My 2nd grader daughter exhibits most of the characteristics of ADHD, but is performing well academically. She gets along very well with her peers (we worked hard last year on social skills)—so well that her social life in class now sometimes interferes with her classmates getting their work done. (too chatty) She completes her work in a timely manner and does well at self-checking for errors.Her teacher wrote in her report card that her main challenges consist of developmentally lagging work habits, with borderline auditory attention, following auditory and written multistep directions (she jumps into her work before finding out what is wanted), and not completing reading response worksheets because she is so eager to start reading another book instead. I suspect to some degree that this highly visual child needs more visual stimuli from her primarily auditory-oriented teacher, as she excels with those specials teachers who involve kinesthetic and visual modalities (science, art, gym, music). Any thoughts on how to help her move out of borderline into a more grade-level performance area in her work habits?I saved the most important for last: the area of most concern is organization: her desk and cubby are always messy and jumbled. Her teacher marked her far below 2nd grade level expectations in this area. Although she is well able to tie her shoelaces and zip her coat herself, she always arrives at pick up time with an open jacket falling off her and untied shoes. My daughter takes twice as long as other kids to retrieve from her desk/cubby whatever materials are required for classwork. I have thought of having the teacher tape inside the lid of her desk a photograph of a model desk for my daughter to pattern hers after and require a daily cleanup at the end of the day to help her develop better desk/cubby hygiene. Does anyone have any other thoughts on how to help her develop more independent neatness?The odd thing about this is that this untidiness is relatively new. When she was 2-6 years old, this child was incredibly neat and organized at home. Not only would she fold and put away her own clothes, she’d also voluntarily help make beds and straighten her room!
Thank you, Sara--also...question about Natrol
I’ll pass along your suggestions to her teacher.On an interesting aside, I switched my daughter’s daily vitamins to a new brand in response to an article I read that noted sometimes a higher dose of B-6 and B-12 can improve attentiveness. While it is too soon to know whether this will have a lasting effect, I have noticed she has been better about keeping shoelaces tied (5 days in a row!), being ready to leave on time (without my having to light fires), and general sense of togetherness since I made the switch a couple of weeks ago. I did not tell her why I switched…just had her start the new vitamins.The brand I’m trying is Natrol - Attention/Memory formula. A friend of mine has been using it with her children and liked the results. Has anyone else heard of it?: ADHD children can have issues with jumping is before all the
: directions are given. They can have issues with neatness and
: organization even if newly developed issues. I think the idea of a
: photograph a neat desk is a good one. Small containers that help
: to hold erasers and other small things might help as well.: I slow my ADD/ADHD kids down when I give out a paper. I tell
: everybody to put their pencils down and we read it together. I
: have the kids read the directions outloud.: Could she bring her reader response worksheets home and do them
: there? That way she could leap to her next book and still get her
: reader response sheets done.: My 2nd grader daughter exhibits most of the characteristics of ADHD,
: You’re actually asking some very hard questions. The things you describe are hallmark characteristics that often accompany ADHD/ADD so what you’re really asking is how to have an ADHD child not be ADHD?ADHD children can have issues with jumping is before all the directions are given. They can have issues with neatness and organization even if newly developed issues. I think the idea of a photograph a neat desk is a good one. Small containers that help to hold erasers and other small things might help as well.I slow my ADD/ADHD kids down when I give out a paper. I tell everybody to put their pencils down and we read it together. I have the kids read the directions outloud.Could she bring her reader response worksheets home and do them there? That way she could leap to her next book and still get her reader response sheets done.My 2nd grader daughter exhibits most of the characteristics of ADHD,
: but is performing well academically. She gets along very well with
: her peers (we worked hard last year on social skills)—so well
: that her social life in class now sometimes interferes with her
: classmates getting their work done. (too chatty) She completes her
: work in a timely manner and does well at self-checking for errors.: Her teacher wrote in her report card that her main challenges consist
: of developmentally lagging work habits, with borderline auditory
: attention, following auditory and written multistep directions
: (she jumps into her work before finding out what is wanted), and
: not completing reading response worksheets because she is so eager
: to start reading another book instead. I suspect to some degree
: that this highly visual child needs more visual stimuli from her
: primarily auditory-oriented teacher, as she excels with those
: specials teachers who involve kinesthetic and visual modalities
: (science, art, gym, music). Any thoughts on how to help her move
: out of borderline into a more grade-level performance area in her
: work habits?: I saved the most important for last: the area of most concern is
: organization: her desk and cubby are always messy and jumbled. Her
: teacher marked her far below 2nd grade level expectations in this
: area. Although she is well able to tie her shoelaces and zip her
: coat herself, she always arrives at pick up time with an open
: jacket falling off her and untied shoes. My daughter takes twice
: as long as other kids to retrieve from her desk/cubby whatever
: materials are required for classwork. I have thought of having the
: teacher tape inside the lid of her desk a photograph of a model
: desk for my daughter to pattern hers after and require a daily
: cleanup at the end of the day to help her develop better
: desk/cubby hygiene. Does anyone have any other thoughts on how to
: help her develop more independent neatness?: The odd thing about this is that this untidiness is relatively new.
: When she was 2-6 years old, this child was incredibly neat and
: organized at home. Not only would she fold and put away her own
: clothes, she’d also voluntarily help make beds and straighten her
: room!