Teaching the Unfocused

I think we all know kids can be very unfocused, though some are more focused on others, often they are considered gifted because one of the hallmarks of gifted children is having intense focus.  My daughter is nine and very unfocused, she has many ideas banging around in her head and I am trying to help her to get that in line, I know how crazy it gets because I am a creative and when I am busy on ONE project I get ideas for TEN more, which is why I keep a small notebook nearby to keep things on track.

However, my daughter gets upset with me when I try to help her.  Mostly that's because she's so focused on her idea but doesn't SEE how to work it out and gets mad when I tell her she has to start with this, than that and basically go by steps.  It's like she wants thing suddenly NOW.  BELIEVE ME I know the feeling, been there done that.  My other problem is having so much to do that I can't get started and I sit around the apartment being bored, silly but it's like that and my daughter has the same problem.

She has this great idea of doing a book on the New Moon, ok so I show her the steps to writing such a thing, I show her mind mapping,  using a big circle to write the main topic then spidering out the other points.  She gets that fine, but then when I ask her about how many pages she will need she said 500!!!  WHAT?  I explained to her with her narrow subject she will NOT need 500 pages, got into a tiff on that but got her to agree to have 10 pages to start, if she needs more then she can have more but the first ten must be done first.

Well, last week we started on this, she got the cover done, but hasn't done anything else on it.  I worked on a homeschool structure I can follow.  Something easy to keep with, getting the main academic works done in the morning.  Mostly her Sylvan Reading comprehension book, A bit of math which she is very good at, and a good workbook that's handy Words Every 3rd grader needs to know, I do a grouping of it along with a lap book theme, it goes by subjects, we are going through the math words she needs to know then I will have her do the Language arts portion.  She only has focus enough to do two pages, but even then I have to sit next to her to walk her though it.  I don't have to do that much when she is on her math.

What is it about kids when they are HIGH in math but tend to be low in reading, I have done tutoring in Americorps and saw a boy like this.  I was low in math but exceptionally HIGH in reading.

Elsewhere I have read an interesting article on how those who are high in the aptitude for engineering are often bad spellers.

My daughter comes up with great ideas but seldom follows though with it unless she has someone to 'mind map' her through and keep her going.  I was more of once I knew what needed to be done, leave me alone and let me do it, I wasn't much of a team player either, but it seems that my daughter needs a 'team' to get her work going you know?  Crazy, so how to get it to work with her?

When we got done with our workbooks today (only three) I wanted her to have her reading time but she said she wanted a nap.  She had a nightmare last night and lost some sleep so I didn't contest it.  Mental work takes a lot out of us in different ways, she needed a break.
She did lay down but she eventually straightened up the bedroom, which was good.

The girl is constantly on the move and wants stimulation.  Her favorite show is Avatar the Last Airbender, a show I actually like but she could easily end up watching hours of it.

I am having Avatar and computer game time as her fun time when she gets her work done.
She says ok to that.  But today instead of computer or Airbender she wanted to go over to my parents house.
She likes to help straighten stuff up over there.  Fall is hitting us and they have a few big trees there, peacan trees and their driveway will be buried in the mass of leaves.  Her heaven, she loves raking.
Her favorite activities has always been active things, I'm the opposite, I have little energy, I'm skinny as hell but have little energy, I have a massive amount of airborne allergies, not to mention grass and other things that can make my skin break out.  I spent most of my time reading NOT running and playing, any time that I did I was exhausted. In a way my daughter reminds me of Marley, yeah that 'bad' dog from the book and movie, can't believe they are making another one of just the puppy years.  Getting her focused in the kitchen stirring or kneading bread dough keeps her from walking up the walls.

She has more physical energy than mental energy, now how to work with that?
I go to Sizzle Bop, a homeschooling mom with sizzlers, or what we call high energy kids (or ADD ADHD)
She has got awesome ideas, but does anyone else know of helps for this high energy kid and low energy mom?