Expert: Deborah Robinson - 11/28/2011

Question
Hi Deborah,
I was wandering if you could give me any help and advice on what to do. We have a very happy and rather extravert 8 year old, who just does not work in class.

Since she has started school, all her reports have come back saying that she does not concentrate in school and is slow to pick up on things. We have had meetings with her teachers and they say that she would be capable of staring into space and not doing a bit of work the whole day long, watching when someone sharpens their pencil etc..

The children are set work in the class and if they don't finish it in time, they have to bring it home as homework.  She brings home homework almost every day. I was worried that she may find it easier to bring it home and have mummy or daddy help her with her work, rather than doing it at school on her own, so generally  I make her sit down and do it on her own. When she brings home a good grade (which I'm afraid isn't very often) she gets a special prize... which she gets very excited about.

But working with her on any type of school work is very frustrating and I know exactly what the teachers mean. We can go through the whole of the 6 times table and she will say them straight off, and then you could ask 2+2 and she would put on a serious thinking face and say "ummm"   "'ummm, ummmm I know" "uumm 3?".  And I know full well that she isn't even thinking. Or we will be revising something and I would have repeated the same answer 10 times and she still gets it wrong.

In general, you wouldn't guess that she is having problems at school. She comes across as being bright, always very caring  and diplomatic.

One factor that could influence her learning, as in reading and writing, although I don't believe it has anything to do with her concentration problems, is that we are a trilingual family. Our common family language is Spanish. I speak only English with her, her father speaks only Spanish and in school it is in Catalan and Spanish. She is fluent in all three languages, and has a great interest in other languages. When we go to France she wants to speak, and being so extravert and confident, she is quite happy to go into a shop and ask for things.

All the children in her class are bilingual in Spanish and Catalan and she is not the only trilingual child, but not all of them bring home a "Fail" in almost every subject.

We have sat down with her and told her how important it is to work in class, but nothing we say or do seems to make a difference.

If there is anything you think we can do to help her, or any thoughts on the subject, it would be greatly appreciated.

Regards
Caroline

Answer
Dear Caroline,

I can feel your frustration and anxiety over this and my heart goes out to you.  I have often taught children with as many as five fluent languages under their belts and I know that fears of interference are generally unfounded.  

It sounds like your child is not in an American school, so I'm not sure I can offer a whole lot of assistance.  If she IS in one, I would be getting the guidance people involved ASAP!  Do they have guidance counselors at her school?  What is available locally as far as psychologists are concerned?  I would be considering Attention Deficit Disorder, for sure.  I've often had students who are no bother at all (meaning they don't have the hyperactivity component), but they spend hours to get the simplest tasks completed, such as getting a name on the paper.  You are describing some of those very things.  Availability of medication turned those children around and the students often gave me BIG hugs of thanks, because they KNEW something was wrong but had no way of knowing what they needed.

Her capacity for learning language leads me to believe that she has the smarts, but the style of teaching may just not be engaging for her, but that is a secondary thought that I have.  Do the teachers in the school try to challenge individuals or is everything done the same for all?  She may just need some modifications to her program.  This can be difficult to do if class sizes are more than about 15.

I think a complete physical (especially vision and hearing) and a consultation with someone experienced with things such as ADD would be useful.

If this isn't helpful for you, please fill me in on some of the things I have asked about and I will see what other thoughts I might have.

I'm so concerned for you and for her - please keep me in the loop, whatever you do!

All my best,
Debba