Help with Kindergartener Who Wont Work or Shuts down If Feels in Trouble

it depends largely on whether the 'shutting down' is voluntary, or if it's something this very tiny girl can't control.

no way of knowing from this. she could just need more rest, or protein, or fresh air. she may simply have been put in an institutional setting too young, and is overwhelmed, and this is the only way she can cope. if so, she needs everyone to back off her and let her breathe, and develop at her own pace.

could be that she's never had positive discipline and doesn't know how to handle the demands of kindergarten. if that's the case, she needs to have firm, loving boundaries set, and the adults in her life help her understand them.

could be a physiological condition that requires medical intervention.
khairete
S.

Get the notes or go back and see what the preschool teacher documented.

Tell the teacher what did happen and preschool. Ask the K teacher what she sees and if she feels it is time for a meeting w/ the school team.

It could be adjustment to a full day in school. it could be that she is bored, it could be that she needs to get her eyes checked by a behavioral optometrist (Who is specially trained).
Also, has anything been detected by the physician over the years? Does anyone in the family have inattentive ADD?

Fist of all,
As a parent educator, I always find out if the child is sleeping long enough at night to be alert and eating whole foods and not mostly junk. No tv in the bedroom, either!
Thirdly, are the parent(s) stable and does the child respect authority (?) before jumping to any conclusions !

One of my kids could not focus and sit and colored/doodled. I brought her to a behavioral
optometrist and an occupational therapist. I knew what going on because I am a parenting instructor....It was just so hard to hear. Once she got services, she did so much better !

If she's talking during instruction, but then can get the work done in the last few minutes, maybe she's bored and needs more challenging work.

Well this is really the teacher's job to handle, after all her parents don't go to school with her, how can they be expected to "do" anything?
If the teacher is having a hard time then the school psychologist or resource teacher/team will get involved, that's generally how public education works.

She is only in Kindergarten. What is all this "trouble" she's getting into?

The teacher should have strategies for her. That's what teachers are supposed to do. What is all this "work" she is doing in kindergarten? Maybe she should switch schools, if they are turning kindergarten into a lot of "work," instead of the play that it should mostly be.

I recently taught a Kindergarten class. Some of the kids cried all day, some of them were social, some of them were quiet and shy and compliant, some of them moved around a lot, and were very distracted. I didn't consider any of these behaviors unusual or abnormal.

I think your niece's parents should stop getting her into "trouble" for her behaviors, and maybe she will stop becoming "unfocused."

the parents need to talk to the teacher to see if there is a problem at school. my son acts like you describe but only to me and his dad. anyone else he responds to.
like the previous poster said, if shes talking thru the instructions and still able to get the work done right shes bored and needs to be challenged more. which would be another conversation for the parents to have with the teacher.
if she is not given enough choices and feels that she is always being talked down to it could make her shut down. when you need to talk to her try doing it in story mode so she does not feel like shes being yelled at. (the story you tell should include any misbehavior and the solution to it but all happening to a character and not anyone you know)
also give her choices to avoid battles. (ex: if you need her to wear socks give her a choice of which socks)

I'd have a problem with a kid who switches off when ever I want to have a talk with her.
She can go zone out in her room (no toys or anything to play with) until she can talk to me and pay attention.
I told my son at a young age "If you work with me - life can be sweet. If you want to fight against me - life will be fairly miserable with no fun at all.".
Fortunately he's a real sweetheart and we rarely have issues with him.

She needs to pay attention in class and yes, it IS something the teacher needs to deal with but it helps if you back the teacher up by saying "You need to pay attention to the teacher and don't look at or listen to what anyone else is doing.".
The quickest way to fun is to get the work done.

Wonderful response from Kristen!