High Achieving Son Stuggles w/Completing Class & Homework Assign.

A., I highly suggest taking your son to H.E.L.P. (The Hollywood Education and Literacy Project) located here in Hollywood. It is a free program, and what is amazing is that I've seen kids like your son come into this program and by learning the study technology they offer and getting their diet in order, they magically learn to study successfully. REALLY! You can definitely call H.E.L.P. for a free tour.

Here's their data:

Hollywood Education Literacy Project International
6336 Hollywood Boulevard
Hollywood CA 90028
###-###-####
http://www.helplearn.org/index-flash.html

Ask for Amanda or Ann. They definitely will be able to help you and your son!

I'd also recommend checking out 5 organizations validating why going the natural route is best for you and your son:
http://ablechild.org/
http://www.cchr.org/
http://www.fightforkids.org/
http://www.psychsearch.net/teenscreen.html
http://www.labelmesane.com/

You'll also find some amazing data regarding alternatives at: http://www.cchr.org/solutions_and_alternatives/

And, A., please watch:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Xjx0gdL83I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRJN_NfyiH4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgMovNmtRF0&feature=user
http://www.psychconflicts.org/
http://www.cchr.org/#/videos/making-a-killing-introduction

AND

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73SRn1gdAdM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcvCtxaiOGg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58UZqr3fiZ

Another thing to take into consideration is that sugar, dyes, different food combinations and even toxins (in the environment and home) can truly make a difference in a child's behavior.

Please free to contact me at: (323) 906~2784 or via e~mail me at ____@____.com.

I'd love to help you and your son however I can.

With love,
L. (MAMA to 16 month old Dylan Orion.......29 September 2007) : )))

2 moms found this helpful

My opinion is he is bored to death with it. My 6 year old son has an IQ 0f 150 and skipped first grade & is currently in second grade (still way too easy). All of his work at school is completed without errors and on time, scores in the 99.9% across the board on standardized tests, but hates doing his homework. There is no challenge. At school he does what he is supposed to do because it is expected of him. At home, he knows it expected but tries everything in the world to avoid it.

HOWEVER, if I give him spelling words out of the book "1100 words adults should know" (e.g. perspicacious) he is happy as can be and will not leave his desk. If he is working on addition with regrouping 4 numbers, he wont touch it until I make it with 20 or more numbers! Science day, we will extract DNA from a banana. I want him to keep his love for learning but it is very difficult when the work is so easy.

What has worked for us at different times/days of the week:

1.He is unable to go on the computer until he has completed his homework. He can do other things until then but no computer. He loves the computer so he gets his homework done but he usually waits until after dinner.Since he is only allowed to use it for an hour a day he knows he has to get it done or go without. This has always worked. He still learns time management.

2. Sit with him while doing his homework and give him challenging work. For every easy spelling word give him 2 challenging words. My son's face lights up when we do this. Add a few more numbers onto his math problem. It keeps him interested in learning.

3. Story day can be miserable at our house (creating stories using your spelling words). However, if he attends the after school program on that day, the teacher says he completes it in 10 minutes!!! Arrgghhh....at home it would be 5 hours. Now,I find out which day this assignment occurs and let him attend the after school program. Problem solved. No more power struggles and he still learns time management.

Hope this helps. Email me if you need more info.

1 mom found this helpful

Strange as it sounds, it could be vision related. Our daughter had many vision problems, totally undetected by regular check-ups, etc. She received reading glasses and then a year later we saw an optometrist who specializes in developmental optometry and while my other daughter and I had no problems, my older one, now 11, had many problems. Some ways of telling can be: really smart but struggling with schoolwork, hard to focus, handwriting not great (there are many others I can't think of right now). Worth getting a regular vision check up with a developmental optometrist about anyway. We saw Dr. Derek Tong in Temple City (southeast of Pasadena). I'm sure there are other good ones out there. G.

1 mom found this helpful

A.,

How fortunate to have a gifted child! I can imagine how frustrating this must be for you. I am a child psychologist and actually do have some advice. I would be concerned- not overly concerned- but enough to seek professional advice. Of course I believe therapy can be helpful to children but I do not know what your son needs. An evaluation would assist in determining what is underlying his difficulty completing tasks. I too am a single working mother (my son is 12 months old) and I do not believe that most child problems are related to growing up in a single parent household! I commend you for being flexible and trying to work something out with the the principal. You may, however, be missing something more serious that is going on.

1 mom found this helpful

A book I suggest is "How Your Child Is Smart". It offers up differentiated learning and has great tips on how certain kids learn using appropriate techniques. I wish I had read it when my boys were small. A lot of ADHD kids are above average in intelligence, but have a harder time learning in a standard environment. My oldest is ADHD and we chose to have him not take meds but instead focused on behavior management. My second son hated school from day one but somehow managed to graduate high school with honors. Good luck!

1 mom found this helpful

I FEEL YOU! It is as if we have the same child, except mine was never invited into the gifted program.

What is his after-school set-up? I discovered that my son does better in a small independently-drive study group in the library versus a large loosely structured after-school program. It gives him autonomy, but it also teaches him more effective study habits as he watches his trusted peers. My son is older by a few years, so you will likely need to find the friend and suggest library study dates.

Good luck,
-A.

1 mom found this helpful

Hi there!
I have 2 boys and am raising them as a single mother as well, mine are almost 10 and 8. 4th and 3rd graders.

My youngest son was always real quick to get his homework done. Brilliant is the word his teachers from previous years would describe him during all of the conferences. However.... his third grade year he began to have some serious focus issues and we were doing homework until 7-730 at night.
I still haven't found the answer to why this sudden change began but what has helped is that between each page of homework completed we take a 10-15 minute break. The breaks come fewer and further between now as we have been doing this for about a month already. I hope it helps!

1 mom found this helpful

First of all, you're doing great. Sounds like you have a great family. The third grade is when learning disabilities manifest. There is a huge amount of learning disabilities within the gifted population. My son was your son's age when we started realizing that something was not right. The struggles to get homework done were amazing, and I found myself hiding in the bathroom, after trying all sorts of homework remedies. Is your son experiencing any kinds of vision issues? I always recommend having a thorough eye exam. Sometimes they just need glasses but don't know it. This is the age when the print in the chapter books gets a little smaller, and kids have difficulty with tracking, and comprehension. (By the way, avoid vision therapy, it's quackery.) Sometimes there's a more complicated issue such as dyslexia, ADD, etc. but stick to the simple stuff first, and talk to the teacher. Your son is probably not the only one in the class having homework challenges. Sometimes a study group can help, and sometimes pulling in a nice teenager to help, and pulling yourself out of the equation can be a lifesaver. Kids like peers. Best of luck, your head is in the right place! I've been there.

1 mom found this helpful