Hi all

I have a 5.5 year old daughter who started Kindergarten in August last year.

We have had feedbacks from the Kindergarten teachers which is really worrying us. There was a meeting with the teacher in Dec last year where they made a feedback that they feel that my daughter has difficulty concentrating and is really hyperactive. They also say she does not listen to them. I was surprised when she asked me to speak with her doctor and ask if she should go for Ergotherapy. I think my girl is a normal child, reasonably intelligent and I accept she is not perfect. There are times she is naughty but are not all children. We discussed with the doctor and he clearly said this is not required.

Now, we were invited to another meeting with the same complaints and the teacher said she spoke to our doctor and he has agreed that my daughter should go for Psychomotoriktherapie(sounds scary). This time she was stern and said if we do not send her they might not allow to her to go to a Primary School and she will have to go to Special School.

I would say this is really not acceptable to me. I would say the teachers are not doing there work and just pushing us to see doctors to solve things which the should be doing.

Does anybody have similar experiences here ? What are the options we have ? We are planning to meet the School Principal under whom all the Kindergartens are. I would say this is unnecessary pressure and threating when they say that we should send her to this therapy or she goes to this Special School. I also checked that this Special School in Zurich is for children with mental problems or who have autism and my daughter DEFINITELY does not fall in this category.

Can we request that my daughter be moved to another Kindergarten as we really now doubt the capabilities of the teachers of her Kindergarten. We are even contemplating moving to a new location in a new environment and even leaving the country. This whole experience has been very stressful till now.

Regards

Psychomotorik is easy-going. Go for it - take the free one-on-one support for your child.

It's not heavy-going psychiatric therapy, "psychomotorik" is about strengthening points such as pressure, posture - anything to do with mental/physical issues - from holding the pencil the right way round to practicing bouncing a ball, whatever. The idea is to give the child a chance early on in life, so that he/she doesn't get far behind in comparison to others. I know it's widely criticised and considered "fluffy", but the more you do now at this age, the less problems you will have later. And the kids love it!

We have first-hand experience - so if you would like to drop a pm, feel free to do so.

Having a sister who is a pre school teacher, I would suggest to go to the doctor. I do not think it would hurt. From my sister I always hear stories where the parents do not want to accept that there might be something going on with their child, I understand it is hard, but if you think about it. isn't it worse if you ignore the teacher's suggestion?
It would seem to me also that this is not the first time this is suggested, just get a good doctor and get a good opinion. It might help your child develop her skills fully

Hi,
she is only young and her behaviour could be down to many problems from being new at school and learning to settle down to issues at home eg, birth of new sibling, house move, hearing or sight problems .... all sorts.
I would suggest that you ask a Paediatrican to review her and perhaps a psychometric assessment from a child psychologist would be useful,
if anything to reassure you and also find out her strengths and weaknesses, areas to work on, this will help the teachers.
If you want to pm me I am happy to discuss it further
Cheers
Caroline
ps and of course it may be her relationship with her teacher

as a mother and a teacher i would say, take adeep breath- it's never easy to hear someone recommend 'special' services for our children- esp. when it's done in such a manner. but, i would also bring your child at least 3 times (my own thing, i give most things with my son 3 chances- usually one or two is not enough to see if it does any good) and see what the therapist says and if nothing more to appease the teacher a bit. if it's not for your little one, you can at least say you've explored the option and go from there.

but, you never know. anytime your child has a chance to get any extra support at that age- be it language support, motor skills support, etc. it can't do any harm. she can sharpen her skills even if they are already normal and she may actually enjoy it- the attention, the exercises, etc.

and i think as a parent if you at least try it and find it isn't necessary you have more of an argument if you wanted to discuss the teacher's tactics and skills of the teacher.

best of luck!

__________________
'there isn't enough of anything as long as we live.
but at intervals a sweetness appears and, given a chance prevails'

When my daughter was in KG we got the same feedback, took her to the Doctors and he did not see any reason for her to go, but said it would not do any harm, the worst it could do was help her. She as been going to ergo for nearly 2 years now and she loves it, she as also progressed alot with her skills. Don`t stress out about it, and i certainly would not leave the country over this, Switzerland is to beautiful to leave

As usual, there is so much which is unclear here.

Concerning the 'not listening' - as I've found no Intro from you and you have no details in your profile, the language question is the first thing which came to my mind.
How long have you been here? Did she understand German before she started Kindergarten? Does she understand it now? Does she get tired when listening to German?
Most people find it exhausting and 'switch off' when they've had enough.

Re hyperactive - I'm not saying the Kindergarten teacher is one of them, but many folk use the term for a child if they themselves cannot hold the child's attention.

However, that said, loads and loads of children here are receiving some sort of extra therapy; if there are options for things which might help her, I, too, would go along with it.

