Energetic kids can be quite difficult to teach... at least in the conventional way of expecting them to sit down, and listen. Just like the hyperbole, the ants start crawling, distracting them from paying good attention and really processing anything, but that need to get up and move.
I have decided if I want my son to learn and pay attention to what I am saying, I just take that "ants in your pants" feeling out of the equation. How do I do this?
Easy... I teach him while he's moving.
We practice our spelling with jumping jacks. "Spell gift"... and he goes "G" - "I"...and so on as he is doing jumping jacks. We laugh when he has to start over.
We add while we jog around the block. I say "45 + 90?" and he jogs and bam, answers!
An alternative is to simply teach while doing things. Take the math homework, go to a store, a park, a bank, somewhere... and make it real life. Try to apply the concepts on the worksheet with something tangible. They will have to stop periodically to write their answers, but it is way easier than asking them to sit for a half hour without moving and expecting it to be done.
Make learning interACTIVE! If your child can do any physical movements while practicing, the homework/learning experience will be a whole lot smoother and they will get so much more out of it!
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