Will enrolling my 5yo son in Taekwondo help him to harness his excess energy?
469485
I believe it will.  My wife and I enrolled our son when he was 5 (bordering on 6) in Tae Kwan Do.  It taught him discipline, to say "Yes Sir", to follow orders, to be a part of an organized group, and to set goals (get from the white belt to the yellow belt to the orange belt to the purple belt, etc).  Those things did not take away his energy, but it has taught him to focus and to have self control.  Try it out for a period of time, you may be surprised.  We've loved what Tae Kwan Do has done for our son (now a few months away from 7 yrs old and having just gotten to a purple belt).
236954
A good bl*wj*b will slow him down!  You are the mother of a five yr. old.  You should know by now.
699571
Not sure if this is what you had in mind - It give tips on how to recognize if your child athlete is burned out.  It also has some useful related links.\n\nhttp://www.ehow.com/how_6431_determine-whether-youth.html?REF=fuel\n\nHope it helps.
1167153
I teach Karate, but it's not up to me to tell you that Karate is right for your son. Alot of people will say Tae-Kwon-Do or Karate is best because thats all they know.\nPicking the right Martial Art for your son is as important as picking the right school. Get the yellow pages out and see whats available in your area, then learn more about what each art does. Take your son to watch some beginner classes at some of the dojos and see what interests him.\nIf he starts in something that doesn't interest him or gets a bad teacher than he may give all martial arts up for good and that would be a shame.\nA good teacher will tell you that it takes time to learn the art and a black belt is not the end, it just means that you've got the basics down and can more on to harder (funner) things.\nSome that I would recomend are\n\nKarate - Punching and kicking, teaches blocking and avoidance as well as attacks\n\nTae-Kwon-Do - alot of kicking and yelling (keeps young ones attention)\n\nJudo - locks and throws (may be too young for this)\n\nAikido - locks and throws in a non violent way (very good non violent self defence art)\n\nKung-Fu - good for show, does very well at tournements.\n\nBoxing is very good if he wants to attack, martial arts is good if he wants to attack and defend, but what every school should teach is how to avoid the bad situations all together.\n\nGood luck and have fun!
596449
His best bet would be to enter some "open" tournments in the area. EX: The N.A.G.A. holds grappling tourments where one does not need to be part of a club to participate.  If he does well there other's that are part of clubs will attempt to recruit him.  From there he will train with others and when skill levels raise they will support him into UFC events and or Pride events.  Or look for any training facilities in your area that specialize in martial arts but make sure they are endorse by a national agency. If your located out in the lost lands it might be tough but worth the effort if he's really serious about it.
132235
Well hopefully this child is getting occupational therapy and physical therapy to start off with.  If so, obviously they are the experts and you should ask them for home activities for your child.  As a special education teacher, I suggest you try isolating the objects you would like the child to grasp and then run trials.  Also, do alot of muscle toning activities such as using a squeeze ball etc.  But first and foremost, ask the therapists that are working with your child and if there isn't one, contact your school district asap to get services started.
30125
stretches and a form of arobics would be perfect for him, but dont expect him to follow a strict regiment, he's 4, he's wild, he gets all the excerize he "needs". but one thing, do not start him on weights, my son, now 14, has fractures in both legs from bench pressing 2 years ago. a childs bones are still soft and the joints are not finished developing until they are about 18, thus,"not grown till 18 or 21" if he wants "wieghts" like mommy and daddy, there are some "water weights" on the market, these are designed for children, have fun
905743
I am a strong supporter of tough love but it doesn't seem that your husband would agree with this approach.  You do not state the child's age so it is kind of hard but it sounds like he is in junior school by his actions.  If there is a mentorship program in your area perhaps you can set up one for this boy.  I work with youth in conflict with the law and have seen many of them make remarkable turnarounds after they have reached the age of 18.  As far as you and your husband getting on the same page - this is very important not only for you both but for the child also as he can sense the tensions and differences in your styles.  Sports also sometimes help kids to release some of their pent up energy and if possible you can set him up in one that he is interested in.  Best of luck.
1164534
As a male, he is by nature aggressive, you cannot and should not try to teach him not to be aggressive.  You can, however, teach him control.  Let him know he has choices he can make in his behavior.   Get him in to sports or some other physical activity that will keep him moving and expending energy.  Guys hormones just do that to them.  If he is just a toddler, play, rough and tumble (and I do mean tumble, teach him somersaults) helps with balance and coordination and helps in falling skills in older children. When you know the child will fall, they need to know how to do it properly to avoid injury.\n\nIt's very hard to teach a child not to hit, this seems to be an ingrained protective response.  The child has not learned the differences in pain.  Physical pain vs. emotional pain.  All they know at this time is  They Hurt D-a-r-n it! (typed the regular way it looked like the OTHER word)  I did, however let him hit back IF the other child hit him more than once.   Turn the other cheek doesn't work well with children, and they need to know they have a right to defend themselves.  By allowing one hit  and not  cringing, his behavior would show the other children that he understood the hitter was upset and his character was big enough to allow that one hit. After that, it was self preservation.\n\nThis stood him in good stead.  The teachers in seeing this type of behaviour could see he didn't want the fight but was pressured to ingage. \n\nThe best you can do is teach him to think, and to think clearly and to see where his actions can lead.  When my son was in 2nd grade, he was suspended for throwing acorns.  After speaking with the Principal, my son and I sat down on a bench outside  under the Principal's office window and discussed the punishment.  It was during recess and I pointed out the acorn war going on to the oblivion of the teachers.  I explained why he was being punished.  The Principal overheard, came out and reduced the punishment to just the rest of the day.\n\nOn the way home in the car I gave him my true thoughts on the situation.  By seeing the example on the playground, and what resulted from our conversation, he realized that words of negotiation need to come first, then physical action is not always required.  People behave badly when they feel threatened.\n\nI apoligize for the long anecdotes.  After that long explanation, I now tend to believe you may have intended the word violence.  Thank you.
