7 Year Old Has Difficulty Concentrating at School

I had a friend who started monitoring her kids diet a lot more carefully...and it helped significantly for them (may not work for everyone). I have also noticed with my own kids, when they start eating more sugar/less balanced/less whole grains, lean protein, fruits, and vegis...it effects their ability to focus/think/behave/etc. I'm not a total health freak...but they (I should say, we ALL) definitely do better when I read labels more and am more conscientious about what's going into their little bodies (and my not so little anymore body)! Best of luck! Hope it all works out :)

It certainly sounds worthy of ruling ADD in or out. ADD students are typically stereotyped as daydreamers and need constant re-direction to keep them on track. Based on the little you mention about her problems at school and with work, that would be my only guess. Why would the doc think that her visual perceptual abilities had anything to do with concentration? It sounds like if she has someone to keep her on track, she is able to get her work done and that for the most part, she is able to absorb the curriculum, though as you said on the cusp. It's worth a little googling on your part to see if ADD seems to fit or if it doesn't, at least before you spend any money looking into a field that has not been well researched.

I had the same problem at that age and was lucky to have a teacher who had taught kids with learning 'issues'. I was unable to concentrate and finish work. Her solution was to have me do two things at once. It satisfied my wandering brain need so I was able to more easily focus on the important work. I would doodle or read while the class was going on. As long as I could keep up I could keep doodling. I have no idea what a doctor or occupational therapist would say about this method but it did work for me. I also had the homework issues you describe. My solution was to work for 15 minutes at a time and then take a 5 minute 'brain break'. I still do this as an adult. Of course with a 3 year old you can't actually do the same thing for more than 15 minutes anyway!

I had a hard time concentrating because it turned out I wasn't getting enough sleep. Once my parents started putting me to be early, all of my focus problems improved. Just a thought. Good luck! :0

Hi S., I hear what you are saying. For years I have been working with children who have been "noticed" by their teachers, some notices are real and others are "teacher driven". Meaning it's the teacher who needs the IEP.
My response is based on my 10 years as a Special Needs Coordinator for my school district and 4 more as a Family Success Coach

So here is what I know:
Homework is boring. It is a fact. You try it, see if you like it.
My husband at age 42 is a "choppy" reader.
I do not finish things like everyone else, I must work at my own pace to internalize and get a real "feel" for what I am doing.
Vision is related to many things, it often can be corrected naturally, something that MDs know nothing about.
Contrary to popular belief (and by popular I mean by teachers themselves) teachers do not know everything. They only know what they would like to see or what they think is "normal" according to their standards in their classrooms. .

I know that when I was a classroom teacher, each of my students had a life of their own. Their learning styles, their communication and their behaviours, were all their own. It was my job to teach TO them not at them. Connect with the teacher. Find out what your daughter's strengths are and expand on those. Maybe her reading is choppy so maybe she gets to listen to her books and follow along. What is the ultimate goal here? Your daughter and her growth. Period. Fluid reading is not a requirement for success in life.

FYI, here are what some of my clients have said:
Kim, Mother of Amber, 6, Garret, 10, and Shelby, 15
“After struggling in school for two years with not being able to focus and regulate his behaviour, my son, Garret, after 8 weeks on Barbilee’s nutritional program has not had one incident since September. Normally, he would have at least one incident a day and sometimes multiple! He school recommended I get him on a popular drug to help maintain his focus, I chose nutrition instead. He is able to focus and moderate his own energy so he can get the most out of his studies and relationships at school. We have noticed the change at home also. We are all on this nutritional program as our first step towards achieving optimal health!”

Angela, Mom of Jared age 6 and Nyah, age 2.
My son was heading down a very BAD road in school. He was RARELY focused, always "fidgety," becoming increasingly defiant and a behavior problem, and he HATED THE ALPHABET!!! By the bizillionth time his teacher reported a bad day with him, I decided ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!! That was a Friday. I decided to start him on Barbilee’s nutrition program for a week and see what happened. Monday morning, here was the test…off to school he went. THAT DAY, his teacher reported an EXCELLENT day with him! Tuesday = AWESOME DAY. Wednesday = amazed look on her face = GREAT DAY!!! By the end of the week, he had had the best week in school he'd ever had! I have known for months that I needed to look at nutrition with my kids, but I didn’t know what. Then I met B. and she made it easy. For Jared, school has become an awesome experience rather than a drudgery.
www.BestBreakfastEver.com will show you the first piece to this process.

S., let's focus on what is. She is 7. She is still growing and learning and "getting her feet wet". What are her positive attributes? Is she happy? Is she kind? Is she able to concentrate on what interests her? Does she like to play and dream and laugh?

Focus on what is important.

