School Tips

[carriej]

Hi,

This is my first post.

My 13 year old son (8th grade) is struggling to keep organized and get his homework done. His grades are the worst they have ever been. He says he wants to do good. I email with the teachers all the time. I know part of the problem is he won't/can't listen to the Teachers and is too distracted by drawing and talking to friends so he misses the instruction. I guess the teachers do not or have given up on telling him to refocus.

With High School around the corner I would appreciate any tips that have worked for your child!

Thank you!

[QwertyTiger]

My son's school uses a daily planner (he's in 6th grade at 12). He has to write in his homework assignments in the planner, which means that I have to check the planner at home. At my request, the teacher also checks his planner at the end of the day to make sure he's written in his assignments. It's not perfect and sometimes his work gets "lost" somewhere on the way to being handed in to his class, but it does help everyone stay on the same page. Maybe something like that would work for you.

[reg2018]

Some teachers are really good about doing weekly emails to all members of the class about assignments and tests which are coming up and others, not so much. Because not all teachers are on board with this it's nice to have an IEP in place for high school to be able to require teachers to send you updates on things like quizzes, tests and big projects. That way you're not getting frustrated when your son misses information like this because of lack of focus in class. IEPs take time, but they are worth it in the long run to require schools to give accommodations.

[carriej in reply to reg2018]

Thank you. He has a 504 plan. I like the idea of having them be required to send updates. I will look into that.

[reg2018]

It's something that I specifically asked for because one of my boys was really struggling with his grades. When I knew ahead of time what was coming up, I was better able to have him study for quizzes, tests, and spread out work on projects. This way he could perform better in school. And if the administration tries to give you kickback on it, just explain it to them the terms of a team effort: you need their help to provide the information, and you will do your part to help your son schedule study time, and he'll do his part to study and do the work in order to get the grades. If anyone tries to throw out the words "it's his responsibility to write down assignments" then remind them that he's working on acquiring this skill, but because of his ADHD, it's not there yet. It's why he has a 504 plan.