Re: Non-Apraixia related question about Son

[Guest guest]

Suzi-- if some of his work can be done on computer, you can get

programs like Dragon Dictate relatively inexpensively now, and that

way he can dictate his words to the computer, which will type them

for him. It's going to take time to adjust to how to use it, but

once he gets the hang of it, it can be a relief to not have to

write/type everything out.

I would also talk to each teacher about the amount of time they THINK

that the kids are taking to do their homework. They may say 15

minutes but it is actually 45 minutes! They may simply NOT KNOW how

long it is taking the kids and to hear from you may help them adjust

the amount they assign. If that doesn't go anywhere, I would also

talk to the principal about it. A child shouldn't have to spend that

many hours each night on homework.

W

> >

> Writing is also 's weakest activity. He is very slow and

> tedious. If he has the time, he does a great job. He just needs

to

> have more than a night to write a report.

[Guest guest]

Hey Suzi: I am also in the Chicagoland area - Gurnee to be exact and

we have tons of homework. None of my 3 kids are gifted (although I

do have my fingers crossed for , my apraxic son)...but

regardless, we are up until 10:00 at night between a (age 11) and

(age 8) with their projects and homework. Of course, each has

some type of " extra-curricular " school activity which should be

encouraged, but I do find the amount overwhelming. I feel your

pain! And, this doesn't include working fulltime, commuting, and 3

year old in the school district pre-school and working with

speech cards/exercises.

Many times, I call and write the teachers notes if the time goes

beyond what they are capable. If either daughter is falling asleep

at night while doing homework, I call it a night and send them to

bed. Otherwise, I just wanted you to know that it appears common in

our area.

Good luck! Kim

> Well, you guys are my resource for school and other questions.

>

> I just thought I'd get your opinion.

>

> I think my 9 year old is getting too much homework. He has a tic

> disorder, and it is definitely brought on by stress. Well, he's

> started the tics again in the past few weeks after not seeing them

> for 6 months.

>

> So besides his every day homework of 2 worksheets of

> language/writing and math, a math problem of the week, and reading

> fo 20 minutes every night. was assigned a written and oral

> report on an artist last Tuesday due yesterday. He got 10 pages of

> worksheets on American Indians last Thursday, and it is due on

> Wednesday. The he got a report on earthquakes yesterday, and that

is

> due on Wednesday. He also has a school winter musical tonight.

>

> He's in 4th grade. He's gifted. He scores in the 90% on the

> standardized tests, and he feels totally overwhelmed. He had to

> spend the weekend on homework. He was up until 9:30pm last night

> trying to finish his earthquake report. He hasn't played much with

> his friends.

>

> Writing is also 's weakest activity. He is very slow and

> tedious. If he has the time, he does a great job. He just needs

to

> have more than a night to write a report. It's also hard because

he

> can't stay at home alone, so the girls and I are stuck at home

while

> he's doing homework. I am so tired of every afternoon being stuck

> at home, and then stuck at home on the weekends. It's really hard

> when we have to take to speech or I have to take any kids to

> the doctors or to get their hair cuts. I'm overwhelmed.

>

> I just don't know what to do. I know I never had this much

homework

> as a kid, and I don't know what is acceptable for kids today. Of

> course, I'm also worried about how will ever be able to do

> this much work when she is 9.

>

> Any suggestions/comments would be appreciated.

>

> Thanks,

>

> Suzi

[Guest guest]

Suzi,

Is your son on an IEP? If he is, I would call an IEP meeting to address this.

As a parent of a child who was in fourth grade last year I would say this is A

LOT of homework! Ally read 20 minutes a night and would have one math worksheet

per night and generally a probe to work on, but not finish at home. A probe is

the latest and greatest thing in our school. Basically it is a like a portfolio

or journal on a topic that the child writes about (like a report) then draws and

colors it. A research project so to speak. She'd spend perhaps 15 minutes on

it when she brought it home, which was not nightly.

I hope this information helps. By the way, if your son is NOT on an IEP you can

still request that he be on a 504 plan which would allow him accommodations

because of his disability.

I hope this helps,

Tammy

[Guest guest]

Hi

two suggestions.

one talk to the school. The other , talk to the other mums.

My oldest son is 10 and very smart ( in top three of every subject)

yet he has at different times found the level of homework tough. The

last time it happened a quick chat with the others parents revealed

that all the kids were struggling - turned out that one of the

teachers ( form teacher so responsible for 50% of homework set) was

previously teaching kids three years older - she hadn't adjusted. We

had all been furiously trying to kept up when she was just judging

wrong ( how dumb are we - all scared to mention it in case ours is

the only child going through this).

Follow up visits to the school at other times have resulted in the

school including in each years info the length of time each child

should spend on homework according to their age group. Whilst this is

average , if a child is working too long then the school INSISTS that

parents call it a day and send the child in the next day with a

simple note confirming that they worked hard for the required time

but that the task could not be completed.

The school believe that a child working too late at night will not be

fresh for school the next day. And that too much academic work will

inhibit other activities.

If parents don't talk to the schools sometimes no one knows that the

kids are being overworked and every one gets stressed.

You may have already done this so I hope I am not teaching

grandmother to suck eggs - I was just surprised that the school were

so concerned about this and how easy it was to get mechanisms in

place to keep kids doing only what will strtch and challenge not

disillusion and depress......Louis school is one of the best in the

UK so this is not anything that affects academic results- quite the

contrary

Regards

Deborah

[Guest guest]

hi

lol- his school is usually ranked about 110 - 140th in the uk - which

is great but i realise my last post made it sound like he went to

Harrow or Eaton.....fat chance, about £10,000 per term !

regards

Deborah