Homework Help

Have you tried to talk to the teachers about this? I would go to them for advice. I had the same problem with my son last year. I found out if I didn't push him and I let him play for a while after school, there was less of a fight after dinner, to do homework. My sister's girls are opposite of each other. One does her homework right after school and the other waits until after supper. I suggest you talk calmly with him and find out why he's so reluctant to do his work. You're kids are older than mine, so maybe you could ask the older one's for their advice. Good Luck!!!!

When was the last time he had an eye check up? They grow so fast at this age, their eyes sometimes don't grow at the same speed and need glasses for a couple of years until everything evens out. I took mine the other day....2 are finally out of glasses but I had to put the 7 year old IN glasses (out of 6). 2 remained in glasses and I haven't taken the 4 year old yet. At this age (6 years old), numbers are easy to "figure out" when blurry cuz there is only one at a time. Words, cuz of sooo many letters together are harder to decipher. This is what our eye Dr. told us. Hope this helps.
God's Blessings.
V.

Try making your rewards more immediate. Have a chart with a few different rewards listed like: 5 minutes of computer time or a Yu-gi-oh card. Then after he has finished each homework task he receives a reward. You also mentioned he was a hyper child. If you have an exercise ball let him sit on that during homework at the table. IT allows kids to move while not being too much of a distraction. You can also use a beach ball with just a little bit of air in it to provide some stimulation. If you would like more ideas feel free to email me: ____@____.com I am an occupational therapist who used to work with children with ADHD. Good luck!!

Homework? Six years old? Would it make you feel better if a TEACHER said no six year old needs homework? If your child is in public school, he's basically attended an all day MEETING, which we wouldn't even ask our worst enemy to do. And BOYS HATE IT! The WORST thing you can do is make school something your child dreads the very first year. It will set the tone for the next 12 YEARS of schooling . . . So if his teacher is "assigning" homework, (which should not take more than 6 minutes!) try to find a way to work it into a competitive and ACTIVE game, ideally with a few of your other children who might find it fun. My older daughters loved playing teacher.

Hope you find this helpful!

Just a couple thoughts... See if he is able to tell you what he finds hard with the ABCs. Dyslexia could also be a possiblity. Does he have the problem at school as well, or just with the homework? We all have a time of day when our brain functions best for different tasks too.

Well here are some suggestions.
*Make sure that he gets some good brain food snacks after school. Let him have 15 min. of play time. To unwind. After school to get all the wiggles out.
*Try not to make it a punishment to do homework try to find fun things to do. You could have him help with dinner. And go over the homework while cooking but not actually sitting down and doing it. Maybe a little trickiness of not not doing your homework. Just talking about it and seeing what he finds so hard how his day went and such. Just some one on one time.
*Or have one of the older kids help. If that is an options.
*Give him breaks. Tell him to do as much as he can for 15 min. and he can have a 10 break. Set the timer so he knows you are going to follow through.
*Maybe you could have dad help him with homework. I had my hubby work with our daughter and it was nice to have someone else work on it with her. Plus they had some good bonding time.
*Or you can have him go to bed early enough, that when he falls a sleep he is well rested for the next day, and do the home work in the morning. This worked really good for my daughter. We would read in the morning together while waiting for the bus for 15 to 45 min. It was a good time to get the last min homework and studying I would quiz her on spelling and know that she would be ready to start her day. We would read Junie B Jones books. Maybe you could do the Tree house books. Where you just read and he gets to just hang out. The only things is you just have to make sure that you have everything else set up for in the night before. So just can just have that one on one time with him.
It is so funny how each child is different with how they learn and what they like to do. I wish you luck.

I'll give the same suggestion that I heard my teachers tell my mom throughout school for me. "she is brilliant, would be the top of her class, if only she would do her homework." They told her everything under the sun to get me to do it. She tried Rewards, grounding, punishments in general, explaining how important it was, everything. In the end the principle at the middle school, after I already had the bad habit, told my mom just sit down and do it with me! They were right. It was a wonderful bonding experience with her plus I actually did my homework. She kept me on task, gave me confidence, and actually sat there with me and made me do it! Worked perfect…. All the sudden that year I was on honor roll all four quarters straight! So clear some time from your schedule to get him in a good routine and comfortable with it. Might take a school year who knows... but it is worth it so your child can succeed. If you can’t devote your time I would get him a tutor or something along those lines to help him get use to it!

Hi, my friend had this exact same problem with her son. He was very bright and excelled in math and science and all the other subjects, but when it came to reading and spelling, he would actually HIDE his homework and tell mom he didnt have any. She had him tested at the school and it turned out he was behind in his reading. he was a 3rd grader and barely could read at a 1st grade level. He couldnt read the work, so he didnt want to do it. On top of the fact that he does have ADHD and couldnt sit still long enough to focus to do much homework to start with. A trip to the peditrician and he is on some ADHD meds during the school year to help with the focusing and getting special help with his reading and now he is all caught up, and homework is no longer an issue. Talk to your childs teacher about having him tested, you will either rule in or out a problem, but at least you will know. Also if your child is hyper, speak with his teacher and his pediatrican about the benifits of putting him on medication for focusing during the school year. If it will help him sit still in the class room so he can do his work, you will be doing him a huge favor.

N., mom of 3, 1 hyper and on meds.

Have you tried a tutor? sometimes, what kids won't do for us, they'll do for someone else. If you ask the school for, they probably have tutors available. and it might be something that he could stay for an hour after school, work with the tutor b4 going home.

My son is in First Grade and only gets the spelling list and maybe a special project every now again. Sounds like he has homework every night! With actice children you should never punish them by sending them to their room. You gotta wear them out. My brother was like this and my mom made him go outside and do laps around the house. He might be having problems with the homework. Sit down with him and see if you can help. I try and get my kids to do their homework before dinner, that way they know that nothing but fun is left for the rest of the evening. Same with the weekends, get it done right away.

I also have to add that I agree about the eye sight. My 6 year old never wanted to read just look at pictures. We took him to get his eyes checked and found a problem. He now sits longer to work on ONE project!

When my son first started school he had the same problem. He is now 14 and when we started having these problems we purchased him Hooked on Phonics. It was a life saver. He had fun doing it adn learned at the same time. I would recommend this program to any family that is having trouble with letters and reading.

You might try taking your child into a Optomologist that specializes in vision therapy type services. Many times children have various focus issues that cause them to struggle at many things, even attention issues. As far as your child not sleeping at night, go to your health food store and buy some Melatonin. It works like a charm and I give it to my daughter before bed and she is 8 years old. I can relate to having a child that does want to sleep and has problems in school. As far as the hyper activity and maybe some focus issues, you can go out to www.truehope.com and get a natural product that may help with that as well. Good Luck

J.

At six, he is learning how to be a student, and may not be totally ready for independent homework time. 2 hours in his room alone seems like it might be expecting too much from him, especially this early in the school year. I think the most imporatant part of the early years is to make sure that he LIKES school.

I just read the advice you have already been given. There is some great advice there. I agree that a six year old should have very little homework. You might talk to the teacher and find out if all that homework is neccesary. I wish I knew about the bouncy ball idea with my ADHD kids. If this is your first experience with ADHD...there are lots of great authors out there to help you understand and deal with it. Dr. Edward M. Hallowell is one of my favorite authors on the subject. He has a website at www.drhallowell.com. Drugs would be my last resort. There is so much you can do without resorting to drugs and all of the possible side effects.

Good Luck,
B. Y.