OT--Trouble at School??

[Order66]

I have a similar problem with my son who is 6 (7 next month) and also in 1st grade. He is also a lefty with very poor handwriting. I found it's a little easier to sit across from him and I write upside down to help hold his left hand. But I can't sit in school with him either. My son however is ADHD.

My son just kept bringing home poor grades on tests and handwriting assignments. He gets A's in most subjects but has downright failed others. I had to be the one to initiate a call to the school to find out what they were going to do about helping my child. How do you let a first grader just fail? About 50% of ADHD kids also suffer some form of learning disability but the school wasn't rushing to offer any help. It's been over a month for us and we are still waiting for the testing. I see the doctor again at the end of the week and I'll sic him on the school if they haven't done anything by then.

You should start with the teacher by asking for a conference in person or at least by phone. Begin by voicing your concern that your son is doing poorly and what does the school have to help him get caught up. Mention that you would like him tested to rule out a more serious learning problem. It's a very slow process but YOU have to be the one to push for it or it'll never happen. Your son sounds like he needs some help and it's best to get it now while he is young and before he learns to just hate school and homework. Once it becomes a behavioral pattern it will be more difficult to break. My SIL is just now thinking at 14 maybe her son isn't just lazy....maybe he does have ADD or a learning disability and is trying to get him tested as well. He's a teenager, he's going to be much harder to help than a 6 year old who doesn't even know he wants or needs it .

 

[Mouse House Mama]

I know that the card thing doesn't sound to good but he is only 6 years old and for a few days yeah i think the other kids will wonder about but eventually they will move on. My school system wants the kids to be brillent, in kindergarten i had to have a meeting about DS on his handwriting. It wasn't neat enough. Personally in kindergarten i didn't realize you had to write perfect. I think that they are moving fast and expecting alot from a 6 year old child. And it doesn't help when the teacher praises one child who's mother is a teacher and can write perfectly. When we went to openhouse all they did was say well so and so has no problem and oh heknows all this. I wanted to say well not every child has a mother for a teacher and if your child is so smart move him up. Why do parents have to compete about using thier kids??? She really made me angry!!!

That is just awful!!! Every kid is different and I don't believe in comparing them personally. I do agree that they have to learn so much so young these days. My ds is in Pre-school and they are learning math, letters and phonics. (to name a few things!) Luckily he picks things up very quickly but I can see how it would be difficult for any child to grasp all of it. We are blessed with an amazing teacher and staff- unfortunately not everyone should be a teacher just because they got their degree. Nothing personal against teachers- I started directing my career in that direction but decided against it since I knew it wasn't something I would love but rather a schedule that would work for us. Anyway- I hope it all works out for you. At this age it sets the precedent for how they view their school career. I would hate for your ds to be frustrated and start to dislike school because the teacher wasn't on board. I wish you the best of luck and keep us updated!

 

[noodleknitter]

I know that the card thing doesn't sound to good but he is only 6 years old and for a few days yeah i think the other kids will wonder about but eventually they will move on. My school system wants the kids to be brillent, in kindergarten i had to have a meeting about DS on his handwriting. It wasn't neat enough. Personally in kindergarten i didn't realize you had to write perfect. I think that they are moving fast and expecting alot from a 6 year old child. And it doesn't help when the teacher praises one child who's mother is a teacher and can write perfectly. When we went to openhouse all they did was say well so and so has no problem and oh heknows all this. I wanted to say well not every child has a mother for a teacher and if your child is so smart move him up. Why do parents have to compete about using thier kids??? She really made me angry!!!

I think your card is an easy way for the teacher to help deal with the behaviors. I hope you didn't think I was being critical. My boys were all in 3rd grade before their handwriting caught up with their intelligence. I think many boys have a difficult time with those fine motor skills...you'd think all of that lego pay would pay off!

 

[Whosemom]

SilverBelle, your card thing sounds great! Before being a SAHM, I taught children with behavioral handicaps and thats just the kind of thing we might do. Its really no additional work for the teacher. I do agree with the pp who said suggested not waiting for 10 perfect days for a reward. In fact, rather than a prize for 3 or 4 perfect cards, to start with a card with one or two Xs would get a chip - if he's really having several incidents a day now.

Don't be discouraged to not hear back the same day. 20 little people all rushing in, I bet notes from home get glanced at, and if its not "give meds at 10 today" get put in a pile to be read later. You'll hear something soon.

Until you are given a HUGE reason why not to, think of the teacher and yourself as a team. It sounds like your problems were with last year's teacher. Don't hold her against the whole school

 

[Gillian]

This is probably not helpful, but there is a Sponge Bob game for the Leapster that deals with money.

My son is also in 1st grade and his teacher did something similar with stickers on a classroom chart as a reward. The larger reward is something for the whole class, not DS. All of the kids can earn stickers for the chart, but I think she doesn't always say for what.

I know that my DS is sometimes very short tempered and demanding after school, and I've seen a few of the other boys in his class act out at pick up time. Their school does not have homework in first grade, but I know that kindergarten homework last year was sometimes a struggle, no matter what the material.

DS had money last year in (full day) kindergarten, and again now in 1st (different school). They have been learning to count in blocks of 5, 10 etc. since the beginning of the year and just recently counted the Unicef money from Halloween. It sounds like the focus was more on blocks of coins than on the actual monetary value, though.

I hope that these issues work themselves out soon!

 

[Silverbelle990]

I think your card is an easy way for the teacher to help deal with the behaviors. I hope you didn't think I was being critical. My boys were all in 3rd grade before their handwriting caught up with their intelligence. I think many boys have a difficult time with those fine motor skills...you'd think all of that lego pay would pay off!

No..i didn't think you were being critical at all...I had the same thoughts myself untill i really thought about it. If he was say in 6th grade i would never suggest such a thing as older kids can be crueler then younger ones. But since he is only 6 i think the kids will get over it faster. I thank you all for the suggestions and have the penny one song in my head so i will be teaching my son tomarrow. I printed out that page!!! Well the meeting is next week and i am getting together a list of ideas. Please keep them coming!!

 

[freckles and boo]

My six-year-old first grader is having similar challenges. She loves language and reading and nearly everything else about school but her eyes just glaze over when we work on counting money. She can skip count fives and tens, but we are having a very hard time getting her to connect that to money. Now they are throwing "make 14 cents with the fewest coins" at her and she is frustrated and feeling very stupid (her words). I had to ask her teacher why they are testing on this if this is supposed to just be a developing skill. I certainly don't recall having this skill three months into first grade.

BTW Thanks to camdensmom for the suggestions! I am also going to try to work with her on the homework in the morning when she is fresh instead of after school when she is ready to play. Good luck, everyone.