my son is 5 soon too be 6. he is a very smart boy but at school he is not showing that. at school the teacher would ask him question about his work and he does not respond. he stays quit and looks off into space she tells me, but when he gets home and its time to do his homework and i try to help him he says no because he knows how to do it. then i check it and its all correct. what can i do to help him open up in school more?
Ask him to try just once to share the answer to a question from the teacher - with the teacher and his classmates, then make sure the teacher responds to him with lots of feedback by espressing encouragement in what a great job he did and how it helped everyone. Make him feel very proud for doing such a good job, but not so much that he gets embarrassed.
I am a teacher so here's my opinion. Perhaps your son is simply bored and not being challenged enough. If he knows everything the teacher is teaching it's not going to keep a 5 year old interested. Plus, he is probably older than the other the kids in his class and may just be more knowledgable. I would talk to the teacher and see if she can challenge him more. Also, you should talk to your son about why he doesn't pay attention. Maybe set up a reward system as well to encourage class participation.
Hope this helps!!!
D.
Is your son normally shy? If so - the whole school setting might just be overwhellming for him... warming up to a few people is different then a whole classroom of new school mates!
They said the same thing about my son, and now he's talking more and he's socializing, something he never wanted to do, even on the playground. Talk to him about being comfortable. He's not ready to open up. He might be afraid of his teacher too.
my brother had the same problem in his early years of school.... he wouldn't pay attention and pretend like he was staring into space. His problem was, he was bored, and he could do all the work that was asked of him even though to everyone else he didn't seem like he was paying attention. If it's possible where you are, have him tested to see if he's in the right level in school. some kids are smarter than others and your son may just need to be challenged more and if he can do his homework with out paying attention in class, then he may need to be in a class that is ahead of where he is. the higher the grades go, there are more options for kids who are smarter and faster learners than others. My son is 3 and i think that he may have that kind of trouble when he gets to kindergargen. Don't think of it as a bad thing, you have a smart child :) he could be a future doctor or lawyer :) ya never know :)
