helping with self motivation?

[musikat]

My son has been having "issues" in his third year primary class, according to his teacher. He is not focused, doesn't always finish work, not paying attention, etc. He says he is bored. She recommended the Feingold diet (we had a talk with her and his ped and truly don't think it's an attention deficit issue!). He is learning, but not to his teacher's "pace."

Today I observed him for an hour. Of course he behaved great while I was there. But she insists that is not usually the case. She also said he needs to prove that he can do the simpler work for her to show him the next step and he is very slow and not focused about it. For example, it apparently took him an hour to do one paragraph of writing this morning. I noticed he was very focused while I was there, but I was watching and he was excited and motivated. His teacher says when she is right there is is "on" and does great. When she walks away, he gets distracted.

It occurred to me today after this talk and observing that the problem isn't so much attention span as it is motivation. He just isn't sufficiently motivated to get the work done without an audience or immediate praise; hence he dawdles, gets bored and gets in trouble.

Does anyone have any suggestions on something I or the teacher could do to help motivate him? I know he can do great when he wants (this follows at home, too), but if he doesn't deem it something worthwhile, he just won't do it.

I was thinking of some sort of "reward" at home for doing well (defined by finishing his work and being shown something new), or is this a really bad idea? Any better ones? How can I convey to my smart, sweet, extremely stubborn and self-involved that this is in his own best interest?

[Lillianna]

Not always focused, often bored, not paying attention, not finishing work...
I agree, he is not being sufficiently motivated. These are also characteristics that often surface in the third year when the child is entering the 2nd plane of development (montessoriese for ages 6 to 12). The child at this stage is more interested in working in small groups with other children his age and needs many small presentations to stay engaged. Montessori accomodated this be creating materials for the child that involve multiple presentations with small groups of 3 or 4 children. The materials that are presented in the 3rd year involve lots of short lessons that the child can then take off on independently. If he is unmotivated, he may need to be getting more regular new lessons. He should also be able to guage his own progress by viewing the order of materials on the shelf.
Btw, one paragraph of writing is a great level of achievement for a child at this stage.

[musikat]

Thanks Lilliana! I just wish his TEACHER would recognize this! Even my younger son's teacher mentioned that third year thing to me. I really feel my 6 year old's teacher doesn't like him and it's a personality conflict thing. Luckily he only has her this year (he was a transfer from another Montessori so she didn't have him his first two year, which may be part of it).

I don't remember if it was a whole paragraph, but it was a writing assignment, in any case. There are multiple things going on in his class situation this year. He was picked on in the beginning by the other third year students. I don't know that he does work much in a "group" with them even now. I'm just really hoping next year he gets a teacher we like (and who likes him) and the equalizing factor with three primary classes condensing into two lower el and being the youngest will help.