One kid is tapping his feet to a tune only he can hear. A little girl is standing next to her seat because she is too antsy to sit down. Three kids are chewing on pencils, two are tapping their pencils, three kids are covering their ears from the rustling, and even yet another is staring off into space thinking about his baseball practice later that day. And to think I have a hard time concentrating if I can hear someone typing next to me. There are a lot of things going on that take the attention of any kid, so those kids that also deal with ADD or ADHD have an even bigger challenge.
My son actually has ADHD, and he is also very academically advanced. This actually puts him under a label of "twice exceptional", and is definitely twice as difficult for him. If the assignment is too easy for him, he gets easily distracted. If a bird outside the window catches his eye he gets distracted. Since he doesn't have to focus so much on what his work is because it comes fairly easy to him, he has a lot of chances to become distracted.
To try to cut down on the fidgeting, chewing on pencils, and tapping on things, I decided to get my son a spin ring. He absolutely loved it, and I was amazed at how well it helped him to concentrate. So, it broke my heart when he came home on the first day of wearing it to school and told me that a friend of his called him a bad word. I asked what was said, and he told me it started with an M and ended with a D. After some confusion, I figured out he meant married! (And yes, girls have cooties!). So away went the ring and again came home chewed up pencils.
I didn't give up, though. I kept searching. There are an amazing amount of things available for kids that fidget. There are things for the legs of their desk that they can kick if that is how they tend to fidget, there are balls to squeeze and roll and hold. There are bracelets and special pencils and so many things. Anything can be googled and most likely something will come up. Luckily for me a Superman ring came up. I mean, who can make fun of a Superman ring...and if they do they must just be kind of jealous that they don't have one! And who wouldn't be?
This is not a sponsored post, but I absolutely love
the ring and the person I bought it from, and if you want one
as well, you can find it HERE.
As adults, we know what it is that distracts us and we try to fix it. Maybe we put a fan in the office, listen to music quietly, schedule our hours when it is quiet. Kids don't have this option. They have to learn what is being taught and when it is being taught. They have to take the test when they are told, they have to learn to tune out the habits of everyone else in the room. As parents it is up to us to find out what will work for our children and how to help them. Teaming up with the teacher will definitely be important so that you don't break any school policies or find a solution that isn't realistic for the classroom. But as I found, there is more than likely a creative solution you haven't thought of.
the ring and the person I bought it from, and if you want one
as well, you can find it HERE.
As adults, we know what it is that distracts us and we try to fix it. Maybe we put a fan in the office, listen to music quietly, schedule our hours when it is quiet. Kids don't have this option. They have to learn what is being taught and when it is being taught. They have to take the test when they are told, they have to learn to tune out the habits of everyone else in the room. As parents it is up to us to find out what will work for our children and how to help them. Teaming up with the teacher will definitely be important so that you don't break any school policies or find a solution that isn't realistic for the classroom. But as I found, there is more than likely a creative solution you haven't thought of.