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Longbyt

We are here since 5 years and do not speak much German. My daughter went to a Krippe for 8 to 9 months and picked up some German there. Of course her German is nowhere compared to the other children. We think that its her lack of language skills which is causing this problem but her teachers do not seem to agree.

BTW, thanks a lot for the replies. I feel much better now.

Don't be afraid of any extra help; you'll see yourself how / if things improve. One point you may perhaps consider is spending some time at the school to see the teachers angle. You may well think "Aha, now I understand their point" - or not, as the case may be - and have an idea what any therapy is out to address. There are lots of adults who could also benefit from such attention, I'd think...

Your child is 5.5 years and you have been in Switzerland for 5 years.

Your child was therfore born as good as a Swiss local child except that the fact that you and your partner do not speak German.

Children pick up languages very quickly (a few weeks) so your child should not really be that far behind on the languages as the other pupils.

You have been in Switzerland for 5 years and it sounds from what you have said that you as parents have not learnt the language and therefore would imply that you have not integrated at all with the Swiss; possibly living in your own little world.

Perhaps your daughter has been subjected to a bit of a reclusive life and therefore becomes hyper active and attention seeking when at school and this is annoying the teachers.

__________________
I do not have friends..........I have contingent liabilities

Dear Dietiker,

As a formal primary teacher my personal advice is trust the kindergarten teachers and try the Ergotherapy or the new approach suggested.
Hyperactivity can be diagnosed after a continuous number of symptoms and signs during a 6 months period of time, try to know as much as you can about the disease, discuss the behavior that the teachers are complaining about and work out strategies together, they will always be your best allies.
Try also to find a specialist for your kid that can verify how she is developing and find out which behavior and strategies you can adopt to help her in her daily life.
Hyperactivity with attention deficit disorder is serious, but children can be helped and learn to help themselves in order to achieve their goals, it is a matter of discipline and strategy that can make your life and hers much better .
Her educational future is really depending on how much help she is getting to overcome her difficulties, give it a try and believe in better days


All the best,

Ana

__________________
Was it worth? Everything is worth, If the soul is not small. Fernando Pessoa (1888-1935)

Psychomotorik lessons usually are also proposed if the child has difficulties with graphomotorical movements and should not be seen as something extremly special. In fact they are a part of the public schools in every canton and completly free of charge. Take it as chance for your child.
I found the exact definition (in German only), which will probably help you to come to a decision. www.psychomotorik.ch/psychomotorik2.htm

Hi

Yes I agree me and my partner have been a bit lazy at trying to learn the local language. The reason being that I have always worked in an International envir with all English speaking friends around.

But, we are now really trying to learn the language. Thanks for your advice though. Really appreciate it.

Regards

It could be her reaction to the new language, especially if she speaks English at home. Switching to an English environment could be an idea, depending whether you want to stay here or not.
Otherwise get her doctor involved. Doctors here really are in the loop and will be able to reassure/guide you.

I wouldn't even consider what anybody says unless it's the medical core and the diagnostic is backed up by solid psychometric testing.

It's likely to be a slight behavioural disorder at worst, not a disease! Don't scare them! The kid's probably alright.

Seek second opinions if anyone mentions psychometric testing or the R word*. Neither of them are of any bloody use, but we're running way Off Topic. @Dietiker: don't panic

*Ritalin

oh ? I'm definitely against any kind of meds too, but why is psychometric testing of no use ? I was under the impression that it's efficient for determining various forms of dyslexia ?

I specialised in child development and IMO there are as many theories as there are kids. I hate psychometric tests - I think they're phooey - and those that spend millions on them are only fooling themselves. Which is an opinion. But we really are going OT. Let's not cause panic.

Gee thanks, nice to hear another opinion.
I agree there is no need for the OP to panic.

With all due respect ADHD and ADD are disorders (maybe) not diseases and their etiologies are iffy at best. I haven't looked at the literature in a good decade, but when I did, some papers indicated that a majority of children diagnosed with the disorder were misdiagnosed (not surprisingly, often by teachers and school nurses, not doctors). I know little about ergotherapy but it sounds like a less drastic suggestion then the more common answers to ADD and ADHD.

It has been suggested by my daughter's (3 yo) spielgruppe teacher that she may have some "issues" too. I have booked an appointment for next week with our paediatrician to discuss it further.

I think we're talking something like "sensory processing disorder" or some name like that!! It's not the first time it's come up so I wasn't too shocked, but it's hard to think that all's not right with your child when you are used to how they are - we all have strange personality quirks after all!

So I can understand how you feel. It's comforting to read that others have been through it too - we're not alone!! I recommend you speak to your Dr and go from there.

Good luck, and I'll report back on how we get on, next week!