I am worried

[ishumom13]

My 5 year old son is otherwise very humble and intelligent boy....but I am worried about his performance in school as he is easily distracted and needs constant attention in class. His teacher always complains that he is unorganized and very careless. I dont know what to do.

[TCMG]

You say "His teacher always complains that he is unorganized and very careless." This teacher sounds unfamiliar with age appropriate behavior.

As soon as you can be a volunteer in the class. Find out what is really going on. Don't take the teacher's comments at face value. Consider her to be flawed, not your kid!

Please be aware that the schools get more federal funding when they identify kindergarteners with ADHD. Also, be aware that the special education  (Title One) department of the school has jbetter ob security when more kids are tagged with ADD or ADHD.

[uphill7584]

THANK YOU WOOZY!!!! What the hell happened to teachers who knew how to handle kids. The answer is not doping them up until they are zombies that you can control. If he is distracted....ask him why. If he doesn't have a good answer, punish him until he learns that he needs to pay attention and quit screwing around. If he does have something going on thats bothering, then make sure you tend to that. He could have some anxieties that cause him to act out. But other than that I think he is just being a 5 year old. He will grow out of it. But really have a good talk with him and see if he is worrying about anything, or upset about anything. You said he may be oversensitive...that could be a sign of some anxiety issues. Which would definitly cause him to be distracted and potentially act out sometimes. Kids are little people...their actions have reasoning behind them. However, unlike adults, they rarely explain themselves, and adults rarely expect an explanation. The reality is that you child's moody behavior is he or she trying to tell you something. You need to find out what is going on in his head that is make him moody.

Just please please please do not pump him full of amphetamines because you don't like the way he acts sometimes. That will effect the way he acts in the future and his personality way more than the moodiness he presents now. Good Luck with everything. Keep us posted!

[woozy]

i don't remember being organized at age 5! lol.. who's expected to be organized then and in what sense? good lord, this world seems crazy to me.

[ishumom13]

We already met with doctor, he is completely fine. As I said, he is very intelligent but very moody. Sometimes he listens to us and we're like....he has become a nice boy now....and again he does the same thing. All of our friends have different opinion for him, some find him very jolly and humorous, others very sensitive. The only thing which disturbs me that what if it continues and affects his career and personality.

[NeuroWoman]

I don't have a child but I think it's great that you are looking for resources for your son. His teacher comments that he is disorganized in class, is he also disorganized at home? More to the point, have you taken him for an evaluation outside the school? That may be the first place to start, it could be ADD but it could be something else. If you can, get him to a competent professional who is skilled at diagnosing AD/HD in children. As you are searching for solutions, just keep affirming that he is wonderful and valuable and do what you can to develop systems for him. Make being organized fun and find small ways to make games out of cleaning up and/or finding a place for his belongings. If he does have ADD, then he will really need you to provide external structure, to advocate for him, and to help him make sense of some of the things that may be coming his way -- ripples from school, etc. He sounds like a sweet boy.