gets loud in the classroom and is too noisy for concentration.) She said she was trying to help this by moving our daughter to sit next to her desk. We felt better, believing she would be able to focus better.
I was shocked to receive a note this week (two months later) and then a phone call from her teacher, who was again concerned that our daughter was not focusing appropriately. During the phone call, her teacher insinuated that our daughter might have “attention problems.” I asked her if she meant an attention disorder, and she said that teachers really weren’t supposed to speculate on that but that we should talk with our pediatrician.
How can you tell if your child has a learning/attention concern, or if this might just be a function of classroom organization? I am not trying to shift the blame, but after speaking with our daughter and the teacher, it seems much of the problem stems from a disorganized classroom and large chunks of independent/free time. My daughter seems confused about loose directions on assignment due dates. And to be honest, I felt the same when I asked her teacher about them. For instance, a recent assignment listed its due date for one handout as Wednesday; on another, the same assignment was due Thursday.
I’m sure my daughter is not totally free of blame—she is not super serious and may lack motivation at times. She does have a tendency to stop working on something to watch other (active) kids. But she exhibits incredible amounts of focus when she’s even remotely interested in what she’s doing.
How should I approach this with her teacher? Her teacher, for the record, is extremely nice and thoughtful in her approach with our daughter. However, the way she organizes her classroom, workload, and class expectations is obviously not making sense to our daughter—or us.
If our daughter has some kind of attention disorder, I want to get her assistance. But I also have a hard time blaming her when her father and I (both folks with master’s degrees) can’t make heads or tails of the classroom organization or expectations, either.
I did speak with the gifted education specialist, and she was shocked that our daughter was having these problems. I am working with my daughter to help her stay better organized, like making a weekly list of assignments she can check off, but it sounds like that was discouraged by her teacher when she went to ask for help in getting her assignments written down so she could keep track of them. I’m at a loss, so thank you for any help you can give!
—Making Mountains Out of Molehills?
*
Hey there Mountains,
Thanks for reaching out! You’re not alone—I have worked with many students and families experiencing similar problems. My immediate advice is not to worry. Even if you find that your daughter does have a learning difference, there are many effective pathways to get her the help she needs. However, there’s no clear-cut way to tell if your child has a learning difference without seeing a physician.
Based on what you’ve shared, it seems your daughter’s attention struggles may be the result of many factors. Before you pass judgment on the teacher’s organization, try paying a visit to the classroom. This way you could observe your daughter’s behavior and get a firsthand look at her teacher’s classroom organization and management style.
At this stage I wouldn’t recommend taking your daughter to a physician unless you feel strongly. It doesn’t seem like her lack of focus is inhibiting her learning too much, and based on her gifted teacher’s account it seems like she’s doing just fine in their classroom. My best advice is to wait it out, and if the problems persist in third grade, then consider seeking a medical opinion.
Hope this helps!
—Mr. Hersey
On her midyear report card, we heard from her teacher that our daughter is having trouble getting work done in class. The report card noted several “areas of concern,” along with packets of work that had not been completed or had taken longer to complete than originally assigned.
We were alarmed, and we went in for a parent-teacher conference. Her teacher stressed that our daughter is very bright, a great student, and wonderful to have in class, but that she was having trouble remaining focused when her classmates were active. (I can’t tell if it gets loud in the classroom and is too noisy for concentration.) She said she was trying to help this by moving our daughter to sit next to her desk. We felt better, believing she would be able to focus better.
I was shocked to receive a note this week (two months later) and then a phone call from her teacher, who was again concerned that our daughter was not focusing appropriately. During the phone call, her teacher insinuated that our daughter might have “attention problems.” I asked her if she meant an attention disorder, and she said that teachers really weren’t supposed to speculate on that but that we should talk with our pediatrician.
How can you tell if your child has a learning/attention concern, or if this might just be a function of classroom organization? I am not trying to shift the blame, but after speaking with our daughter and the teacher, it seems much of the problem stems from a disorganized classroom and large chunks of independent/free time. My daughter seems confused about loose directions on assignment due dates. And to be honest, I felt the same when I asked her teacher about them. For instance, a recent assignment listed its due date for one handout as Wednesday; on another, the same assignment was due Thursday.
I’m sure my daughter is not totally free of blame—she is not super serious and may lack motivation at times. She does have a tendency to stop working on something to watch other (active) kids. But she exhibits incredible amounts of focus when she’s even remotely interested in what she’s doing.
How should I approach this with her teacher? Her teacher, for the record, is extremely nice and thoughtful in her approach with our daughter. However, the way she organizes her classroom, workload, and class expectations is obviously not making sense to our daughter—or us.
If our daughter has some kind of attention disorder, I want to get her assistance. But I also have a hard time blaming her when her father and I (both folks with master’s degrees) can’t make heads or tails of the classroom organization or expectations, either.
I did speak with the gifted education specialist, and she was shocked that our daughter was having these problems. I am working with my daughter to help her stay better organized, like making a weekly list of assignments she can check off, but it sounds like that was discouraged by her teacher when she went to ask for help in getting her assignments written down so she could keep track of them. I’m at a loss, so thank you for any help you can give!
—Making Mountains Out of Molehills?
*
Hey there Mountains,
Thanks for reaching out! You’re not alone—I have worked with many students and families experiencing similar problems. My immediate advice is not to worry. Even if you find that your daughter does have a learning difference, there are many effective pathways to get her the help she needs. However, there’s no clear-cut way to tell if your child has a learning difference without seeing a physician.
Based on what you’ve shared, it seems your daughter’s attention struggles may be the result of many factors. Before you pass judgment on the teacher’s organization, try paying a visit to the classroom. This way you could observe your daughter’s behavior and get a firsthand look at her teacher’s classroom organization and management style.
At this stage I wouldn’t recommend taking your daughter to a physician unless you feel strongly. It doesn’t seem like her lack of focus is inhibiting her learning too much, and based on her gifted teacher’s account it seems like she’s doing just fine in their classroom. My best advice is to wait it out, and if the problems persist in third grade, then consider seeking a medical opinion.
Hope this helps!
—Mr. Hersey