How do I help my child's who easily lost focus?

Question

My son's 7 years old and he's having problem concentrating on things he is doing. For example, when his teacher asked the class to copy the exercise to their book, his 'channel' is easily switched when a friend sitting next to him starts talking to him or when another teacher come to ask a question to his teacher. His teacher then needs to keep on calling out his name and asked his to keep writing. At times, he gets lost... I mean copying the wrong line (jumped line), so he would missed one part of the exercise that he should be doing as homework.

My hubby and I always reminded him "listen to your teacher and not to talk to friends when your teacher is teaching", "make sure you see carefully what your teacher wrote on the board before you copy" and "when completed copying, check from the beginning to make sure you have copied correctly". But his teacher is still complaining to us that he easily lost focus.

Please advice.

Answer 1

ADHD or ADD. they normally grow out of it. i had the same problem. spending extra  time doing hw with ur child helps alot...especially when u give him love.

Answer 2

Simply a stated your son has the inattentive form of ADD...

What ADD/ADHD is is a chemical imbalance in the brain that manifests in the form of hyperactivity and/ or inattentiveness. You did nothing wrong in parenting him that could/ would give him this... You are born with this condition and most of the time it never goes away. However it is very easily treatable with certain medicine. It is better to get diagnosed young so they can fix the problem at an earlier age so that way life will be easier and more understandable for your son in the long run... If you are going to put him on medication then I would recommend Vyvanse, Adderall XR, or Concerta, these medications are formulated for children and work wonders.

Best of Luck!

Answer 3

I agree with what other people are saying about testing for ADD/ADHD, but in the meantime I would keep up consistent communication with your child's teacher.  There are a few things that can happen in the classroom, like moving your child to the front of the class so that there is less stimulation from the other students being in front of him and moving around.  Being the student that he is, his teacher can create a nonverbal reminder to refocus, like tapping on his paper when walking by.  You can also ask the teacher to double check his book before going home so that he is prepared for everything.  I know this sounds like a lot to ask of a teacher, but I am one and I am glad to do these things for my students so that they are feeling successful and supported at school and at home.

Answer 4

I would have him tested for ADD. Our daughter is 10 and has it and we finally got her on some medication that has helped her tremendously. We tried everything before going to a prescribed drug, but she calls her medicine her 'smart pills' because she feels focused and with it when she takes them. Your son doesn't have to be hyper-active to have ADD (our daughter is not) - that's ADHD.

I was a classroom teacher for 11 years so I have experience on both sides. He will feel so much better about himself if he doesn't get reminded in the classroom all the time to get back on task. His peers will definitely pick up on it and kids being kids, some will choose to use it against him in some way.

Do a little research online about it. There is an evaluation on webMD that you can fill out that will help you to know if this is in the realm of diagnosis for him. Also, there is a site that has video of what life is like with ADD (sorry, can't remember it and don't have it saved since my computer had a virus), but it shows what people with ADD experience in a classroom setting - it is very enlightening.

Most kids with ADD (attention deficit disorder) are highly intelligent.  Due to the fact that they are so smart, they can slip through the cracks because they aren't failing or struggling with their grades.  They can compensate to a degree, but it really takes a toll on them.  Our daughter seems to have a lot more energy for life in general now because she isn't spending her energy on trying to focus.  

FYI - medication is not a cure all.  She still has some trouble focusing.  I have to make her repeat what I have asked her to do so that she can remember when she walks away from me because other things catch her attention along the way and the thing she was asked to do flies right out of her head if she hasn't repeated it back to me.

Hope this helps!

Answer 5

my brother had this problem when he was younger and when you get older it gets easier because you have more control but as a child i would see a doctor for ADD because my brother struggled all his life with school which take a major toll on his confience and now still struggles with spelling and grammer. doing something about it now is defiantly a wise idea! :)