How do I get my six yr. old to control his behavior in school?

Question

My son is a very smart, energetic and sensitive child. However, he has become quite the class clown. He makes friends very easily, and it hinders his ability to keep quiet and in his seat during class. His school has a Warning System; 1st offense; 2nd offense; 3rd offense=class pass; 4th offense; 5th offense; and finally, on the 6th warning, they get sent to the Principal's office. My son gets at the very least, three a day. At least twice a week, he gets five and sometimes even sent to the office. Its all about talking too much. He just can't keep it shut! What can I do about this??

Answer 1

Boys have more difficulty sitting at a desk for hours than girls.  That's why so many boys get into trouble at school - he needs to be able to release his energy!!

You may want to find a different school, like a montassori schoo, that is more hands on, lets kids be more creative.

Answer 2

be a better parent at home, give him more attention

corp. punishment!!! take away his stuff until he acts right

and learn what's the right behavior at home/school

Answer 3

I had the same problem with my son. I think alot of it is the "warning system."  My son doesn't get that many warnings at home and it is hard for an elem. school child to keep track of that many warnings.  I spoke with the teacher and I put a chart in my son's homework folder.  She either puts a smiley face or frowny face for each day.  This only takes her a min.  If he gets a smiley face he gets a small reward for the evening, (play outside for 15 min. longer, play a video game, or I do one of his chores for him)  If he gets a frowny face, then he doesn't  get to watch any tv, no video games and no playing outside, and he has to write his teacher an apology letter.  In addition, we set more long term goals.  At first, if he had 4 smiley faces in one week, we do a "special activity" on the weekend, like skating or the movies, if he didn't get the four, they we didn't do anything special, after a few weeks of having at least four smiley faces, now it has to be all five smiley faces to do a special activity on the weekend.  This also included if he was invited to a birthday party on the weekend, if he didn't have the required # of good days, then he wasn't allowed to go.  I think the daily reinforcement helped, as opposed to taking 1 thing away from him for an extended time.  At first I would take tv away for a week, when he got in trouble, but kids adapt quickly, and after 2 days, he was use to not watching TV.  Plus it helps that if they have one bad day, they can start over fresh the next day. Hope this helps, good luck!

Answer 4

Kids can talk alot... My 6 year old cousin talks alot, until the point i am annoyed with her voice.

Just tell him that if he is being good in class for the whole week, he will get a reward. But if he talks too much in class, he wont get  one.

Answer 5

i think i would have him tested for ADD or ADHD, and see if there is something happening there.  maybe his attention span isn't there yet and school is not keeping his attention. i think i would talk to his teacher and see what she/he thinks

Answer 6

It sounds a lot like ADHD. Instead of giving him a list of punishments, the school needs to set up a rewards system (or perhaps you could at home as well) for when he DOESN'T talk, rather than always punishing him for when he does.

Chart his progress, reward and praise for when he has fewer warnings.

Perhaps suggest to teachers that they should "punish" him with something active like situps, pushups or running laps to help him burn off some of that excess energy that makes him so talkative!

Answer 7

The class clowns are often the bright, "gifted" kids - they've got this intellect but they're still kids who want friends and attention, so they use humor to make everyone around them laugh.

Parenting a gifted kid can be a challenge for a number of reasons.  Many times they are especially sensitive and dramatic, or they can get into trouble if they're not being challenged in school.  Does that sound like it might describe your son?

Answer 8

You are describing a NORMAL 6 year old boy.  The 'school' will do _anything_ to have him labelled as 'disadvantaged' (it gets them more Federal money as they are paid extra for each disadvantaged child on the rolls) so DO NOT ACCEPT anything that would indicate that your son has  ADHD or any kind of mental disorder.  ADHD currently is the favorite as this 'disorder' cannot be proved or disproved.  All it takes is one nosey teacher and a collaborative 'school nurse' to label a child with a thing that will haunt him the rest of his life.

Better discipline at home will begin to turn the activity into useful, purposeful ends but it will take time and patience.

Answer 9

How is he at home? Discipline at home usually equates to discipline in school and anywhere else. Start promoting the behaviour you want out of him in the house, then it will reflect everywhere else he goes.

Answer 10

everytime he gets sent to the office or something take one of his favorite toys away and then maybe he'll know that if he acts bad he'll get something taken away. he wouldn't want you to take his toys away from him so maybe he'll act better at school.

Answer 11

Don't buy into all the ADD and ADHD hype!  Don't put your kid on drugs!  If he does have ADD or ADHD, you could try diet, but both those diseases are extremely overdiagnosed.  

I would, instead of even thinking about him having anything wrong with him, put him in a karate class where they learn control and they have fun and get their energy out.  Keep him busy with sports.  Also, since he really likes to talk, maybe you can find a speech class or 4H program or something where he can talk more.

Answer 12

Start a reward system with him at home where he gets rewarded at first each day he doesn't get past a 1st offense.  Work with his teacher on this, I'm sure he/she will be more tha happy to coordinate with you.  Maybe let him decide on a reward that he would like (maybe 15 minutes of game time, or 15 minutes of extra outside time, a small toy or anything that peaks his interest.)  Take a picture of that prize and ask the teacher to tape it to his desk.  This will act as a reminder for him.  The teacher can walk by and tell him he's doing a good job throughout the day, or point at the picture when he is beginning to talk or misbehave.  When he is being successful at this stretch the days to a week long goal.  He is young, and needs something to work for to help him remember to be on task instead of talking and socializing.