How to get around narrow interests?

[nitemarehippygirl]

A little background: Son was recently dx'd w/ADHD. Developmental pedi says he might possibly have PDD or relatively mild Asperger's. (I tend to think the latter is more likely.)

My son is young, nearly 5. We started out this year doing a fairly loose unit study type pre-k curriculum. DS is very bright, and picks up on academic type things fairly easily IF you can get his attention. Things have disintegrated somewhat. He doesn't want to stop playing to do "school", only wants to read/talk about/and learn about pokemon.

One of the issues that we keep coming up against is his narrow interests. For several years, he ate, slept, and breathed Thomas the train. We rolled with that as much as possible. We counted trains, we read about trains, and I tried to expand it into modes of transportation in general.

Suddenly, his interest has changed to Pokemon. Although I don't have anything against Pokemon, per se, I can't really figure out an angle to work with it. It's too narrow. Aside from reading Pokemon books, I can't think of many ways to engage him.

I know a lot of folks on these forums would advocate not forcing "school" on such a young kid, but here's my issue:
Most kids this age are just itching to learn everything about everything. All you sort of have to do is stand out of the way.
DS isn't really that way. He wants to know about what he wants to know about, and THAT'S IT. One of the reasons I wanted to start guiding him a little bit that I felt things would get too focused on the narrow interest, to the exclusion of everything else. He's somewhat delayed socially, and although he has a fantastic body of knowledge about a few very specific things, I'm worried he would miss out on many of the things most kids just sort of pick up incidentally, by doing and observing everything in the world around them...

I guess I'm just wondering how other folks handle the narrow interest issue in little ones, particularly if the interest is something pretty obscure. If he were into dinosaurs or bugs or something, I'd have an easier time figuring out how to work with it.

[OTMomma]

Is there a card game with Pokemon he can play with other kids? ( I have no clue, but I thought there was one)

I haven't been exactly where you are, but I have dealt with a 6 year old who was just not going to be homeschooled the way I thought it should go. My advice is to be patient and creative. I would probably force on him trips to the library, the park, the zoo- whatever you've got, so that you know he is being exposed to the rest of the world. Trust that just like he eventually gave up Thomas for Pokemon, his interests will eventually shift.

Peace,

[nitemarehippygirl]

There actually is a game, but as far as I can gather, it's for kids that are quite a bit older. (Here I just spent the last 2 1/2 years getting thoroughly educated about trains, and now I'm trying to figure out all of this Pokemon stuff. ) At any rate, his social issues would probably prevent him from being able to play with other kids. He doesn't really get the social give and take of games yet.
If he were left up to his own devices right now, he would
play with his Pokemon figurines and cards
build Pokemon out of Legos
watch an enormous amount of tv, preferably Pokemon movies
read an occasional book about Pokemon

I do make him do regular kid stuff, but I hate that it's such a struggle, and he is, at best not really interested, and at worst, oppositional.

I want to plant a garden, go to library story times, make arts and crafts, and read lots of books with him. He's generally not into any of that, and as a result, niether of us has much fun. I guess I have a hard time deciding whether it's worth it to force the issue anyway, (is he really getting anything out of that?) or whether I should just let him do his own thing for a while longer.

Thanks for the input, btw. I wasn't sure whether to post here, or in Special Needs...

[RiverSky]

I think you should let him continue with his Pokemon interest. I do know a 6 year old who also lives/breathes/sleeps Pokemon and used to do the same with Thomas the Train, LOL. In a year or two, your son will move on from this and will find something else to focus on. Focusing on an interest is not a bad thing, IMO. People like Einstein and Leonardo da Vinci and Stephen Hawkings and Bill Gates focused on certain things as young children, too. It shows that he can focus, that he can research a subject all the way, so he can really understand it. I know other children who will only get into a subject very superficially, barely knowing about it before getting bored and moving on, and honestly, I think it might well be better for a child to be able and willing to fall completely in love with a topic and work hard to know more, more, more about it. Then again, 5 and 6 are very young ages and chances are, your son might not be like that when he's 10 or 15.

[nitemarehippygirl]

That's funny re: Thomas, then Pokemon.

Apparently Thomas is a very popular interest among those on the autistic spectrum. I can see how Pokemon would have a similar draw. There are lots of things to list, catagorize, and memorize. (I have some similar tendencies myself, and admit that I rather enjoyed the Thomas phase, and am sort of getting into the Pokemon stuff with him. )

I actually agree that it's pretty neat that he is SOOO interested in something, at least most of the time. I'm amazed by how much he can learn and memorize about something he's into.

I just worry about all the things he ISN'T into, and am trying to find a balance between letting him pursue his passion, and trying to help him get along in the outside world as well. I'm not terribly worried about the academic learning at this point. He's very young, and functions above his age level in that area anyway. (I am worried about how I will manage that aspect as he gets older, though.)

Here and elsewhere, I read about kids who spend all day pretending, making things, collaborating with other children. He doesn't really do that stuff, and in fact would often times prefer to not even play with me. All of the things you read about kids this age say you should be reading to them a lot, fingerpainting, exploring nature. What do you do if the kid is totally not into it? I feel negligent if I let him watch tv and play by himself all day.

I would just like to widen his experiences a little, and I for sure don't want him to go further into his shell.

[Geerbabe]

If your son does have Asperger's, then this is extremely typical behaviour. There is a boy in our distributed learning program who is now in grade 5 who has Asperger's. His mom says that he has always had a "thing". Right now it is speed stacks, which has actually helped him develop some of the cross body coordination that he was lacking and encouraged him to go online and hook up with fellow enthusiasts to compare times. Before he used to be into marble tracks.

Best of luck!

[at_the_hip]

You could also expand his "Pokemon" interest in other ways...

There are quite a few games with the Pokemon theme (monopoly, yahtzee, puzzles, etc) that would lean toward math and other skills. Pokemon books range from very easy reading toward chapter-ish books. There are also videos online on how to play the card game. My 6yo dd plays it with her older sisters no problem.

Does he like being active? What if you got him a Pokemon bike or scooter? Would he get out and use it?

Here's a link with online & printable Pokemon themed games, such as memory, bingo, dominoes...
http://www.dltk-kids.com/pokEmon/game.htm

You might even get him some Pokemon colouring books - great for fine motor skills, or some early workbooks with a Pokemon theme.

My older 3 girls all like Pokemon right now. While they are old enough to do plenty of other school, we also work with their interests! It's amazing how much learning they can do without realising it.

[at_the_hip]

Just as another example for you, here is a science curriculum based on Pokemon. Granted it is suggested for gr. 3 and upward, but it will give you some ideas on what you can do with it.

http://www.masterthescience.org/

[nitemarehippygirl]

Thanks, at the hip, for the suggestions. I hadn't really thought about Pokemon Monopoly, etc. I will be checking out ebay to see what I can come up with.
Thanks also for the link to the science curriculum. That's fantastic, and something I haven't seen before.