B.
Family Success Coach

Contact your local Children's hospital and ask for the Occupational therapy department, then ask for a referral to a reputable developmental optomitrist. I don't know anything about the practice you are talking about, but this is a legitimate issue, the visual perceptual issues could very well be effecting her school work, and it is treated by an occupational therapist who understands and provides vision therapy. Linda Mood bell has a program for children who have some fo these issues as well, and all occupational therapists can evaluate visual perception on some level.

I would also suggest that you contact a neuropsychologist and get her an educational evaluation relating to how she processess information, what her IQ is, and how strong her academic skills are in standard, normed referenced testing. She may have more processing issues than this, and it could be any one, or more of them. Slow processing speed is common and could effect her in the way you describe, and can effect some areas while leaving others in tact. Dont guess, find out for sure how she is processing all information with a comprehensive neurpsychological evaluation.

If this issue is effecitng her education, she should be refered for evaluation at her school. Do not depend on this for everything she needs, and you should never know less about your child than they do. Being Hyper is not a sign that she has no issues, neither is being social, she could very well just have a processing speed issue. One think is for certain, you should own the evaluation that holds her diagnosis, if there is one.

M.

S., I highly suggest taking your daughter to H.E.L.P. (The Hollywood Education and Literacy Project) here in Hollywood. It is a free program, and what is amazing is that I've seen kids come into this program who "daydream" or can't concentrate and by learning the study technology they offer, magically these kids can study successfully. You can definitely call H.E.L.P. for a free tour.

Here's their data:

Hollywood Education Literacy Project International
6336 Hollywood Boulevard
Hollywood CA 90028
###-###-####
http://www.helplearn.org/index-flash.html

Ask for Amanda or Ann. They definitely will be able to help you!

I also recommend watching Sir Ken Robinson's "How Schools Stifle Creativity." -> http://3.ly/4vVU

Excerpt:

"Education is about developing human beings, and human development is not mechanical or linear. It is organic and dynamic.

Like all living forms, we flourish in certain conditions and shrivel in others. Great teachers, great parents and great leaders understand those conditions intuitively; poor ones don't. The answer is not to standardize education, but to personalize and customize it to the needs of each child and community. There is no alternative. There never was."

If you have any questions or just need to talk, please feel free to call me at: (323) 906~2784 or you can e~mail me at: ____@____.com

I'd love to help you and your daughter however I can.

With love,
L. (MAMA to 2 year old Dylan Orion.......29 September 2007) : )

Hi S.,

My daughter has had the same problem concentrating in school from kindergarten. I have been concerned off and on as some weeks are better than others. In first grade, her teacher and I came up with a visual (pointing to her desk or work at hand) so that all the teacher had to do was use that instead of verbally reminding her to not daydream. It seemed to work okay. This year, she's in second grade and has a fabulous teacher. I voiced my concern over her not being focused in class and her teacher said that she thought it was just because my daugther spent a lot of time thinking about her work and doing it right the first time instead of writing/doing the first things that came into her mind. My daugther is a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to school work and once I just sort of let it go, it seemed to be less of an issue. I did not have her eyes tested, as she gets that done at school. There didn't seem to be a problem in that area, so I can't comment about the visual aspect of your question.

If you haven't already, I would definitely have a chat with her teacher or even another teacher at the school who might have some ideas for your daughter in the classroom and at home.

I wish you the best of luck with your daughter. I'm sorry I could not be of more help; I just wanted you to know that there are others out there and that you are not alone.

Take care,
L.

is it just homework that she daydreams.. or other stuff... like if you put on a tv show she likes.. will she sit and watch it?? how about a video game.. will she play.... if the answer is she does these things fine and just not homework.. then it might be a learning problem... or concentration... have a tutor help her out... maybe this might help..

Sounds like she's bored. We pulled our son out of school after kindergarten and started homeschooling him - WAY easier than we thought it would be. He's 7 and finishing 3rd grade....without any effort. He was bored in school and didn't want to learn anymore. He got concepts really fast and then they just kept repeating them and he would daydream until he heard something new. We taught him to read at 4 and now reads at a high school level, but we also taught him Spanish words first (even though we won't speak Spanish fluently) since the sounds of the letters never change, it's easy. Then when he started reading English, he would read FUN and pronounce it FOON, and I would ask him what word that sounded like in English, he'd get all excited and yell FUN!

Maybe try homeschooling her this summer and see how she does? We complete all of the state and national standards, but we do it in the order that suits our son best. Sometimes Mondays don't work, so then we shift it to Saturday. There are days I don't want to go to work, so we just do our work when he is most receptive. He's still 7, we have time before we have do have him do things at the exact time a teacher tells him. He listens to me and does what I ask, but we has input as well. I want himto enjoy learning and that clearly wasn't happening in school.

Good luck. I hope you find some answers.

