November 16, 2007 7:43 PM
Reader input needed on hyperactivity, distractibility
Barbara,I have a 5 yr old daughter who is very smart, and she has been in a Montessori Children's house classroom for the past two years. She is in the class this year as a kindergartner. As a child I was diagnosed with ADHD, and was on ritalin from 1st - 10th grades at school. I went to traditional public school and it wasn't the easiest part of my life for sure, although my favorite times were my "AG" classes! I have had a feeling for some time that my daughter is also going down this path, and my parent-teacher conference this morning confirmed that hunch. In the teacher's words, my daughter has trouble focusing, and it's hard to get her to complete her activities. She enjoys certain activities, but is often distracted and doesn't get things finished in a reasonable amount of time.
Her teacher suggested doing some mind exercises to help her learn how to focus and said I should check out "Brain Gyms" and the book "Smart Moves". Have you heard of these things? Can I get your opinion on them?
I'm not sure how familiar you are with children who are hyperactive, but thought I would ask anyway! I figured with 12 children, you may have encountered this issue. My mom says maybe Montessori isn't the right place for her - maybe we should put her into a 'regular' school... I would rather not! Thanks!
Emily
Dear Emily -I'm not familiar with those things. Would you like me to post this at my blog to get some responses from readers? They are usually a rich source of info.
I will say that if your child was in a Montessori class for two years and has trouble concentrating, that's unusual as that is a major major benefit of a Montessori education (unless the teacher wasn't that good).
But if you have some other things to try before going down the meds path, of course you should try them. What do you think? should I ask my readers?
love,
barbara
Barbara,I think it would be great to ask your readers! I welcome ANY input on the subject. I wonder how many others have had a similar situation?
My daughter is very bright, is reading well above kindergarten level, and is doing addition, subtraction, and started multiplication last week in her class. She has no problem understanding and completing the 'works' presented to her, the issue is that she is very distracted, and has trouble focusing on the task before her. When she is moved out of her class, into an adjacent classroom to help her avoid the distractions of the children she knows, she completes her work quickly. She says it is because she is 'shy of the other children'.
I would love to hear what your other readers thought of the situation and if they had any suggestions! Thank you!
Emily
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Comments
She may be a good candidate for homeschooling if she really does work better alone.
I am highly distractable too...probably ADD (have all the "text book" symptoms) but because I never had any behavior problems medication was never considered necessary.
Maybe you could ask her what she thinks she needs?
Posted by: paigeu | November 16, 2007 8:01 PM
brain gym rocks...
Posted by: Ellen | November 16, 2007 8:15 PM
I highly recommend the book, "The Myth of the ADHD Child, and 50 ways you Can Help" by Thomas Armstrong.
The first part of the book delves into the social, medical, and political reasons a child may be diagnosed with ADHD, but the real "gold" is the second half of the book, where he compiles 50 different strategies to help your child. His only criteria were that they had to be shown to help, and did not involve giving your child something (i.e., medications, vitamin therapy, etc.)
There is also a helpful quiz to help parents pinpoint the exact nature of the ADHD behavior, to better target solutions.
I love this book!
Also, remember that ADD behavior CAN actually be good and useful, in the right context. Unfortunately, most classrooms are NOT the right context! But it is widely thought that Edison, Franklin, and other inventors had ADD.
Posted by: Milehimama | November 16, 2007 10:09 PM
Your daughter is only five. Let her get a few years older before you start thinking she needs radical intervention. We don't all mature at the same rate. As long as she is not destructive to herself or others, let her grow at her own pace.
Posted by: Marie | November 17, 2007 12:40 AM
http://www.braingym.org.uk/ Is a link explaining brain gym in the UK. My two sons who have special needs ( autism and ADHD/dyspraxia ) both do a form of martial arts called Brain Dojo which combines brain gym with tae kwondo. They have both being doing these exercises for two years and it has been a very positive experience for us all.
Posted by: Sue | November 17, 2007 7:29 AM
Have you tried food solutions? I know many mothers who have seen radical improvement in their children by eliminating high fructose corn syrup, colored and numbered dyes (like red no.#5), hydrogenated oils, food additives like msg, and sometimes even gluten or casein.
It never hurts to try it--and eliminating many of those things leads to healthier habits for the whole family.
Posted by: Emily | November 17, 2007 6:03 PM
As the mother of a 10YO daughter, I highly recommend both Brain Gym and Smart Moves. There are Brain Gym practitioners who work on entire body integration - and can help with developing "PACE" activities. We do PACE at the beginning of our day, or before beginning a new activity. It is fascinating to recognize that our body has such a fascinating electrical system.
Posted by: Dianne Phillips | November 18, 2007 3:19 PM
My ds, now 20, was diagnosed as ADHD in the 2nd grade and took ritalin for two years. We tried all kinds of things: focus exercises (my favorite was a game we called "statue" where he had to stop whatever he was doing and stand still as a "statue" when I said the word, then he was to report what he was thinking while standing still when I called "time over"), dietary changes like no dairy and no wheat. Nothing really worked until we moved to the country, began homeschooling, and let him run in the woods with his dog for a year. We then began unschooling until 8th grade when we began to follow a more traditional classical home education method.
DS got a very high ACT score and a good scholarship to a demanding Christian college. He's doing great.
BTW, he was in a Catholic school when he was diagnosed as ADHD. He also attended public school for one year. We live in a rural area and had no other choice in schools.
Gifted kids and ADHD kids share many of the same behaviors: needing little sleep, for instance. Here's one link to a site that discusses the differences. http://www.nldontario.org/articles/GiftedStudentBored.html
Hoping you find what works for your daughter.
Posted by: Sandy C. | November 21, 2007 5:06 PM
Thanks for all of your suggestions, I am currently reading the Brain Gym book and Smart Moves. I also have the Myth of the ADHD child on request at the library. I am going to try to cut out the food stuff someone listed and we'll see what happens. I am thinking about enrolling her in a taekwondo class (I can't spell it) - mainly to see if that will help her develop more self dicipline. She is only 5 and I think we'll take it slowly. Thanks again! Emily
Posted by: Emily | November 27, 2007 10:10 AM
