Behavior expectations during storytime

[Larica]

I was wondering what you all expect in terms of behavior during storytime. My dd7 seems to turn into a human ping pong ball as soon as I start reading. Even if she was sitting well beforehand, she suddenly seems to need to move and wiggle and do handstands on the couch, etc! The interesting thing is that when I've let her do this, she answers questions about the story correctly and seems to have understood well. We are in the process of testing for ADD, so that may be a factor. Still, it goes against my grain to let her bounce all around while I'm trying to read. What do you think? Which one of us needs to change? One option that helps her is to let her draw while I read. She enjoys "illustrating the story" as she hears it. Sometimes she misses parts of the story though, since she's partially focused on the part she's drawing. Plus, it's not always practical. Anybody have any wisdom to share?

As always, thank you so much. You are all such a blessing!

Erica

[MelInKansas]

I have a very kinesthetic 6 YO. She definitely wants to be up and around while we're doing scripture memory and talking about the verses we've learned, and she remembers them much better that way. I don't have that problem with her during storytime. There are times when she's wiggly, and she also likes to do handstands on the couch, and I guess I think that's okay. Think of it this way, you are homeschooling which means you can cater the program to your child's needs. If she was doing it because she didn't want to listen or wasn't paying attention then I would see that as more of a problem.

Maybe you need to think about what parts of it are very distracting to you, or if there is anything she does that is disruptive. Maybe you can allow her to move in some way without it being such a distraction for you, lay down some boundaries that make it more "acceptable" or that will teach her some self-control while she's still allowed to wiggle since that helps her remember things. One seminar I went to talked about the fact that it's even helpful for a kinesthetic child (a child who mainly learns kinesthetically) to be able to play with play-doh or something like that with their hands while you are reading or while they are learning something, it helps their brain hold onto the information.

I hope this is helpful.

[raceNzanesmom]

I allow coloring, drawing, Legos, etc when I read. I found by allowing it he didn't feel he "had" to sit still. However, he quickly learned he wanted to. Now he curls up next to me 95% of the time.

[tnahid]

I have a kinesthetic 4 year old, and she is a bouncer!!!! I usually try to have storytime right before naptime. That seems to work. If it is bothering you, you could do storytime before bedtime. This is what I did with my boys, and it was great. Plan to do it again this year. They are snug in bed and I have a captive audience. They REALLY looked forward to it every night too.

The bouncing personally distracts me too. I find that when my daughter sits snug next to me and I let her play with my hair or rub my arm or something like this, she does better. If she is holding her blanket or doll that is helpful. I would say do storytime at a time that she is more relaxed and you won't have to change and neither will she! Otherwise, you could have her acting out the story as you read it, I guess. She would probably love that. I know mine would!!

[jody]

I didn't have time to look at all the posts to see if someone already mentioned this but I read an article years ago that said that if children were allowed to chew gum while they were learning they would retain much better. ?? Sounds crazy but I'm wondering if that would settle them down any. I also have a wiggler and yes, he does answer all the questions correctly and keeps track of what's going on throughout the story in spite of the fact that most of the time I'm looking at his bottom instead of his face and his feet are always in the air. Drives me nuts!!! I'm thinking he would smack the gum and drive me nuts but it's just a thought!
Hope you find something that helps!
Jody

[Larica]

Thanks for the ideas! I think I will try several things:
1) I'm going to get her some "thinking putty" to play with while listening to give her hands something to do
2) I will continue to let her illustrate the story or act it out when it makes sense to do so
2) I really like the idea of giving her permission to move within certain boundaries. At least then she and I will both know what is acceptable. That way she can still move and I won't take it as disresepect.
3) I plan to do storytime right before our daily "quiet time," which will hopefully promote calm!
4) If it is a story with dialogue, one thing she really loves is to read together...I am the narrator and she does all the dialogue. She's really good at it too! She changes pitch for each character and reads with great emotion. I do love to hear her read like this, and I'm thinking we should do this more often! (quite the gift for a newly 7 yo...need to nurture it!)

Thanks so much for taking the time to respond. It is a minor issue in the scheme of things, I know. I think it bothers me more because we struggle with dd's lack of impulse control across the board and sometimes I get a bit worn out by it. Sometimes it is downright scary too. Yesterday we were at a pool getting ready to go home when dd decided to jump in the deep end without her floaties on. She doesn't know how to swim and she knows that she doesn't know how. However, the impulse crossed her mind and she did it. I was putting shoes on my 2 yo and Grammy and Grandpa were helping our 4 yo. I happened to hear a splash and looked up to see dd7 flailing around trying to get above the water. Thankfully we were close and pulled her out in time, but it was scary. It scared her too. After such incidents she realizes it might not have been a good idea, but only after. The impulse is too strong before. We have talked a lot about how God wants us to grow in wisdom and self-control, and she agrees in theory (not unlike all of us, I suppose!). We also talk about Adam and Eve in the garden and how the fruit looked so good but following their impluse to eat it was a baaaad idea. As I mentioned in my original post, we are going to get an evaluation for ADD, so we'll see if we get any help there. I know for sure that I don't want dd to keep feeling bad about herself because she "gets in trouble" all the time. She doesn't like the consequences of her actions but she seems unable to change them. But now I am rambling...thanks for listening and thanks for your helpful ideas!

Erica