Conductive Community

Of course, I know nothing about your friend’s child (age, condition, circumstances of upbringing etc) nor, equally important, about the ‘CE program’ that this child has experienced (duration, who is involved, goals, etc. etc). I cannot therefore offer specific guidance – but the question as phrased is of a kind that raises an important general issue. Maybe addressing this migfht be of some help to your friend and to others.
 
As stated (and I have to stress the words ‘as stated’) your enquiry possibly reveals more about the nature of this ‘CE program’ than it says of Conductive Education. You write: ‘the conductor found that her child has a fairly short attention span and he is not used to following directions, so he doesn't fit into the current program right now.’ Then you ask: ‘what things can she be doing at home to increase his attention span…?’
 
In general terms, the best way to develop this child’s attention span is through combination of conductive upbringing at home with conductive pedagogy in a centre of some sort, the latter preferably provided through a group of children of diverse development. If specialist conductive help is required fora child's development, then it should not be the parents’ job to try and provide this on their own. After all, what are conductors for?
 
That said, heaven knows the circumstances in which the unfortubate conductor might be having to work as to have so to put aside such a basic tenet of her trade. Heaven knows too, why people take on all the bother of laying on ‘CE progams’ when so often all that they can provide is so limited in time, staffing, patience etc  that, whatever else is achieved, it falls so far short of what Conductive Education is for.
 
Your friend, however, has to live in her world as it is. It sounds like the ‘program’ that she found  has, for whatever reason, let her down badly (but then the conductor has also to live in her world as it is!). What do do? ’Find another CE service’ is easy enough to say but much harder to do. It looks like she may have to take on the prime responsibility for the task of conductive upbringing without attending a ‘program’ at all.
 
How to do it? You didn’t say how old the child is but you do say that your friend is ‘a super mom who is committed to working with him at home.‘ If her child is still small, say under six years of age, she might appreciate reading the book Dina, that is directed precisely to mothers bringing up motor disordered children ‘conductively’ at home.
 
She will see that the process described there is immeasurably helped by having someone, at a distance perhaps, giving specific guidance from time to time. In Dina this had to b done by good old-fashioned snail-mail. We’re in the twenty-first century now, and parents and conductors should wake up to this! Surely there are conductors out there willing and able to take up the challenge of ‘doing a Dina‘ through, email, Skype or even webcam.
 
And your friend should remember that ‘programs’ are not the be-all-and-end-all of Conductive Education.
 
Her task at is NOT ‘teach him some of the skills he needs for a CE class’ but to become a conductive mother, bringing up her child conductively.
 
Are any conductors out there able and willing to have a go, not just for your friend’s sake and for that of her child but for thousands of others like her, and for the future health of the conductive movement?

I'm not giving specific about this child or the program they are attending as it is not my child to discuss in detail - so I'm keeping it very general.  The program is offering her some home support and will re-evalute her child on a periodic basis to see if he can make some gains at home and then when space opens up they will consider him for the program.  So they are not just dropping down.  I think CE programs face the same challenges as any other program.  Do you take the child that listens well and can follow direction, but still needs a lot of help - or do you take the child who doesn't listen and doesn't pay attention, but still needs a lot of help.  You have limited space and a choice has to be made. 

What I'm looking for is specific things she can be doing with her child (age 3) to help prepare him for the class setting.  Lisa, your comments were very helpful and similar to my way of thinkings as well.  Andrew I still have my copy of Dina and it never occurred to me to recommend the book to her.  I'll see if she if she is interested and I lend her my book.

You must remember that as parents that are new to CE, even though we aren't aware of it, we have placed limits and restriction on what our children can accomplish.  We live with our children every day taking care of their physical needs and are repeatedly told that we should just be 'happy' with how they are doing right now.  We feel helpless because we WANT to do more for our children, but we don't know WHAT we are suppose to do, so we begin searching.  Then we start CE and we find out that we should be doing much more with our children (and we feel guilty for not doing enough).  CE is one program that actually opens a parents eyes to the potential in our children.  Our child no longer becomes a helpless infant with no future, but a real person who needs to have the same challenges and experiences as 'normal' children.  Not only do the children learn new skills, but as parents we find the patterns of behaviour we have used at home no longer apply when your child is making huge leaps and bounds in his development.  We no longer think it's ok for our daughter to scoot on the floor on her bottom.  It's no longer ok to pick her up and carry her to the car.  It's no longer ok to dress, feed, and do too much for our children.  Our eyes are opened, however we still feel like we are helpless as we don't have the tools to apply in the home.  This is why I ask the question.  Maybe my question should be - how do we become conductive parents when raising our children? - however I don't think we can really answer that question either. 

Dina

It is not only sad that some children are turned away, for what ever reason, from a programme when they actually have one in the neighbourhood, it is also sad that there are so many children and parents wanting conductive pedagogy and upbringing but have no chance of attending a programme without travelling hundreds of kilometres.

I am very interested in Andrew Sutton's suggestion. If the Ákos's could
guide the family to a conductive life and upbringing for the child using
snail mail then it must be worth giving it a try using all the up to date
technology which is now available to us.

There are so many families out there who have had just a taste of Conductive Education but are unable to move forwards because there is no professional help available to them.

I am willing to give it a try.

I am a conductor, based in Germany, with a computer, skype and a blog. I often work with families in their homes usually for 2 weeks, 2 or 3 times a year, active in the creation of conductive upbringings for several children. Already in the in between times  I am available to these families on the telephone or through emails to give advice to the parents or to the children themselves. I do not see any reason why this could not work for a more intensive online conductive upbringing programme with personal contact with conductors whenever necessary and of course whenever possible inclusion in a conductive programme.

Susie Mallett

www.konduktorin.blogspot.com

Your post is really awesome man. Thanks for sharing it. You really rock.
Regards,
Aden Jeff - san diego real estate
 

He is lucky that he has a super mom who is committed to working with him at home and has realized that her son has great potential.good work for this web.Thankyou/////>>ADanjah//contractors insurance