1077905
There is no way to answer this question properly.  Is he making contact at all?  Is he making contact but not keeping it fair?  Is he making contact and being put out?  Are they always a weak grounder or always a pop-up?  Is he swinging late or early?\n\nThere are so many variables to look at to even start to evaluate this.  There is always a way to improve his hitting I just need more detail to even start. \n\nMany of the answers suggest t-work, soft-toss, batting cages, etc.  All of this work is fantastic when used with a program designed to correct whatever fault your son's swing as.  That being said adding extra practice means you are only grinding the correct habit further into his muscle memory and not solving anything.  You need to correct the faults with the correct drills to maximize his swing.  Feel free to e-mail me and we can answer this properly.  GOOD LUCK!  \n\nP.S.  Remember hitting is like being over weight, it took considerable time to get overweight it will take time to correct the swing.  Don't expect immediate results.
373505
Your son will succeed in life with or without the TAG program, not because of his great intellect but because of his great heart. Let him follow his heart. The world is full of opportunities for him to cultivate his mind, but let him do it on his own terms. You have a son who loves his sister and is patient and kind. He appreciates his friends and doesn't aspire right now to move away from them and set himself apart. Even if he stays in regular classes now, by the time he gets to middle and high school, he will automatically start moving away from some of his classmates, as he discovers that he easily grasps abstract concepts that other kids struggle with. The patience he has learned from helping his sister will help him in dealing with the differences he discovers between the way his mind works and the way most other minds work. At this point, if he is not bored in school and he is happy with his life, why pull him out? Let him develop his own enrichment program based on his own passions and interests. He will do just fine. He sounds like he has wisdom, which is far more important than mere intelligence. He has already told you what is the right thing for him.
952217
Bribery might help, give him something to look forward to at the end of each nine weeks and if he does well you could take him on a mini trip or buy him a game he wants. Some kids are motivated in diff ways so don't worry it might be something personal in his life like friends or girls, hope all goes well!
127310
My son has high functioning austism as well. He is 5 now and became verbal last year. His still likes to play by himself some of the time but he interacts with his siblings and some of the kids from his school. Find something that he really enjoys. For my son it is letters and numbers. I bought flash cards for him and invited a couple of the neighbor kids over. We had races to see who could find certain numbers. He loved it. Don't try too many kids though or he could feel overwhelmed. A lot of his interaction came from watching the other kids do things. He wouldn't go down the slide until he watched the other kids do it over and over again. Make a structured "game" of the play at first and then slowly let it become more spontanious. Good Luck you can email me at sbirch5@yahoo.com if you would like to discuss this further
981940
He needs to increase his physical activity to more than just once a week.  Unfortunately, video games do not qualify.  His parents need to quit buying the junk food and instead, start buying more fresh fruits and veggies for Omar to munch on.  Although maybe not the healthiest combo, but is my favorite, is baby carrots and ranch dressing (as a dip, so to speak).  Peanut butter on celery and bananas.  He needs to drink at least 8 glasses of water a day.  Unsweetened tea works, too.  Pop just adds to the calories, but if he finds a pop that he likes and can live with that is fat free & sugar free (Fresca is my choice), then a can/bottle a day won't kill him.  Frozen dinners might be easier for mom, but unless it's something like Lean Cuisine or Weight Watchers; the dinners are empty nutritionally and full of calories and sodium.\n\nMost importantly, Omar needs to be motivated to lose weight and increase his physical activity.  If everyone (friends, family, etc.) nags at him, you can pretty much kiss that goodbye because he will just dig in his heels and continue as he is.\n\nGood luck!
410912
I think that it would be worse if he wasn't involved in some type of physical activity. It is a good bonding time for the two of you ,he is developing his motor skills and he is having a great time. It is a win, win situation!
269079
Well my son is 6 and weighs almost 70lbs, what I do is watch what he eats. I don't let him have alot of junk food and I don't let him over eat at the supper table. He won't like it at first that you might tell him no for food, but after awhile of you sticking to it, he will get use to it. Also get him to be more active and everything should be fine.
742841
There are lots of good answers above here.  I think that if he is doing well academically, he is probably bored with the curriculum and needs more of a mental challenge.  Additionally, gifted children are often socially immature, and this can be overwhelming for a child.  A 5 year old does not have the presence of mind to self correct their behavior--think of how hard it is for you as an adult to cope with your feelings of overwhelm when they happen.\n\nWhen talking to him about his bad behavior, ask him questions about what was happening when he had his meltdowns.  He will not know how to answer "why" he did them, but by asking the right questions, you may be able to determine a pattern that triggers the "overhwhelm"--transitional times, loud times, unstructured times in the school day, etc.  Answers to these types of questions may help you, as the adult, to help him identify his behavior patterns and self-correct.  This takes YEARS of learning for the little guys, and you'll need to be patient.  Get help from a counselor if you can to see if you can nip it in the bud before it becomes full-blown oppositional-defiant behavior, much harder to correct as they get older.\n\nYour little boy is probably gifted--do some research on the net to see how best to support him as he grows!\n\nGood luck!\n\nP.S. You also should talk to the school about their discipline policy.  It seems to me that an in-school suspension is NOT age-appropriate.  Are they actually using effective methods of discipline when dealing with your son?