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Fidgety 6 year old

litzo27litzo27 member
in School-Aged Children
DS1 is very fidgety when he has to sit in circle time or when working on his worksheets, etc. He has no concentration problem: if he is reading or building with legos or painting he can be very calm and focused for 30+ minutes. But our K teacher last year noted that when he has to sit for group activities or work separately on his worksheets he starts fidgeting, touching other kids, laying down, getting up, etc. She mentioned that in 1st grade it will be more of an issue since they are expected to sit still for longer periods. Any tricks to helping him focus? I thought of getting a "fidget bracelet" or something similar but have no experience. Thanks.
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Re: Fidgety 6 year old

  • neverblushedneverblushed member
    So, I noticed from your ticker that he's a young 1st grader, as he is just about to turn 6.  The good news is that it's likely that he will naturally outgrow his "fidgets" within the first half of the school year.  
    If his first grade teacher is willing to work with you, maybe suggest that he use a squishy foam ball, or clay to give him a way to channel some of that restlessness.  I notice that many of the primary grades teachers in my school allow kids to sit on beanbags or on exercise balls, as mentioned in the reply above.  His teacher might not go for something that, but it might be worth bringing up.

    At my son's elementary school, the term they use for this situation is "keep self to self."  You might be able to use this phrase or something similar to cue him when he's not physically where he should be during circle time.
    High School English teacher and mom of 2 kids:

    DD, born 9/06/00 -- 12th grade
    DS, born 8/25/04 -- 7th grade
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  • CareBear0607CareBear0607 member
    Ditto the PPs.  I would see if his 1st grade teacher will work with you in allowing him to have some kind of fidget friendly manipulative.  He is a young first grader, so I am sure as the year goes on, things will get better. 
    DD~6 years old~born June 6, 2008 (1st grade)
    DS~4 years old~born November 6, 2010 (1st year of preschool)
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  • litzo27litzo27 member
    Thank you ladies! Yes, he is on the younger side but the cut-off in our state is December 1 so he is definitely not the youngest in the class. I didn't want to redshirt him since he is ahead of his classmates academically (in fact the teacher mentioned that she thought that the fidgeting may be from boredom and tried to give him more advanced work). I'll definitely ask his teacher if a manipulative is allowed if the fidgeting persists.
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