How to Get Kinder Boy Do Homework Quicker

I'm amazed that a kinder student has homework--I'm an elementary teacher. Ask about modifications for him--maybe writing out letter with magnetic letters on the fridge or in salt in the bottom of a cake pan etc. You will need to advocate more and more for him because the amount of homework will increase with each year and the homework battles etc will increase accordingly. Keep communicating with the teacher. That age kid shouldn't have more than 15-20 min of homework/night. If it takes longer than that, the teacher should know.

Two thoughts to consider...the fine motor skills needed for writing do not fully develop in boys until age eight. My sons was also slow on writing assignments and showed improvement in 1st grade and then is great in second grade. I concur with the other to not push too hard in this area. You will be amazed how much further along after a summer break.

Finally, I sat with my son during homework and he loved having me there. I did discover that their was an element of his dawdling that had to do with wanting attention from me. I let him know that I wanted very much to help him, but sitting with him for extended lengths of time (1 hour for one worksheet!) was a real drain on our family life. We worked out that if his pencil stopped for more than a minute then he was telling me I was free to go and do my chores. I saw an immediate improvement once we started this. It also helped me see how much of his speed issues were related to wanting my attention vs. fine motor skills. This is just my story. It may not apply to your situation.

I think the other suggestions you received sound great too. Try them out and see what works for you.

Couple of things you might try if you haven't yet . . .
Always start with the hardest stuff first.
Talk to the teacher about other ways of responding. For example, can you have him write the words on a dry erase board? Maybe you can send a digital picture if she needs to see it. Use magnet letters, sand in a a cookie sheet, whipped cream/shaving cream, etc. For kiddos that struggle with fine motor skills, these kinds of kinesthetic activities can help.
Try working five/10 minutes (whatever he can do) and then taking a break. Let him go do something stimulating that he likes (set a timer) for 5 minutes then back to 5/10 more minutes of homework.
Good luck! Hang in there. I agree with some of the other advice givers - talk to the teacher if he is doing more than 15 minutes or so. Any more than that is too much at kinder.
And, read read read to him whenever you can!

Try some brain focusing activitites. Draw a figure eight on a poster board (a dinner plate makes the right size circle) and use your finger, a hot wheel car, or a penny to trace the figure eight.

http://www.actionbasedlearning.com/
http://www.braingym.org/

I don't know if this will help you or not but giving my son a piece of gum while doing homework helps him. His problem was concentration and chewing on his pencil. There are also some studies out to show that chewing helps with retention, so give it a try.

H.

My daughter is very smart and loves doing schoolwork (she is homeschooled), but she does tend to take her time, looks out the window, drops her pencil - picks it up - then drops it again... anything to stall!! Well, I read a response from a mamma to someone else's question and it really helped me. She said to have races with your kiddos. So I saw a way I could get my house cleaned and get her finished with schoolwork at the same time. I would say I bet you can't beat me. I'll fold these colthes while you write your spelling words 3 times each. She was all for it, and most of the time I would slow down and walk slow when putting things up so she could win. Beating me was the highlight of school!!! Now she will ask me if I want to race and I always say yes, because it benifits her as well as me!!! I hope this helps and good luck.

What about a timer? Set it for WAAYYY more time than he needs for the first word and challenge him to finish the word before the timer buzzes. Then praise/reward/celebrate in some fun way that will entice him to try to do it again. Then set the timer for less and less time until you are working within a do-able amount of time. But don't expect him to be as good at everything as he is at math. He's just like you and me: we aren't good at everything, and we do the things we enjoy much more willingly than we do the things we hate!! Good luck.

I would be very cautious about pushing too much. My older son was always very slow with work early on (he was on the Asperger's end of the Autism spectrum, but doing great with a GF/CF diet and Armour thyroid) . The teachers were concerned as he really had difficulty completing tests, worksheets, etc on time in class, although he knew the work. Overtime, he did improve and we really never pushed it. My younger son was ADHD before the GF/CF diet and improved quite a bit, but the problem didn't totally resolve until very recently when he started taking Armour thyroid - he know has so much more attention and the struggle to get homework done is dramatically less - he would start once he got home from school, get distracted and often not finish until after 10 pm some nites. But, again, I didn't push the issue - but telling them that they can do x when they are done can hel, as well as asking them if they needed any help - but I never said to do the work faster or sooner really, as I think they truly are physically and cognitively limited as to how fast they can do work. Over the years, I've gotten grief from teachers that thought I should help them more and I have heard enough times to last a lifetime that teachers can see my kids can do the work, but they just don't do well on tests for the same material, yet they get top scores on standardized tests and have very high IQs. But, I feel that my kids have to do the best they can with their own efforts and timeframes, so they learn to deal with their limitations on their own as they get older. And, I've seen this work fairly well as my kids are gradually doing better.

