Dawdling and short lessons

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  • June 15, 2011 at 7:49 pm
    lettucepatchkids
    Participant

    My 6.5 year old is a dawdler… she is just really really slow at everything.  While I fully embrace the IDEA of short lessons, what does this look like for a slow child?  she stares off into space, listens to what I’m doing on with her sister or brother.  It is a little better when I sit right there with her moving her on EVERY step of the way, which is really not something I’m able to do with 2 other children. 

    Like for example it took her 45 minutes to do 1.5 pages of math (SIMPLE addition that she completly understands), or it took her 30 minutes to get her dance clothes on yesterday (which were laid out for her). 

     
    ETA: she dawdles on all subjects… ones she LOVES and stuff that she finds challenging… although I suspect the dawdling is more purposeful on the subjects that require work (handwriting, math)
    I know she is just a slower person by nature… but how to you make a child move faster.  And how do you deal with slow/dawdling children and stick to short lessons?

    June 15, 2011 at 8:13 pm
    Sue
    Participant

    I would say she needs to be trained that, whether we like it or not, sometimes we have to meet deadlines–we simply have to accomplish a task within a certain amount of time.  With that in mind, you can train her to stick to the task at hand if she knows there will be consequences for not completing it within a reasonable amount of time.

    First, I would lay out the day’s schedule so she can see it, even if the times are rather general.  Then, you can show all of the kids when “play time” or “free time” happens.  Let’s say you expect to finish school around 2 p.m.  You can show that on a chart or something like that, then tell them, “Everyone who has completed their schoolwork and chores can go outside at 2:00.”  (Or ride your bikes, or watch a dvd, or play a game….whatever they like to do.)

    Then, you let her know that you will put a timer on (or use the clock) to tell her how long she has to finish each subject.  When that time is up, you simply move on and tell her she will have to finish that work later.  When “play time” or “free time” arrives, you send the other kids to play and you tell her to gather her things and finish the work.  It shouldn’t take her long to figure out that dawdling causes her to lose valuable time enjoying other things.

    HTH,

    Sue

     

     

     

    June 15, 2011 at 8:21 pm
    Sara B.
    Participant

    I agree with Sue.  This is what I do with my kids (both school-agers are dawdlers).  Some days it works better than others, but at least I’m consistent, and they know that they have a choice.

    June 15, 2011 at 8:56 pm
    lettucepatchkids
    Participant

    good suggestions sue!  thanks!  i always feel like the mean mom (and anti cm) if i make her work when school is over! The other day she was COMPLAINING so much about doing her handwriting work and I made her do it again w/o complaining… hasn’t complained since Wink

    but i like the idea of making out a schedule and posting it… so she knows what to expect!

    June 15, 2011 at 11:03 pm
    joannarammell
    Participant

    i loved this sue.  my oldest -a dd- is a dawdler…this kind of consequence might help develop that habit of attentiveness!  I also shift modalities as often as I can…hands on, visual, kinetic, auditory, etc…and changing mediums can help…sand, paper, playdoh, while jumping, etc..course…she probably has adhd…she’s the rachetball and the house is her court as she bounces through –me–I’m just the one running after or from her…LOL  the hyperactivity and constant distractibility has been a real challenge for me…but we are making some progress and she can focus …it is amazing when she starts doing her art…she’s 7.

    thanks again for the idea!

    joanna

    June 16, 2011 at 12:35 am
    4myboys
    Participant

    My nearly 7 year old son has ADHD.  He has a lot of trouble with staying focused and simple tasks like getting dressed can take way to long unless I set a timer and get him to “beat the clock”.  That can help.  He gets side tracked very easily, and there are way too many distractions on the way to getting his shoes or going to the bathroom.   I really have to stay on top of him and I can’t complicate things with too many instructions.  He often sits in a chair “up-side-down” (head hanging over the edge of the seat, legs over the back), is constantly climbing, never stops moving. At the same time he is exceptionally bright — reads at about a grade 12 level so I am told–so I keep thinking if we could only get him to settle down, focus and pay attention we’d be in real trouble!   I will be using the same methods to encourage him to complete tasks in a lotted time as mentioned above. 

    Luckily he does love learning and finds math fun.  He loves to do hidden picture math puzzels, but the problem is I usually have one of two things happen.  Either he does all the math questions then gets tired of colouring so he wants me to finish the colouring, or , if I’m not right there with him, he doesn’t bother filling in the answers, just figures them out and colours in the section.  But he may only finish half the sheet because his attention fizzles out too soon.

     

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