There are some of "scientific" types who question visual perception problems and the use of interventions such as vision therapy etc. I will say this as a child with a history of issues similar to your daughter (mine was distractable due to both attention issues but also vision issues that had nothing to do with glasses) she did vision therapy to ensure her eyes were "teaming together" meaning focusing on the exact same thing at same time. Part of vision issues like these cause a kid to have to put a LOT more effort into schoolwork and concentration because they eyes aren't working efficiently. Its exhausting! Once my daughter finished vision therapy she started enjoying reading and did it for pleasure! It was no longer as much effort so she was able to complete assignments as well! The other option you have by the way is getting your daughter's school district to pay for this, however you need to be savvy about how to do this as its education advocacy many of us learn over years. Good luck! And find other parents in your area who have done similar things. Other parents input can be very helpful.

Have you talked with the resources within the school? As a teacher I don't advocate for "learning companies" as I call them. Some are great, some are not. I would be leary before committing money and time to something not proven. Have you tried giving her a timer and goals? This may sound silly, but I have a few students like this who do great for a little but and then space out. One of my kids has a timer and he works solidly for 5 minutes then take a 2 minute day dream break, then back to work for 5 more minutes. It sounds disruptive, but the timer is very quiet and it seriously helps him focus and finish assignments. Within each 5 minutes he has goals such as read abc or answer xyz. Just an idea.

Since your school agrees that she appears to have some issues, you can ask for an IEP, based on her perceived learning difficulties. Your daughter needs to be tested, this isn't a matter for everyone's opinion on what would help her. The best person to do this would be a center that specializes in children's learning issues, or a pediatric neuropsychologist who will do the necessary testing. Contact me off list and I'd be happy to give you some referrals. You can also ask your school for an IEP, which would then get the school psychologist involved in doing that testing. Make sure you ask for the IEP in writing.

Hope this helps,
S. Eiges, M.S.W.
L.A. School Scout
877.877.6240
###-###-####
____@____.com
www.LAschoolscout.com

"The panic that had gripped me subsided the instant that S. was on my team...getting my boy into a wonderful preschool...S. is now working with me on K and elementary for my son. THERE IS NO REASON TO DO IT WITHOUT HER!!" - Jill D., April 2009

"... I cannot say enough good things about S. Eiges and her company LA School Scout...What S. offered was not only information about all of the schools, but she also spent a considerable amount of time learning about my daughter and my family so she could suggest schools that she thought would be a good match for us ...Things are constantly changing and S.'s job keeps her at the forefront of what's going on." - Renee A., March 2008

"Just wanted to say thank you for the incredibly helpful call! You gave me such valuable insight. I already feel like a big weight has been lifted..." - Melanie L., March 2010

"You are awesome. Thank you so much...Sheesh!! This process is crazy!" - Michel W., 2009

Yes, I have a lot of experience with the Learning Gym. They helped me figure out why my son was non-attentive when nobody else would listen to me. Our son has auditory processing disorder. The school refused to screen or assess him even though he already had an IEP. The Learning Gym screened him which showed serious APD, and then we were able to find an audiologist to do a full assessment and confirm the diagnosis.

David Garcia at the Learning Gym is very knowledgeable about visual issues. They can do a full visual screening and let you know what type of visual issue your child might be having. Valerie Maxwell has expertise in ADHD, and the evaluations they do at the Learning Gym will show you why your daughter is not paying attention. It could be ADHD, visual processing, auditory processing, sensory issue. Chances are your health insurance will pay for it.

Best of luck. I know it's frustrating, but keep with it. If there is anything I have learned, it's that you have to be your child's advocate. The school isn't going to do it for you.

Best regards,
B.

Could be ADD, not ADHD. Could be learning difference. Could be anxiety. When kids are worried they have trouble concentrating. Could be the vision thing, but honestly I don't know anything about that. I'd go with your gut feeling on that.

Your daughter is young. Is she happy and does she feel successful? If she is happy then I would let a little time go by and see if she matures. My thought is this in a nutshell......If she is not feeling successful and her self-esteem is being affected then it is time to act.

My son has the same issues. It has taken until 4th grade to get him to start focusing on his work, he simply didn't care enough about it (not in a bad way, but life is so much more interesting than school work). He is now seeing that there are benefit to getting school work done and he has A+'s and one B.
He had a hard time in class because any child around him making the slightest noise or movement distracted him. He actually asked his teacher to move his desk away from everybody else. When she was teaching from the board he came to sit with the class but when it was personal work time he went to his desk, in the corner, as quiet and far away as he could get.
HW has been a huge battle and it takes me sitting there with him to do it, unless he's interested in it, then he'll have it done in like 2 seconds. He's better verbally than writing so I have him read each question, tell me the answer and then write it down. It helps him think through his process and make sure the answer makes sense.
We've tried every way to get HW done. I let him write backwards and upside down. I randomly point to math problems and he has to do that one. I try to make a game out of it. One time he wrote his assignment in Spanish (he doesn't speak very much Spanish but I helped him translate and his teacher was fine with it because it got him to actually think and respond which was the reason for the work).
Keep going, it should get better as long as YOU stay focused.
Good Luck.

