By Debra Collins, Family therapist I have a 6-year-old daughter
in kindergarten. Thankfully, she is social and outgoing. But I
am now experiencing the downside of this, which is that in the
last week she has twice been given a behavior mark at school for
not listening to the teacher. She went all the way from August
to December with no negative behavior marks. On her report card,
which I just received, she achieved the highest mark possible on
every single item listed. Her sudden problem with listening at
school is troubling me. At home, my husband and I struggle every
day to get her to listen. I have found that I have to say
something two to three times before she even hears it; she's
always busy playing with her younger sister. It's like she has
tuned our voices out. Now the same thing seems to be happening
at school. What do you recommend? I think you may be combining
two separate issues. Having a "social and outgoing" temperament
does not necessarily result in "not listening" behavior. I think
you are on