I have been informed by my daughter's teacher that I may need to talk with her doctor about her attention and her ability to sit still in class. In my child's kindergarten class there are 21 students to one teacher. I volunteered in the class 3 days last week and most of the children couldn't sit still.
They have 4 activities that thy rotate through for about on hour: computer, ABC table, listening to book on tape, and a worksheet on math. Many of them finished their work fast or were really tired of sitting there doing the activity. Staying in the activity for 15 minutes isn't very long for some of the kids but most have a hard time.
Kids have always been active and can't sit still for long. Doesn't everyone say "I wish I had that kind of energy" or “I wish I could bottle up that energy.” I was told that a child's attention span should be about 1 minute for each year of age. If that's still true, 5 minutes would be a reasonable time.
I don't think that because a child can't sit still for 15 minutes, or twirls around to flare out there skirt, has ADHD. I have a feeling that 21 five year old children would be hard to handle for 6 hours. They do not take a nap in kindergarten any more. They now have to learn what was being taut in 1st grade.
If my daughter sits for a long time without being wiggly or twirling around it usually means she's sick. Her activeness it isn't a problem for me because she is the only one for me to keep entertained. I am afraid that the schools may be trying to medicate kids because the class is too large and the teacher has a strict guideline and schedule to keep.
I really enjoyed being in the class and not many of the kids could be still. I feel that is just being a kid, not a medical condition. There should be another person to help with the class. Kids need a lot of activities but there are too many in a class. It is not what I think kindergarten should be like.
