Second Grader Can't Keep Focus in Class

How about he could just be bored out of his mind and that could be why he loses focus?
Have you tried having him tested to see whether he could be gifted?
My daughter started Kindergarten this year (public school) and I am amazed at how much the system resembles the army!
Children have no opportunity to be children. Boys especially need to move and are sometimes more active than girls, so they get in trouble eventhough they are very good children.
It seems that as soon as a child misbehaves these days: he must have ADD or ADHD!!! That's crazy!
May be a Montessori school would be more adapted to him. Just a thought...

You say he is "smart" and "capable." Do you mean he is very verbal? Talks a lot, knows the answers, great at conversation, uses excellent vocabulary, etc., etc., but has trouble with the WRITTEN work? If that's true, there could be many explanations: reading disability, writing disability, visual problems, or simply the boredom that comes from trying to sit still and do paperwork! My advice is to stay very low-key as you maintain your expectations for him WHILE you investigate potential problems. I've learned that kids' behavior is often their way of telling us something ... we just have to figure out what in the world they're trying to tell us!! Rather than just assume your son "won't" do it, be sure he "can" do it ... do you know what I mean?

Also, I would be careful about offering new toys or really special things on the condition that he "do better" in school. If this is something he can't control (like a reading or writing disability), he may become very frustrated because he badly wants to do whatever you're asking him to do (and he badly wants the toy!), but he literally cannot do it. That would frustrate ME, I know. Take the time, ask the school or doctors to evaluate, rule out all those bigger issues. THEN set up some kind of reward system for very specific achievements. And remember, in the end, he is your boy. Continue to celebrate the things he does right, and give him the opportunity to shine when you can. None of us like to do things that are hard for us. Why should he be any different?

Have a great week!
Geri

I have 3 boys and we homeschool. I don't think it is anything more activity couldn't fix. And public schools are not known for alot of activity. boys and kids in general were not made to sit still that long.
I would have him tested for dyslexia also. My oldest son has it. severly. we just accomodate him.
when they get antsy they go jump on the trampoline for about 10-15 minutes and then come back and jump right into work. They also have the radio going. some kids just don't do well with quiet.
personally, i think some kids do have disoders, but i also think that schools and teachrs, and policies want to make the kids conform and be quiet and make it easier on them, and they get parents and doctors to medicate instead of deal with the real problems. That the schools don't want to deal with any learning style except, sit in your chair and do your work. no matter what. and if you can't we will give you medicines to do it for you.
i keep my boys very active. and when they are not they are horrible to be around with all the bickering etc. We take gymnastics twice a week for 1 1/2 hrs, and they have swim practive for the swim team once a week now and are swimming 900 yards. We will be having more swim practices added this next week. To twice a week. Then they also scooter, play at the park, jump on the tramp, ride their bikes to the park which is a 4 mile round trip (even the 8 year old can do this). we hardly have any discipline problems and they sleep very well!!!
I would try at home more activity. like do a problem for 10 minutes, ride the bike with mom watching for 5, do another little bit of work for 10 minutes, then ride bike for 5 minutes. I would even set a table up at the curb, so he didn't have to get off his bike to complete the problem. just pick up the pencil do a problem and take off again. I bet it would work. we do stuff like that. and it works like a dream. tell him to think of the next answer while he is riding so he will be ready to answer when it is time to pull over.
i would also limit sugar and preservatives and make sure he gets plenty of sleep.
i don't worry about sugar and preservatives, mine are so active they burn off anything they eat really fast. but i do hear that it works for some kids.
when he realizes he can still get his work done and will have some outlets to release some energy, i think you will find that he can actually focus better while multi-tasking. of coarse, at school it will be different but maybe if he knows it will be different at home he can endure long enough to get home. where he can do better.
good luck.
L.

You may try giving him Nordic Naturals Children's DHA; it is an omega 3 and research is showing that it helps with attention and focus. It is very good for you in many ways, but that is just one benefit. I have seen children in my preschool class that could not sit through a short group time, now be able to do so with out being a distraction.

you didn't say when his birthday is...my son's birthday is aug.30 and we started him in kindergarten at 4 yrs. old because he would be 5 prior to sept. 1...our kindergarten teacher told us that socially he was fine but that we might think about holding him back because of academic maturity. we didn't...our 1st grade teacher lacked a little herself because she was going through some personal issues herself and I felt that if she had been stronger in the classroom then we wouldn't have been having problems. My son was also in private school during that time. He started 2nd grade in public school and I was so excited because alot of the work that he was going to be doing was work that he had been exposed to in 1st grade in private school...but NO...no difference..you would have thought he had never seen the stuff before...while he didn't misbehave in class he also didn't pay attention and do seat work like he should have...and homework was an entire ordeal every day...he hated school, and I hated him...ten minutes worth of work turned into an hour..I couldn't walk away from the table because I would come back and he would be focused on something else..we held him back in 2nd grade and it was the best thing we have ever done...we also had a great teacher and elementary school in Joshua that stayed on top of him and in touch with me about his work. he caught up on the maturity end with the academics..he is now in 6th grade making A's and B's...he gets work done timely (most of the time, he is still a boy) and does it without fights...
good luck..

