Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Doodling Part 2

We had a great conversation on doodling a year ago or so. Quite a few doodlers here, it turns out.

DD11 has continued to doodle on every scrap of paper, book, test, you name it. In the summer her legs are quite lovely from the "tattoos". I had it though, when yesterday she came home with her ENTIRE ARM covered in henna type designs. Where does she have the time to do that much drawing in 7th grade?? It was social studies. I think it's time for a talk with the teacher. I knew DD was bored, but this is crazy!!

I would tend to find the positives in this... Doodling can be an effective means of note-taking for some people. Doodling can also be a means of enhancing one's concentration to absorb auditory information.

If it is your rule that doodling is not to be done on one's body, but on paper, you may wish to provide her with an ample supply of papers for doodling.

Advantages:
- Doodles on paper can be framed.
- They can be used to create greeting cards.
- They can be stored flat in a scrapbook or portfolio.
- They could become wrapping paper.
- Cropped sections could even be printed in a school year book.

Using it as a mnemonic device is a valid way of interpreting the use of doodles in notebooks.

Another right way of looking at it is a symptom of disengagement with the class:-

Stealing Childhood

This article was quite polarizing - see comments below and shows what parents of fast and passionate learners were (and still are) up against.

I think she is general confusing boredom with soul crushing boredom. The summer camp she went to would have been my worst nightmare - although the university programme wouldn't have been much better I would have preferred it.

Further, I think that all of the things the she learned at camp could be learned from parents actively taking a real interest in their children's lives.

Ancient Greek like at CTY - that knowledge is a little thinner on the ground, these days at least!

While this may be true, and parents may have topic knowledge to impart to their children... sometimes kids benefit from a bit of time apart from their parents during their summer vacation. Every situation is different.

We don't frown on her body art - I was just flabbergasted (love that word) that she had the time... BTW, we have probably done every thing listed above with her art. My dad kept sketches I did as a kid and gave them to me some years ago. I am keeping much of DD's work in portfolios.

Getting back to the doodling bits, I noted that one parent made a comment about the article stating she hopes her son would not spend his education "doodling" because he was so bored. Hmmm.

Just to note - I am not a huge doodler overall, but in those university lectures where I wasn't taking extensive notes (because the material was in the textbook) I doodled abstract designs endlessly. A small amount of physical distraction actually helped me stay mentally focused. Otherwise, my mind would start to think about more interesting things, and wham - next thing I know I've totally wandered and have no idea what was said for the last ten minutes.

As an adult, that was harder to get away with in meetings.... Over the years, I've moved to taking almost verbatim notes in most meetings, simply because it keeps me from drifting. (Possibly relevant note: Auditory intake is not my strong suit. Shut up and give me the written version any day).

All that to say, there is always the possibility that she is listening better for the doodling, not doodling instead of listening. Can you figure out if she is doing it only when she is supposed to be listening (and does she know what was said?), or doodling instead of completing classwork?

Agreed! I mentioned a similar thought in this post:
While it pays to ask the child how they are experiencing this, and inquire about the teacher's observations as well, a parent handling this gently and tactfully helps pave the way for possible future advocacy... in a way that declaring "I had it... this is crazy!!" may not.

It may be worthwhile to learn the degree to which doodling may be a means of coping/compensating during auditory input... and/or the degree to which doodling may be a means of zoning out when faced with a lack of academic/intellectual challenge... and/or, as Platypus101 mentioned... doodling instead of completing classwork.

This book may be of interest: How Do You Doodle?, by Magination Press, of the American Psychological Association (APA).

I knitted my way through most of my classes at MIT for the same reason. I had to do complicated increase/decrease patterns at home between classes, though, and save the long straight repetitive stretches to do in class.

I always took practically verbatim notes.

DS8, a prolific doodler whose doodles are also very charming, was forbidden to doodle on his work this year. (Note--he is a straight A student with zero discipline problems.) I rarely go to the mat about anything, but I did for this. DS was very emotional about his need to doodle, saying that it keeps him occupied when he has to wait and that it keeps him from doing things he isn't supposed to do. Note...DS attends a gifted magnet!! (I won this battle.)

There is nothing wrong with doodling as long as she has self-control to refrain from doodling on anything official that has to stay clean. While she may in fact be bored to death, doodling by itself is not necessarily a sign of boredom. She may simply have focus issues and doodling is her way of coping.

Good for you!!! We had pushback in elementary. I'm not seeing so much concern from teachers about it now unless, like the other day, she and another girl were drawing together and not paying attention in class.

I think we have both coping and boredom going on. Math and language arts keep her attention. Science and social studies, where she is not challenged, are her biggest art studios! Well, just realized that some of her math tests get pretty decorated, too...

Mine actually draws on her clothes. She claims it helps her to focus...who knows. When she's not drawing she's fussing with her hair and pulling at it (she has shirley temple type ringlets that tend to get all messed up/snarled). Teachers report finding clumps of her hair and then they know she was either bored or anxious.

There are various fidgets that can be used instead if the teachers are Ok with it (they should be if she has a 504 or IEP). I would't assume that it's due to boredom, it could be a symptom of hyperactivity.