Hi Amy,
I just wanted to add that the one thing that helped my son with homework was a timer. When he comes home from school he is given a relax time which is about 15-30 minutes, he has a snack, we talk about his day or he may watch tv. Then we set the timer for 15 minutes. If he knows he only has to do his homework for 15 minutes, it makes it easier for him to know that even if he is not finished he can stop. In most cases he only has 15 minutes or less of homework so he is finished entirely. On the days that he is not finished he uses another 15 minutes after dinner while I clean up the dishes. Just knowing that he has a stop time helps him, even if he has to finish it later. On the days where he seems challenged I will ask him to explain the homework to me before we set the timer, telling him that I was not in school so I don't know what the teacher was teaching. In alot of cases he "gets it" after explaining it to me so we can set the timer and he works on it alone, or with just a little help from me.
He is now 11yo and we don't have homework issues, nor do we use the timer anymore. He has learned that the faster he completes the work, the faster he can do other things. Now this is not to say that he won't have problems once in middle school, but for now we are ok.
My daughter is 12 and we use a timer for ALL kinds of things. Great suggestion. We use it for leisure activites, chores, bathtub.................you name it! She repsonds well, beats listneing to me on her back...................again.Diane,
You are so right! I use it for other things too. It really cuts down on the need for reminders.
I also use a timer for myself, my focus is not that great either and I have a tendency to go from one task to the other without any getting completely finished. With the timer I make myself focus on one thing for a specific amount of time.
I'm a writer and the mother of a 9 1/2 year old boy with ADD. He doesThere are tips for classroom accomodations, some can be used at home as well: