My friends who are homeschooling their child have noticed that this child is always doing something else when they are reading to him. This irritated them at first. To test whether or not he was really paying attention, they asked him questions about the story. He knew the answers. They feel that he needs to be doing something else (playing with a toy) to be able to focus on what they are reading.
I remember hearing that some children need to be busy with their hands in order to focus their attention on something else. I just cannot put my hands on where I heard this. Is there any research on this that I can show them?
Re: Child who needs to be busy in order to pay attention and
I don’t know of research, but it is common advice among many homeschoolers to allow a child to work quietly with his hands while mom reads aloud. Some suggestions are coloring a picture, legos, play- dough, wicki stix, etc. In many cases, this is very helpful for younger children who are listening along with older siblings as mom reads aloud, especially if the book is really geared to the older kids.
Personally, I find it very distracting to read aloud while my kids are doing things with their hands. When I taught a preschool Sunday school class, the little girls playing with beads, dolls, etc. used to drive me nuts, but the little boys lying down, sitting up, leaning back, etc. during storytime didn’t bother me. Maybe that’s because I have boys! Anyway, when I’m reading aloud at home I don’t worry about a little wiggling and squirming, and I try to keep the selections short so we are finished before they get too fidegety.
Jean
Yes, there has been a lot of research done on this subject. This is a specific learning style. You should be able to find more info on it by checking at your library under learning styles or on the internet. This is one of the reasons why I am hooked on homeschooling. A classroom teacher simply cannot accomodate this learning style without disrupting the rest of the class whereas a parent can accept it and use it to teach the child. If the child needs to be seated during school time for some reason, they could try giving him some gum to chew or some clay to play with. They could also let him sit on a ball or wrap him up tight, feet and all, in a blanket. He can then continue to use his kinetic energy but, for the most part, stays in one place.