First time here -- Frustrated | ADHD Information
Caffeine for some calms just like the stims. No way I will reward with sodas every day. We do the 2nd dose of 2 of the vitamins our son is on. They help. We take a snack break then homework,then chores,Bath,dinner,bed.Some days are different when he has after school activities. What chores are not finished are done on SAT.Ogden5 wrote:
I had a conference with his teacher today and she was suprised to hear that...she said that homework should take an hour!!
Obviously the teacher knows nothing about ADHD if she was surprised. Doing homework and finishing school work is overwhelming for any child but more so for the child with ADHD. It takes so much mental energy to focus and because the medication has worn off, your son may want to get the work done but he's too overwhelmed at that point in the day. Unless you sit with him and keep redirecting him, it's a daunting, draining task for your son as well as you. He wants to succeed but the level of distraction prevents that so this is not a discipline issue.
I recommend speaking to the teacher and educate her about ADHD. You can print out information and have her read it. Also, a couple of options are having the homework reduced or some parents put their child on a short acting stimulant so the child can effectively do the homework without such struggles.
I surely understand your level of frustration and please know that you are not alone and with the right accommodations, life for the child and the entire family unit is way less stressful and the quality of the learning experience for your child becomes so much better
Been there, done that.
These things helped me most at his age:
1. Extra set of school books at home (even if you have to buy them used on the internet) so you have 1 less worry about books left at school.
2. Give your child some time to decompress for awhile when he first gets home. Get a good snack.
3. Get a 50% homework reduction if possible on his IEP.
4. Ask the doctor about trying an afternoon "booster" dose of short acting stimulant to help through homework time. Carefully time it when he gets home and don't give it too late that it would impact sleep.
5. If you are getting into severe power struggles with your son, consider hirinig a tutor to help with homework. Get professional advice on how to diffuse the power struggle. Get advice from a therapist on how to transfer to "ownership" of doing homework to your son. Don't let him maniuplate you into doing it for him or for constantly reminding him to do it. You can proactively advocate for you child until your blue in the face....you might even get tons of accomodations such as reduce amount, extended deadlines, etc......however, in the end, the child STILL must learn to DO THE HOMEWORK, regardless of how boring or tedious it is. It doesn't get easier as they get in older grades....it just gets worse.
Try to nip the homework battles in the bud before they turn into all out homework refusal. Once a kid gets older and has gotten into a behavioral pattern of refusing to do homework, its harder to turn around.
Okiemom
Thanks so much for everone's advice. I really appreciate your quick replies. I feel better
I will try those things and keep the progress posted here 
Time for bed!! (It's night time here in Germany)
what kind of vitamins do you give your son? and thanx 4 explaining the mountain dew thing to me. please explain why you would give your child mountain dew?Check out the marble thread, I bumped it for you.Can you get reduced homework on his IEP? That's what I'd try first. I also had a thought and wondered if anyone has ever tried this: Mountain Dew as an after school snack? My 13yo ds likes coffee with lots of sugar and milk, so we use that as a caffeine source.
My son was diagones with ADD a couple years ago. I suspected he had it a few years before that, but my husband was reluctant to go to the dr about it. We finally did when it seriously affected his school work. He was on concerta for a while and is now on adderall. School started a few weeks ago (He's in 5th grade now) and he has so much homework...he usually starts it right when we get home from work, usually around 5 and he finishes it around 8:30. I had a conference with his teacher today and she was suprised to hear that...she said that homework should take an hour!! It's so hard for him...by the time he gets home his meds have worn off...I'm frustrated because it takes him forever to do his homework and we have two other kids in this house that also need our attention. Usually I take care of the other two and my husband takes care of Josh (he has more patience than I do), but he's out of town this week. I feel so overwhelmed right now and don't know how to deal with this. If I don't directly sit with him, he starts figiting and daydreaming. On top of that, schoolwork that he doesn't finish also has to be done at home....aghhhh!!!
Sorry this is so long, but does anyone have any ideas how to make homework time less frustrating?