[rubyanne]

I know this is kindergarten and many of the answers or comments students give are funny, off topic, and cute. Usually I can roll with the answers and comments my students give but one student is really annoying me. He raises his hand before I finish asking the question, stands up and walks over to me like he is going to read the answer somewhere, stands there trying to come up with something, and then is totally off topic. Sometimes he just repeats what I said as if that is the answer. I feel he is not listening at all to anything I say. Usually this doesn't bother me so much but this kid is very bright and should be able to at least tell me what is going on in a story I read or tell me what number comes after 2. He pouts and cries if I don't call on him but when I do he rambles on. Any ideas?

[LinzRae]

I had a kid like that last year. He was always spouting off the most random, off topic statements. Mine didn't pout or cry but did always have something to say. I brought him up at our student intervention team and he was eventually referred to the speech/ language pathologist, mostly for the language part. Do you think it could be some sort of language development problem or delay?

[Bama Girl]

I have a lot of kids who just want/need to talk. It's like nobody has talked with or to them since they left me at 3:00! It's even worse after a holiday or weekend. They will say just about anything just to hold my attention-usually drawing it out as much as possible! I kept my co-workers children a few days ago and asked a comprehension question about the story and one of her kids said, "X, Y, Z!" I just thought my class had problems!

[rubyanne]

That is exactly what I mean! There isn't even a connection to what we are doing in class!

LinzRae: I do wonder about a problem with comprehension. I talked with mom and she says he answers everything just fine at home. She thinks it is behavior. I'll talk with our language pathologist.

[PoohBear]

I had a child like this one year. The parents never noticed anything was wrong but I suggested that they get his hearing tested. Turned out he was so deaf that he had to wear special hearing aids and all his teachers spoke into a microphone that was wired to the hearing aids. Eventually his hearing got so bad that he started attending the school for the deaf. He was extremely intelligent so he had come up with coping skills that made it seem like his hearing was normal. Sometimes parents don't realize what's going on because they unconsciously compensate for the child at home.....supplying the answers, giving hints etc.