Seeking Homework Tips

Does he have an IEP or any other programs at school? 1 1/2 hours of homework for an "average" student sounds like quite a bit for an 8 year old. I would start with the school. Try to have some of this homework reduced until you can get a handle on the homework routine. One thing that worked for my son at that age (also ADHD) was this. He had a specific seat to do his homework. We went through each item for homework and decided the order it was to be done (simple to hardest worked for us). All items were removed from the vicinity except the one item. We briefly came up with a time limit that it was to be done, I set the timer and stepped away. I never left the room, but I was able to get dinner done, wash dishes, etc. When the timer went off, I checked to see that it was completed and correct and we moved on to the next thing. It took time to get this system working, but it did work. Best of luck and contact me if you have any other questions.

I think the amount of homework is unreasonable. Our school district has average expectations, and 4th grade should have 1/2hr maximum homework each night. Homework should be the reinforcement of what is taught .. not learning by itself.

If your son does not yet have an IEP or a 504 plan, you should get one as soon as possible. Specific imitations on homework can be added to the IEP. My daughter has a 504 plan and it specifies specific modifications to her homework assignments.

Best of luck in dealing with the Special Ed department of your district. A special ed. lawyer was very helpful in us getting her what she needed, and his consulting fee was only $250

I dont know what type of work he is bring home, but it sounds like way too much. I would talk to his teachers or maybe the principal at school to clear up why he is bring this much home and get tips from them. No 8 year old should even have over an hour of homework on a nightly basis.

Good Luck to you!

My husband and I are teachers. That is a lot of homework - homework should reinforce what is being done in class. Also, he is writing it out or doing it on the computer? If the homework can be done on a computer he might enjoy that more. I have seniors in high school who don't have more than an hour of HW a night and that's all subjects combined.

Even 1 1/2 hours is too much homework for an 8 year old. My daughter is 8, almost 9 and has about 10 minutes of homework most days. Is he being sent home with incomplete work from during the school day? If that's the case then the teacher needs to work harder with him at school to finish it. I can understand bringing it home occassionally (my son has to bring his home every so often), but not daily.
I have trouble getting my 7 year old son to do his homework as well. He hasn't been diagnosed with ADD or ADHD although I suspect he has slight bit of it. What I do for him is set a kitchen timer. He loves to see if he can finish before the timer goes off. Like the math work sheets, he gets 10 minutes, and is usually finished long before the timer goes off. Also, homework is always done at the kitchen table, far away from the tv. Good luck! I do understand the frustration.

We have found it successful to give "breaks" during homework time. Like, if I need to go to the bathroom, we tell her "you have 15 minutes to go play so make it quick". She runs upstairs and starts doing something, and when I am ready to resume the homework, I shout out "2 minutes left" to prepare her when I call out eventually "to come back down here."

my son is 9 with adhd....same problems! believe me i want to pull out my hair half the time! try a reward system at the end of each day...like give him something to look forward to when hes done with his h/w. like a bowl of icecream, or a 1/2 hour playing a game, or even an increase in tv time?? i have always struggled with this w/ my son, and even an increase w/ the meds didnt help. we just have to be patient.