Hello R.,

It could be a case of mild dyslexia. have him checked out and rule out anything before you contemplate any medication.

also check this video.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3301994867697306544

it does talk about how lavender oil can help concentration. maybe just putting a drop on his shirt collar can do wonders. don't tell him if you decide to do it. just check it out. =)
Good luck and keep looking until you get the right answer. here is my motto: Pray, google everything and follow your gut! ~C.~

A couple of ideas you may try taking him off of milk products and see if that helps. My sister in law discovered her son was more focused when not drinking milk. She switched to silk milk and the kids love it.

The other idea is take him to a psychologist for testing to see if there is some problem like ADD or something else. That really helped us to understand why my son wouldn't stay focused and do his school work--just wished I had done it when he was 7 years old. Don't give up cause there is something going on with him that is hindering his desire to accomplish.

Also, praise him for what he does no matter how little and don't mention what he doesn't get done. I have found out that it encourages them more to emphasize the accomplishments then they want to continue trying and it makes it much more enjoyable for both you and him.

I am a grandmother now but my oldest gave me the same problems and it was a constant work to get the school work done and what I would do differently now would be. Not make school so consuming of his time that he has no time to play or be with family due to homework demands. Like is too short and they grow up too fast. Enjoy the time.

Oh, is he a young 7 year old? Boys mature slower and he may just need an additional year. Just remember don't let this affect your relationship in a negative way. A.

He sounds like my son. My son would shred pencils in class. When he was suppose to be doing a writing a assignment or something. At first I would punish him but he was getting really frustrated and after observing him over time in and out of class I noticed this was more than he can control. He was not distracting or disrespectful and is well liked so it is an internal fight. He was starting to really decline from poor self esteem and started calling himself stupid because he could not keep up. I had him tested for ADD after ruling out eye exams and all the other kids stuff because his behavior wasnt a factor the doctor had a hard time ruling him as ADD . After a lot of research on ADD I really strongly believed he suffered from not ADHD which is the hyper part but ADD which is the attention and focus part. I changed his diet and I make sure he has no preservatives in his food high protein and a good vitamin. It helps but still no fix. We ended up working with our doctor and have him on daytrauna. It does have mild side effects but the good far out weigh the bad. He has thanked me so much he is making straight A's now and his confidence is back to where it was. He no longer shreds pencils and turns in his work (which was a problem, he would do it and then not turn it in) On weekends, holidays, and summer I dont give him the patch only when he is in school and needs to concentrate. I hope this helps, I am not an advocate of putting kids on meds. I think most moms try everthing else first but I will say it has been the only thing that has worked and he is happy again and I feel like I have my son back and he feels smart again. Yeah!!! I hope this helps you, good luck!!

Has he had an eye exam past what the school nurse does? I ask that as my son was having issues in Kindergarten. We took him in for an eye exam and he did have a bit of near sightedness plus some astigmatism.

But beyond that, I thought he had a tracking problem, his eyes seemed to track my finger differently. Turns out, his eyes muscles were weak...at rest they pointed to the outsides. So, when he needed to focus, it took a bit longer. He was exhausted from refocusing all day long and it showed in his behavior as well.

I'm not saying this was a fix, but perhaps something to look into. The school nurse's eye check didn't catch either of my kids sight concerns.

I'd recommend you read THE IQ Answer Book by Frank Lawlis. It is an awesome book on helping our children meet their full potential. I believe all teachers should be required to read it.

I doubt it is something he can control, especially at this age. He needs someone to teach him or give him tools to help him stay on task.

I can't tell you how many kids (I can't tell you the exact number, but about 99% were boys) I had when I taught school with the exact same problem. A lot boys don't thrive in the traditional classroom setting. The are very tactile (need touch or to touch)learners. They don't do well sitting for long periods of time without time to be active. If you can get his teacher to give him short breaks to do something active throughout the day, it would probably help him focus. In fact it would probably help her entire class! Maybe she will read the book too!

While your son may have some "learning issues" he may also JUST be a typical boy which means "traditioanl" schooling may be a struggle for quite a while or for ever. It is wonderful that you are searching for answers now because it is a short walk to him hating school and hurting his self-esteem if he is made to feel like something is wrong with him for his behavior. This happens a lot in school, I'm sad to say. In teachers' defense, classrooms are way too crowded and the TAKS pressure is on, even in the lower grades. Good luck!

Ps. I just remembered a trick/game I used to use for some of my students. They had to "race the clock" I would use a timer and the student had to try to get as much work done as possible, correctly and neatly of course by the time the timer rang. Anyone was welcome to participate, but I made it clear they were only racing themselves. It also helped to teach them goal setting since I would help them figure out a resonable amount of progress to make in the set time. Then help them make adjustments as necessary to the goal we set. If this seems to cause anxiety in the child, don't do it. It helps to know the child to know if this might help. This "game" should be made to seem very exciting and kept positive at all times in order to keep it fun and appealing for the kids.