Possible Gifted Child and Focus Problems in School

He isn't being challenged. He is getting bored because he already knows what is being taught. That is when his wandering little mind takes over. He needs tasks at school that are advanced from the other kids. Talk with the school about this, they should be able to work with you on this.

Move him to a Montessori program.

Preschool teaches kids to sit still, follow directions and get used to a schedule. It's good preparation for kindergarten and beyond, when these skills are needed to succeed in a classroom environment. However, it sounds like your son is ready to learn, but not ready to sit and focus so pre-school is going to be frustrating for him.

Is there another type of program he could attend? One that emphasizes play and imagination, rather than discipline and academics? Or could you keep him home this year and do stuff with him on your own: library storytime, play dates, nature walks, get a pass at a local museum?

Boys tend to lag a bit in fine motor skills like writing, but they get it eventually when they are ready. I'd give him time and not push him. He's already bright and imaginative, so I'd let him develop in those areas and enjoy learning about what interests him.

Oh my. What are we doing in education, when we have a 4 year old boy who doesn't enjoy seatwork, practicing writing letters, and we see that as a problem? It is totally developmentally appropriate. Just because he is bright intellectually doesn't mean his little fingers are ready for learning to practice letters, nor does it mean that his hands and brain are coordinated enough for this particular fine-motor task to be natural. I don't have a solution for you if this is the curriculum at your preschool, but I would not encourage practicing at home. Rather he should be working with play-doh, playing with pick up sticks, rolling marbles, pushing lights into a Bright-Lite, using thick and thin chalk on the driveway, painting at an easel. All of these will increase his ability and improve his confidence. Interestingly, research does not encourage using fine-motor programs on the computer, because children need to practice in the real world and can't always transfer from the two-D to paper and pencil. If you absolutely must practice letters, it would be better to do them on paper taped to an easel. This allows him to stand and use his arm to make the movements. My very best to you and him.

First, no child can accurately be tested and labeled as gifted until at least second grade, since their brains are not developed enough yet for an accurate assessment. (See the book "Nurtureshock" for the recent research on this.)

In the meantime, he's a four-year-old. Why would you expect him to sit at a table and concentrate on any task for more than a few minutes. That's the main thing preschool teaches, over time. He's not "bored" writing letters if he doesn't know yet how to write letters. He's just a normal boy and doesn't want to sit and write letters. Make sure he's getting enough outside active time each day, and let the year of pre-school play out.

Well Jim your assessment would work except he doesn't know how to write so clearly he doesn't know what is being taught.

He is still a baby, let him be one. He isn't learning to write because he wants to learn other things. If he were in grade school I would say this is an issue but he isn't.

Make a deal with him. If he works on writing in school you guys will explore the world when he isn't in school. After all, let the school be the boring ones, ya know? When he is out of school take him places that interest him, google the things he wants to learn, figure out how to show him how to find what he wants to know and learn.

As a bonus he is learning that you learn what you are told in school no matter how boring, and if he is gifted (god I hate that term) he will be bored in school, but he knows that the world is full of information when he has free time.

Can you tell I was addicted to libraries as a child? :)

Hey JL I have beautiful handwriting, always have. You take that back!!!

It's entirely possible that he has some level of ADD. MANY highly intelligent, creative, intuitive people struggle with ADD. There are probably times when he can hyper-focus too I'm guessing?

I would do some research on ADD/ADHD, talk to your ped and then get him assessed if necessary. You'll save him a great deal of angst if you get in front of it instead of waiting until he's in grade school and struggling with focusing even more. That way you'll learn ways that he can implement that help him learn in the best format possible for him. Don't be afraid of medications either-they can help immensely with focus issues and impluse issues.

Someone also mentioned Montessori-might not be $$ feasible for everyone, but many communitites have charter schools that function in smaller group formats, similiar to Montessor-that often helps kids who have trouble with focus-because they can often swtich their attention more often and then come back to things later.

Here is a great resource: http://www.drhallowell.com/ to start with.

Oh stop with the ADD/ADHD. Your child can't focus because he/she is bored! I was bored as a child because I was gifted and there's NOTHING wrong with the NATURAL human emotion of boredom. As adults I'm sure you've gotten bored before. Do you have ADHD? Certainly not! And a child doesn't necessarily know how to socially handle being bored.

Look, children don't focus on anything they deem boring or anything they don't particularly want to do. Just like adults. When the interest isn't there then of course they are bored. That doesn't mean the child has ADHD or ADD, which is becoming a blanket statement for many children who have other issues. ADHD children CAN'T focus even though they WANT to. ADHD children often get frustrated because they WANT to do something but they CAN'T focus to do it.

You're talking about a bright child who doesn't WANT to focus. A very different situation.

It may be that your child just needs some extra motivation. Or he may need a way to make learning his letters fun. I suggest looking into working with him at home and tying it into dinosaurs. There's a method where you learn to draw the letter and then the letter is transformed into a picture. I used it with my daughter when she didn't want to learn how to print. She loved drawing so we used that method and she thought she was drawing pictures when in fact she was learning her letters.

Your child may also need a motivation system. Let him know that when he can print all of his letters then he gets a reward. If he's gifted then the prize will give him motivation and I'll bet he'll learn them quickly.

Children don't see the reasons why they have to learn something and they don't always understand when we do give them reasons. So we have to give them other reasons that they understand. It's not bribing, it's just giving them a reason they can relate to. Later on they'll thank us :)

As a gifted student I often needed extra motivation because I was so bored. Teachers worked with me. I did not have ADD or ADHD, and when they finally got a gifted program at my school I flourished and no longer had issues. Good luck!

Geez, this is the 2nd post I've seen in the past week about 4-year olds and writing. Are 4-year olds really expected to write these days?

All my 4-year old wants to do is play, play, play. I don't get the sense that they are pushing writing in his pre-K school so early on.

I liked the suggestions on the other post - writing letters in sand or dirt with a stick or with fingers in whipped cream or something similar. The other day we made Hs and Ts and Is out of carrot sticks during dinner, then we made a B and a P using a carrot stick and spaghetti. It gave my son the sense of the shapes that go into letters and it made the exercise fun.

Use some curriculum such at what homeschoolers use when he is out of class and see how he does.

If he isn't able to focus by the end of next year, consider getting an assessment done to be sure there isn't a problem such as ADHD. It is hard to determine these types of disorders this young, but many parents of children who are diagnosed as such by the time they are in Kindergarten or 1st grade say they always suspect something was up in the area of focus and concentration.

This isn't a bad thing, just a sign that you'll have to approach school differently so he stays focused and engaged.

Kids with ADHD often have problems with handwriting as well. But once again, he's too young for assessment.

There are however therapies he can do to help with motor skills problems now, if that what you suspect is going on. I suggest you find out for certain if he's having problems beyond what is normal for guy his age concerning the writing. By age 4, they should be able to hold a crayon or pencil and draw and write simple pictures and rough numbers and letters (not perfect but fairly legible). He might not be interested in writing because he's having trouble too. I say, find out for certain if possible.