my 7 year old daughter is in second grade. Every day she gets in trouble for fidgeting in class. She plays with her hair, belts, jewelry, ties to clothing, anything that she can get ahold of. She is almost always late getting her work done. She often misses music, gym, and recess, because she has to stay and finish her work. Also, she often has to redo her work due to messy writing. At home she writes very well, as long as i'm standing there beside her. She hates doing her homework, and its often a struggle to get her to do it. I've removed all ties, belts, and jewelry from her clothing, yet it doesn't help much. I hate that my daughter has to miss out on the fun parts of school(music, gym, and recess). How can I help my child settle down and do her work. Is there a natural method ( diet change etc..)? Please help, any advice would be greatly appreciated.
I am a teacher and I used to be driven mad by fidgeting children. Then I had a fidgeting son. It transpired he has dyspraxia (very messy hand writing very poor co-ordination etc). The fidgeting is part of that. It can also be parts of other "issues" ( I know children with Tourettes, ADHD, aspergers all who fidget). My son fidgets to get sensory feed back in order to get stability when sitting still. The last thing a child like that needs is to miss "active times " like PE etc. My son needed extra stimulation... to have something in his pocket to fiddle with, or to sit against a wall when "sitting on the carpet". He was allowed a drinks cup at the table to chew the lid ( otherwise he chewed his jumper). Look up sensory integration dysfunction on the internet and see if that sounds like your daugheter. Go to speak to her teacher. I have discovered nearly all fidgeters can't help it and the last thing they need is a teacher on their backs. With my son he often calmed down when he'd had enough sensory stimulation ( ie after PE or music or playtime). So missing these things could be counter-productive. If handwriting is a big issue look up dyspraxia and see if any of that rings a bell. Look at diet too ... that can make a difference... I have seen children come to school with a bottle of coke and a mars bar for breakfast . That obviously doesn't help them settle. I do now try to ignore the real fidgeters and not make their life any worse.
