My son has trouble getting his school work/home work done. Even though he's very smart it takes forever.?

Question

Reward and punishments do not seem to help or change his behavior. It has been a strugle at school with teachers and at home with us. He says he's destracted but is the answer an empty room to work in? He is 8 years old & in a GATE class. His current teacher has given up on getting work out of him because he knows the material and gets A's on all his tests. My worry is that this may be the only teacher who lets him do that. As he gets older the work load will only increase. I am wondering if there is some tutoring method or book that can help him to focus. Anne

Answer 1

i understand your dilemma. it's hard to answer for a few reasons. what is a gate class? is that gifted/ talented/ exceptional? i would say limit the amount of distractions as much as you can. perhaps try and talk to him. some kids are quite clear on why they are having trouble. does he seem concerned about this at all? if he is doing well on his tests, that is good, however, they are not always going to be the only indicators of academic success. is there anyone else at the school who may be able to help you like a child study team or some sort of educational counselor who might be able to guide you better, since they know you. good luck.

Answer 2

I was more or less exactly the same as your kid. Rather smart, but didn't do work.

The kid doesn't really have a learning problem just a work problem. It's a delicate problem because his teacher doesn't have much choice beyond 1) giving him extra leniency, resulting in continued failure for him to learn the necessary work skills or 2) giving him bad grades that may cause him to be held back, which is punishing him in all the wrong ways because it would stifle his thirst for knowledge, which, from the information you gave, sounds like one of the things he has going for him.

Sad to say, I doubt that this will be the last teacher to give him a pass on these things. People will let him slide through, and before you know it he will be in high school, and he may even graduate, only to be poorly equipped for the real world.

Your son probably has what people call ADHD. I wouldn't call it a disorder, though it is definitely a problem in traditional classrooms and work environments. However, those with ADHD who do master control over their own minds can be mind-blowingly successful people. The drugs tend to reduce both the problems and the advantages, so they're not necessarily the best solution, but if you don't have the resources to commit to other strategies, medicine is better than nothing.

First, Karate classes and such can be very effective in teaching self-discipline, even to ADD-types. Please do not overlook this.

Second, for a gifted child it may be beneficial to get the whole primary education thing over with as quickly as possible, in order to enable him to move on to learning some serious practical skills, and maybe allow some time later on for a couple years of working full-time before going on to college. Homeschooling is one of the best ways to do this. I don't know if this is feasible for you but if it is at all possible, seriously consider this as well.

Third, he may have a problem connecting work and payoff in his head. You can talk to him about long-term delayed gratification all you want, but if he has nothing to look forward to in the immediate or near future, he will give up. So don't give up on rewarding good work (or any work at all). Help him find a constructive hobby and make some of his rewards related to that. I think it helps to have something to do sometimes that's productive but can be done at your own pace.

And most importantly, one day a week he must be allowed to chill out.

Answer 3

Have you gotten you're son tested for ADHD- Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder? I'm surprised the teachers haven't thought of this yet... My best Friends son has this, and although he is extremely smart - straight A's- he just won't focus in class. Talk to his doctors.. there are many things they can do. extra Curricular Activities are a great angle. She just recently signed him up for karate.. she hopes to see an improvement soon..

Good Luck

Answer 4

yeah, not getting work done has nothing to do with intelligence. obviously you said your boy is smart. he could have ADHD, where his attention span doesn't last so long. other than that, he may be like my friends. they learn not through note taking or homework, but just by listening. people learn differently. so i mean he's not "dumb", however absense of homework would bring down this grade of course as he gets older. i guess the best thing to do is seek a professional tutor so they can observe him and his studying habits. also, you should have a talk with him, not about doing hw, but more about his grades and what types of grades he want and what he plans to do to achieve them. priorites are important. good luck with your son!

Answer 5

it is so lame.. ok so in third grade my terrific chum and that i presumed it may be relaxing to place cleansing soap everywhere in the bathing room mirrors and hang moist paper towels on the stalls and different places in the bathing room. We did this for a whilst, yet sometime we've been given caught. we actually weren't young ones that ever brought about hardship, so the thought enable us to off ordinary and for a punishment we had to %. up rubbish around the college in the process the recess after lunch. i'm in 8th now. i've got been in hardship, yet no longer for something so undesirable. LOL. i'm one in each and every of those nerd..

Answer 6

I happen to be ayouth myself and have a simular problem. I went to a doctor that specializes in this sort of thing and was prescribed Welbutrin. It didn't help much, but it might help your son. I would go and get him tested.

Answer 7

he could be 1 of those kids like me i fail and fail until test time comes then i get like a 98. try putting it in ways that are interesting to him

Answer 8

yes use a timed and then reward him for his trying to work fast.

Answer 9

sounds to me like he might have ADD or ADHD....then again, an empty room, that's comfortable for him, but not distracting for him, sounds like a pretty good idea...

Answer 10

you can try sylvan tutoring