Chewing Gum

I think I read it in a Thomas Armstrong book. a long time ago.

He told of two boys:

- One, who while sitting, could not remember anything talked
about in class, but when he was allowed to water and tend
to the classroom plants remembered everything.

- The other boy was allowed to have a old fashioned
type sewing machine foot –— oh, you know, you
push back and forth with your feet and the sewing machine
starts going? Anyway pushing on that helped keep him
on task.

My daughter has german with a boy who ‘eats’ a pencil
a day. She has learned never to lend him one of her
special glittery pencils… I suppose he is getting a lot
of fiber….

I subbed one day in a Resource room where the teacher
had a box of what she called ‘figits’. She handed them out
when two active little boys came in and they were working
on a card game, they flew through the game, while fiddling
with their figits.

My son must have a pencil to fiddle with under the table
to concentrate.
Why does this work??
Probably because most young males are not hard wired
to sit and work on mental tasks for long periods of
time.

Anne

I also read a book describing the different kinds of learners. Visual, Hearing Kinetic… A teacher wrote it. She said she went to a seminar that told her the science behind what she’d experienced in a lifetime in the classroom. She said there are some kids who just think better when they’re moving-akin to the pacing you see people in movies doing when they’re trying to work out a problem. She just lets them sit in the back and pace when they do tests. If administraters admonish her she promises never to do it again and lets them continue. The same with the colored transparencies. Whatever works….

>>If administraters admonish her she promises never to do it again and lets them continue.<<

Now this is a teacher I’d like to have -
she goes in the balloons and cookies catagory
of teacher appreciation.

Anne

This could be related to Sensory Intergration. They gave my son a chew tube. It is a rubber tube that he chews on when he needs to concentrate. I think it is a wonderful thing. If it helps I say let him do it.

Info on the news last night, maybe you can find it on some news web sites. Medical research about gum chewing - produces more insulin or something else etc., Interesting stuff!

I’ve noticed both with myself and with children that I’ve taught that there are things that help to ground us. I simply must ‘doodle’ when listening to a lecture or a talk or even when participating in a discussion. If I don’t, I get restless, annoyed, and eventually even angry. Put a pencil in my hand and a piece of scrap paper and I become a quality listener.

Some of us need to be ‘grounded’ in a sense - like an antenna grounds a television. The doodling helps me to stay connected and focused by providing me with constant movement - even if only of my hand. Perhaps the gum chewing does the same for your son. It helps us to stay in place by letting us move - in my case, my hand, in his case, his jaw.

Thanks for the info, Angela in CA. I really appreciate it. The article makes sense in regards to my son.

Years ago our Occupational Therapist recommended gum chewing for our son while doing sitting/concentrating tasks. Not just a piece of gum, but a WAD of gum - several pieces. It helps maintain alertness. Sipping through a straw can have the same effect.

My son came home just week before last and requested that I had to go buy some peppermints. He said his teacher gave him a peppermint and told him to suck on it but what ever he did not to chew it up. He said to me ” Mom! It worked! I could concentrate and I got all my work done!” I saw his teacher and told her that I was really trying real hard to watch his sugar intake, but hey, if it works, fine. She also told me that she was going to make a special request to the principal to see if she could let the kids chew gum while they were taking their Stanford 9 tests last week He must have agreed because my son also had come home and said they got to chew gum during the tests. It really seems to help my son and I guess it makes sense. I am planning on sending alot of sugar free mints and gum Monday!