Hi, S. - just a couple of areas to think about/ ask questions of those professionals helping you…

1) sometimes kids have slower processing abilities than their IQ: meaning while they have the 'smarts' to understand and do the work, they are slower to get through it. This can be hard for educators and parents as they have the expectation of 'You should know this' and want the speed the same as other kids on par with their capabilities. Seeing a clinical psychologist for testing can help to narrow this down.

2) There are such things as 'Absence seizures' ( okay - don't panic seeing this…just another area to look into ) which is often misread as daydreaming in class, not paying attention, etc.

It's interesting to hear your eye dr say 'with coaching he was able to get her close to normal'. I don't know how that is possible - but again there are things such as dyslexia out there that are visual perception issues that kids can't even explain as they don't know they are seeing things 'wrong'. So there maybe other visual issues that can hinder her learning.

Just because your pediatrician says this is not a well researched area does not mean you should not look into it. Obviously there are alot of resources for research on line and a second opinion is always good.

You are your child's most important advocate and the one to see what would really work for her/help her. She's so young - it would be great to figure this out sooner than later - before she gets discouraged in school and loses her love for learning.

Good luck to you!!

I live on Maui, so I don't have experience with the Learning Gym. But, I do have some experience to share. My husband was a mediocre student his whole life and somehow made it through a very difficult engineering school to get an electrical engineering degree. When he was 34, he decided to go to business school, but, try as he might, he could not get a good score on the GMATs to get into B school. One of the counselors at USC told him that he might have a learning disability. He found a doctor in Orange County, Dr Mc Clarrey, I think (but he died a few years ago), and he went through vision therapy to correct the way that his eyes worked together. This greatly affected his reading ability. Now he has a MBA from USC. That was 10 years ago. My 8 year old was exhibiting some visual problems and we were lucky enough to find a clinic here on Maui to work on her eyes. Now after 8 months of visual therapy, she is actually CHOOSING to read!!! She used to HATE reading!

The whole thing cost us about $2500 for my daughter and was not covered by insurance. I feel that she has a good start now on her academic life. Get her evaluated. And keep looking. She is still young and there is plenty of time to help her. Good luck

I'm a pediatric neuropsychologist and I have to agree with your pediatrician. My reading of the literature is consistent with what your pediatrician had to say: although there are a few children who benefit from vision therapy, it is only about 10%. That said, the literature that I've read is about children with reading problems, not attention problems. My guess would be that the attention problems are separate from the vision problems. You could have her evaluated for an attentional problem. Ask your pediatrician for recommendations. (I don't know Dr. Maxwell and have no opinion about that. I've had clients who raved about the Learning Gym, but only have known one or two who have been there, so also can't really say one way or the other.)

One thing, it's easy to spend a lot of money on various interventions. Some have been evaluated more carefully than others. In my experience, the experts in the field question the clinical utility of the various "brain training" methods out there, including the extremely expensive use of biofeedback-type approaches. On the other hand, you will find a lot of people (including some neuropsychologists) who swear by those treatments. Keep in mind that the placebo effect (the tendency for people to improve when they think that they are getting a treatment or the tendency for parents to see improvement when their children are being treated in a specific way) is usually about 20%. That means that one in five people benefit from an intervention that has no real potency.

If you had her thoroughly evaluated, you would be in a better position to make informed decisions about possible interventions. You could start with the school district, which would save you the money of a private evaluation; keep in mind that the school's purpose in evaluating is primarily to group children into those who qualify for services and those who don't, and are based more on failure in that the child's academic performance must be low enough to qualify for services. (If they are not far enough behind, then the result may be that the school finds problems, but argue that the problems are not interfering with her school performance and therefore that she does not qualify.) On the other hand, my experience with the Manhattan Beach school district has been really positive: they have taken steps to help children before the child formally qualified for interventions. What is her teacher doing to help her stay focused and keep her on track? Most teachers try to use every tool available to them to try to help the children in their classrooms learn, including many of the techniques that might be recommended following a full evaluation. I wish that I could give you some names of people who do assessments in Manhattan Beach (or the South Bay more generally), but I'm more focused on West LA. (You could ask the principal of her school for names of people whose assessments have proven helpful to the school in the past.) I would suggest that you have her fully evaluated so that you don't spend time and money trying interventions that prove ineffective or unnecessary. Good luck!

This seems typical for this age. I homeschool my 4 children and all but one had this problem until they got older. I got them tested, talked to their doctor and had their eyes checked. Nothing was wrong...I thought it was ADD, Dyslexia etc. but they all out grew it... Good luck to you!