Short Attention Span

Hi! My name is J.. Have you ever read the book or audio book raising boys? I have the audio book in my car and it helps you understand how boys are different from girls and how their little brains are programmed. I would recommend that book and then I would look at making sure he's getting all the vitamins and nutrients his brain and body need. My stepson is going through testing for ADD and we've made sure that he's taking ALL NATURAL vitamins and supplements in order to head off the need for meds. It's working so far. I work with an international wellness company that makes ALL NATURAL products and we make sure he takes those because there's such a huge success rate with them. They are delivered to the body in a unique way so that he gets the full nutrients needed. So far, it's making a wonderful difference. He's able to focus better and we're so glad that we have this company in our lives. We've also taken it a step further and switched all our products over to the non toxic ones in order to make our home safer and healthier. Some children who suffer from ADD or ADHD are more susceptible to the toxins in their environemtns and they tend to have more adverse reactions to them. If you think about it, schools use really HARSH chemicals to clean with (when I was a teacher, i used Lysol, and I could kick myself now cuz i was contributing to the problem cuz lysol is a pesticide!). so there is my take on it. hope it helps.

Hi M.,

It sounds like your son might be bored in school. If he's getting his work done and wondering around, maybe you could talk to the teacher about getting him some extra work to do or letting him have a book to look at when he gets done. My kindergarten teacher told me that the true attention span of a 5 - 6 year old is about 15 minutes. So, he's not far off from the avaerage, to me it sounds like he might need more to do. Unless you have him tested, there is no way to know what he's allergic to, so it's virtually impossible to limit his diet. You may even try talking to him about the fact that he's a fast learner, but the other kids need to get their work done and, even though he's done, he has to let them finish. So instead of talking to them, he could ________ (read, color, do extra work, whatever). Making it feel like he's special, may help him understand.

Good luck!

My son did the same thing Kindergarten & 1st grade. Then, in the 2nd grade he got the most wonderful teacher, in the world. She is very sturn and we have worked together to get him straightened out. He has been top of his class (in academics) since Kindergarten. He is 1/2 of the 2nd grade and is just now calming down. If his teacher, now, had been his teacher at first then we would have never had to go through so much.
All I can tell you is, it takes a really sturn environment with a good daily routine. Not only at school, but at home. I do believe that the true key was there were plenty of people praying for him everyday. He still has his moments, but he's doing great at school. Good luck.

What are you wanting to do about the hyperactivity? He is 5 - 5 year olds have a lot of energy - I don't think that there is anything out of the ordinary with that. If you think that it is excessive I would do some research on what foods cause hyperactivity the most and what the best diet is to produce calm kids. Definitely limit sugar intake and possibly eliminate it from his diet. Food coloring is also bad. Make sure he has plenty of time outdoors to play and let off energy. Limit TV - maybe to only once or twice a week - 30 minutes each. Make sure that he is getting the proper amount of sleep at night (I know 6 year olds are suppose to get 10.5 hrs but the chart I have doesn't go to 6 years - I am sure that would be easy to search on the internet for).