[blindkid] 6 yr old having trouble staying focused while reading

Arielle Silverman arielle71 at gmail.com
Tue Dec 10 19:51:08 UTC 2013


Hi Julie,

For whatever it's worth, I remember being extremely bored at school
when I was in kindergarten and first grade. However, I could get
really enthralled in challenging books and I loved writing stories in
Braille. My first suggestion would be to try giving her more advanced
books to read at home, and be sure she has a way to write stories, or
whatever she feels like writing, independently, preferably in Braille.

Best,
Arielle

On 12/10/13, Allison Hilliker <AllisonH at benetech.org> wrote:
> Hi Julie,
>
> Your daughter sounds like fun! IT's great that she's bright and talkative so
> try to enjoy that fact if you can.
>
> I've taught kids who are both blind and have ADHD. There experiences are
> similar to your daughter's. Have you considered this possibility for her? A
> blind child can have both things and have them not be necessarily related.
> I'd recommend reading up on techniques for helping first-graders with ADHD.
> Many of them can be adapted for a blind child.
>
> That said, sometimes blind kids are under-stimulated because they don't have
> visual info coming in to keep their minds occupied while in class. I had
> some of that when I was young, although it maybe wasn't as extreme as your
> daughter's experience. Today as a blind adult, I love to get interesting
> textured bracelets and rings that I can play with discreetly during meetings
> or other activities where I may have to sit and listen for a long period of
> time. Some of the blind adults I know use more obvious objects like worry
> stones, silly putty,  or origami, but I prefer the jewelry because it looks
> more professional and less obvious.
>
> I started kindergarten with a late b-day too. I think I'm better off for it,
> so please don't feel badly about not holding your daughter bak a year. If
> she's bored now, how much more bored could she be if she wasn't learning
> challenging material?
>
> Lastly, it's important to keep in mind that a 6-y-o is still a 6-y-o,
> whether she is blind or not. Some kids have more trouble concentrating on
> school work than others. This fact may or may not have anything to do with
> blindness. And reading itself isn't any more or less stimulating than print
> if it's in Braille. Most parenting and teaching techniques that work for
> parents of sighted children could work for your daughter with little or no
> adaptation.
>
> JMO. And best of luck!
>
> Allison
>
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: blindkid [mailto:blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Julie
> Sent: Tuesday, December 10, 2013 11:58 AM
> To: blindkid at nfbnet.org
> Subject: [blindkid] 6 yr old having trouble staying focused while reading
>
> My 6 yr old daughter is having trouble staying focused while reading
> braille. Actually, while doing most school work. She is at or above grade
> level in math, reading and spelling so its not an academic issue more of a
> behavior issue that her teacher is getting frustrated with.
> She fidgets a lot while reading. She doesn't keep both hands on the paper,
> she twirls her hair, makes funny words, wants to talk instead of read, etc.
> She is the youngest in her first grade class, 6 yrs old with a july
> birthday. She is a bright girl but I am wishing we had waited until she was
> 6 to start K . We had similar behavior issues in K last year and I wanted to
> hold her back so she could catch up emotionally/socially but was discouraged
> from doing so because they were concerned she would be bored which would
> lead to more behaviors. Any suggestions, ideas, strategies on ways to help
> her focus? Have any of you had "focus goals" put into the IEP? Im thinking
> of asking for focus goals and behavior goals.
> Her behaviors are things like  interrupting, wanting immediate attention,
> impatience, and sometimes being sassy with teachers.
> Thanks in advance you guys have always been so helpful and supportive!
> Julie
>
>
> Sent from my iPhone
> _______________________________________________
> blindkid mailing list
> blindkid at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindkid_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> blindkid:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindkid_nfbnet.org/allisonh%40benetech.org
>
> _______________________________________________
> blindkid mailing list
> blindkid at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindkid_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> blindkid:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindkid_nfbnet.org/arielle71%40gmail.com
>




More information about the BlindKid mailing list