Lack of concentration/focus in 5 year old

My son who will be 5 at the end of the year has a problem with concentration and focus and I am at my wit's end as to how I should help him.


I've had many chats with his teacher (he's in K3) and I have witnessed his lack of concentration in class with my very own eyes.


He is a robust and active boy and is involved in activities such as piano and football. I do sit with him everyday to read and do some numbers but I can tell that the concentration prob is going to affect him in the long-term.


Is there any advice anyone of you could give, perhaps someone who has had a similar experience?

omega 3 and rescue remedy are natural ways to enhance concentration and calmness in kids. limit computer/tv and dvds as these make school and sitting less interesting for kids especially prior to going to school. and have a think about weather the school setting he is in suits his learning styles, locals schools are all about bums on seats and less child interaction which suits males less than it does girls

oh and check out the book fed up by sue dengate, it addresses preservatives in foods that effect children's behaviour and concentration - very well supported book in australian schools , i am a primary teacher

Let him be a 5 year old! It is completely normal for a child to not have a long attention span. The children over here are expected to do the work and have the concentration of much older children. Unless he is so bad that he can't sit for longer than 10 minutes, then I think you are worrying unecessarily.


Don't forget also they are at their worst at the end of the day when they are tired. Also check that he is getting enough sleep. Our child goes to bed and lights out by 8pm at the latest and is up for school by 7am.

Hi hotmama, where do you buy rescue remedy and what's in it?

Dear 'o' fish oil is the best as hotmama said, but she called it omega 3. My son dislikes it so he eats salmon as it is the best source of omega 3. the fish oil pills can make you have awful fishy burps, but some kids don't experience that at all. We make our son skip rope or run before school to 'burn' energy and we tell the teacher she must not keep him in during breaks or he won't be able to concentrate. Your son should come home from school, eat and run around. Skip rope, jump on the couch or do anything active for 20-60 mins before you try to get him to sit and think about reading. He should be sleeping 11 or 12 hours at 5 years old. Even my 12 and 9 year olds need that or they get very restless. The sleep also helps him grow. Lots of HK kids only seem to sleep properly on weekends and that really affects your ability to concentrate. Our son couldn't concentrate and we took him to see an occupational therapist. she tested him for ADD, and the strength of every muscle. although he was good at sports, his abdominal muscles were weak so the OT said getting more exercise would make him concentrate better. She said it's like trying to use a fishing rod made out of rubber. it will flop and not do the job. So, if this is his problem, his brain will subconsciously be using all its energy to get the body to sit still and there will be no brain power left to focus on the task at hand! He should also squeeze balls or play games like picking up toys with chopsticks to strengthen his fine motor skills. Boys tend to lag in fine motor skills and if his hands aren't strong, he might be avoiding doing the work because he thinks he's not good at it. All boys need to work on their fine motor skills at that age. I'm a primary school teacher also. Dearr neenib, I agree with your ideas, but if the child is in a situation where the other children are following the teacher and he is having trouble, he will probably need to learn to play the game as well as he can. I know people who swear by the use of Brightspark, which can be ordered from www.nativeremedies.com. Personally, if I were concerned, i'd try the fish oil, but it takes a few weeks to take effect. If you're interested in Chinese medicine, you could also try that. Have you tried getting him to drink a little chamomile or pepermint tea? Be careful it might make him sleepy though. Could he have an allergy to food or dust? If you think it's food, you have to eliminate the food for 3 weeks and then reintroduce it. Many people take out dairy, meat and wheat for 3 weeks, then introduce them one at a time for a week to see if any of those are making a child irritable. If your child is allergic to dust, he wil be congested, feel weak, and have trouble settling down to sleep.. he will wake up with a runny nose, but a clear one. Take out your child's stuffed animals from his room or put them in the freezer to kill the dust mites--for an experiement. pls don't say who brought it up. i don't want to be blamed!!

. Good luck.

You can buy rescue remedy from health food shops. It's just usually a couple of drops under the tongue.


A friend of mine has gone back to her home country and now their child is in the school system there and is shocked that her child is so advanced over the other kids of the same age. However, at the school here, there was a bit of an issue with concentration and not keeping up, etc. Expectations are so much higher over here.


I have always playing soothing music in my child's bedroom since birth, nearly 6 years later it's sill going. Same music, every night without fail.

Omega 3 Fish oil definitely helps. My daughter had a big attention problem. She is now 9. I began giving her Omega 3 about a year ago and am seeing very big improvement. She can now focus much better. In the past years, I got called by the teachers all the time about her not focusing in school. So far this year, I have not had a single complaint from the teacher.


I also agree on limiting TV and computer games.


Mine is also going to Kumon math which I have found not only helped her to concentrate but of course helped her math as well.

Hi MC,


Which brand of Omega 3 Fish Oil do you give her? Where can it be bought?What are the doses for children?


Thanks.

Shops like 360 and Bumps to Babes sell Omega 3. They are usually bursting caplets which burst int he child's mouth and they swallow the oil. You can also get an oil form but it doesn't mix well with juice and gets left on the cup. The package will say what dose for kids depending on the brand.


I use the bursting caplets but both my kids don't like the bursting sensation so I cut it open and squeeze it into their mouth.

It sounds like you haven't had him assessed?

Is the concentration problem across all activities he is involved in?

I have had multiple parents of ADHD/ADD students tell me of a homeopath here in hong kong that has done wonders for their child.


www.mymusicplayground.com