First of all, my background is in Counseling and Teaching and I also gave birth to a Very Successful and Productive 35 year old with ADD who encouraged me to specialize in that phenomenon. Yes, I’m old but that makes me better. I am also a trained and Master Degreed teacher who has developed programs and curriculum for severely learning disabled children. I say all that for the purpose of credibility. “Seat work” as the school districts and some teachers like to call it is simply busy work. The only “seat work” that is necessary to children is their rote memorization – alphabet, spelling words, numerals, penmanship, times tables, and the like. Those little puzzles and matching games and coloring are activities students used to do in their “spare time” after they were taught facts and concepts by the teacher. It’s work done in their seat so the teacher doesn’t have to teach. Nowadays, (yes there were good old days in public ‘government’ school) teachers are so busy with their paperwork for administering the classroom and handling discipline problems, they spend very little time in front of the students imparting knowledge.
Secondly ADD, ADHD, and other very intelligent children do most of their learning in their heads, not with their hands. It’s the way they’re built; it’s the way they think, and it uses all the senses because their hands are usually free to do other things at the same time they’re learning. Also, there are many toxins in the air of most classrooms today and in our homes, unbeknownst to some, which are triggering ADD, allergy and asthma symptoms and behavior, of which you need to be aware. Your child probably multi-tasks and the teacher calls it “disrupting the class” or “fidgeting” or “won’t stay on task” depending on the personality traits specific to your child and the activities he does in his head and with his hands. He also learns during conversation – called “not listening” by most teachers because the child is questioning. Paring him up with someone who needs extra help (a disabled child, a child that others shun, or another child with ADD) can actually do both of them good, although the teacher probably thinks that idea is far-fetched, if not stupid. He may drum his fingers, tap out music with his legs, draw on everything, climb and hide in places you didn’t think he could be and is very curious about the world, so he asks more questions than he gives answers. He probably dreams, creates, and has wonderful ideas for how things “ought to be” or “he wishes they were”. That is NOT an attempt to get out of schoolwork or discipline; it is his way of learning and he is being frustrated. He is analytical beyond his years and his peers. He has probably figured out to manipulate every situation to his benefit, especially because the adults in his life manipulate him and have him doing activities that have no meaning. Just as an aside, I have met very few 8 year old boys who could sit still for more than 15 minutes without at least exploding on the inside and sometimes outside – it’s developmentally impossible by any textbook – so after 15 minutes, lay off. His mind has shut down because of what his brain is telling him to do – get up and accomplish something. You can go back, if you must, but read on for more possibilities.
Thirdly, in my professional opinion reached by years of experience, observation and counseling with many students and their parents, interviewing many teachers currently, and my human development training in the fast-changing field of learning styles, our theme should not be “No child left behind” but should be “Parents should train their children at home and be compensated for it by the school system”. I know our society does not understand that or support that as a whole because they have been duped by the “government schools”. I know MANY home schooling families that have taken the responsibility of training their children away from the government, realized their children can learn much more than they thought, and are paying tuition to some of the finest “government” (state) universities and private, yes even Ivy League institutions of higher learning where they arrived with excellent SAT scores, outstanding extracurricular accomplishments, and high motivation for a specialized career fine tuned by years of parent support in specialty environments.
I am very frustrated with the things children are put through at the expense of the real education that could be occurring. So after this long discourse, look long and hard at schooling your children at home, and if you cannot figure out any way to do that AFTER talking to several families that are DOING it, talk to his teacher about giving him classroom “tasks” for when he completes his work, i.e. cleaning the board, taking out the trash, passing out “papers”, sharpening pencils, setting up the centers, watering plants, or assisting a disabled child or slower learner and HOPE for the best. I will tell you that it will not ever be best and your child will become more frustrated over the years and not meet his fabulous potential. You can hold me to that prediction. They are self-fulfilling prophecies and you MUST find out the miracles he’s truly capable of. That IS your responsibility. I have a home business that is wonderful for Moms who need to make serious money and it works with home schooling, I know a company that will provide safe and effective cleaning and personal care products in case he is actually receiving brain damage from what you are using at home and the teacher is using in the classroom, or at the least will make your home safer and more calming. I am available for advice over the phone if you’ll email me back or respond to this. I am very opinionated but full of truth and all I say to parents is meant in love. Don’t be duped by so-called experts - I’ll tell you the questions to ask – and TAKE CHARGE OF YOUR CHILDREN. It’s part of the reason you have them as well as to be blessed by them. You WILL be rewarded in this life by your children if you follow through. ~ C.