So, if you've not considered the GF/CF diet or had him tested for hypothyroidism - a full panel including TSH, Free T3, Free T4, as well as antibodies and possibly even getting a sonogram to see if he isn't at the first stages of autoimmune thyroid disease as was my oldest son, then I would highly recommend that. It has been extremely useful for me to be able to encourage my kids by letting them know that I know they're doing their best and that it's not their fault when they have some of these difficulties. BUT, this is something that they do have to deal with. I am just thankful that they have recognized the benefits of the diet and the replacement thyroid hormone.

Also, you can get tested to see if he is having an immune reaction to gluten and dairy at: www.enterolab.com

And for the thyroid you can also order your own tests. https://www.healthcheckusa.com/testdetails.asp?productid=22 (TSH, Free T3, Free T4)
http://www.healthcheckusa.com/lab_tests/Thyroid_Screening...
http://www.healthcheckusa.com/lab_tests/Thyroid_Screening...
They send you a lab form to take to a local Labcorp clinic at your convience - you get results in 5-7 days. It couldn't be easier and saves on at least one doctor appt. If you just want your doctor to run the tests, please make sure they run all of them. Most doctors use old/inaccurate tests and don't test for antibodies.

I have found it's extremely helpful to go to doctors with these test results in hand - very few doctors are knowledgeable in this area, so it takes a very proactive mother to get kids like this the help they need. And, note I am not advocating self treatment for thyroid problems, it's just that I've learned that few doctors will even consider this for kids, but when you have proof in hand, they will treat. I am also so emphatic about this because my older son had low thyroid symptoms over 6 years ago, but the doctors wouldn't listen to me, so he wasn't diagnosed until a year ago. So, he suffered needlessly (struggling with school work and being very tired) for 5 years!

Homework for kindergarteners is ridiculous. I am a certified teacher and honestly, I'm not a fan of homework. I just don't think it is very effective at the elementary level, beyond asking the family to do reading together, early on and having the child do reading at home, as their skill increases. That being said, an exceptable number of min. of homework per night is often considered to be 5min. times the grade number. For example, a third grader should have no more than 5x3=15min. of homework a night, by this rule. I agree with other responders who said you need to go talk with his teachers and the school about getting some modifications for him possibly, especially if he is bringing home homework already. It will only get worse. If he has been diagnosed as autistic, you need to look into special services for him at his school.

Racing the clock (using the timer) is a good idea to try. Just be sure to set it up so it is fun and always positive.

I also agree with the responders that say his fine motor skill probably aren't well developed yet. Get some lacing/sewing cards for him to work on or have him string big wooden beads or even cheerios on cord to help with his fine motor skills. Boys' verbal skills (reading, writing, and complex speech) are a year and a half behind girls' at this age, on average. So, it is likely the case for you son. It may be an even larger gap since you said he is midly autistic. There are a lot of ideas for increasing boys verbal skills in a great book called, The Mind of Boys: Saving Our Sons from Falling Behind in School and Life by Michael Gurian and Kathy Stevens. This is a must read imo for parents of boys and for all teachers.

Good luck and feel free to contact me if you'd like to talk or are looking for more creative ideas to help him out. I have an academic services business, Accelerate Academic Services, and tutor as well as work on these kinds of issues with parents and kids. My website is www.acceleratekids.com

Your son is blessed to have you taking an active roll in his education. You will always be his most valuable teacher!

Just a couple of ideas...

Squeezing a stress ball in the non-writing hand helps some kids focus better. Strange, I know. Of course, some kids end up having that as a distraction.

My kinder daughter is very slow moving and easily distracted. I usually place her incentive (the toy she wants) just out of reach to remind her of what waits.

Also, having my daughter eat her after-school snack while doing homework has increased her productivity.

Hope things improve. Spring fever is also upon us, and everyone I know has been bemoaning their kids' lack of interest in homework. Good luck!

K.,
I would be very cautious about pushing him. There are many factors that could be slowing him down. I have two little girls that are in Kindergarten (they are 10 months apart, and their birthdays fall in such a way that they are in the same grade). One of my daughters has special needs and does better with certain homework as well. It just may be that he processes math easier, so he does it faster and enjoys it more. You have to remember that your son has other issues that he has to deal with when learning and it might not be as easy for hime. Besides the fact, a lot of "typical" kids have difficulities getting distracted too, so he is not out of the ordinary. You want learning to be fun for him or he won't want to try. Just be patient. My daughter does well when she chews gum, it helps her focus better- just a sensory input thing. God bless!

I would suggest that you accept that he is good at math, weak at language arts - so have him do LA first, then reward him with math. Depending on where he is on the autistic spectrum, he may get as much gratification out of playing with the nuances of the pencil, etc as he does out of playing.

Good luck
S.

Have a short 5 or 10 minute break and then say, I'm going to set the timer, lets see how much you get done in (ten minutes???) Then do it again and see if he can beat his time.