S8 hates to read

[dadmisseskids]

S8 hates to read. What are some creative ways I can help him with that?

[Trevor]

Start by reading the passages with him. I'd even consider reading them for him some of the time. Then talk about the content (meaning, you know what the questions are, talk to him about it, lead him toward the responses, but don't hand it to him) then have him answer the homework questions on his own. A treat follows successful completion. Does he have a quiet and distraction free space for HW?

[dadmisseskids]

A treat follows successful completion.

Good idea, thanks.

[grgr]

Trevor is on the right track. Try to use rewards instead of taking things away (that's like punishing your kid for limping when he can't help it) however, there's nothing wrong with earning xx minutes of xbox time for every xx minutes of homework time.

One of my sons was diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia when he was about the same age as your son. One thing you might want to discuss with his teacher is audio books. At one point when he was having trouble with social studies homework his teacher suggested that I read the chapter to him along with the questions at the end and let him write the answers and there was a drastic improvement in his learning. As an adult he still takes medication and is an avid audio book "listener". The audio books turned the reading he disliked into something he now really enjoys. He has a whole "library" of audio books on his iphone and always has something he is "reading". Oh, and now he does just fine when taking a class or whatever that requires he use a regular book.

[Chris A]

Rewards is the key. Instead of taking away X box. Tell him he gets a hour of it for completing homework.

[Fatheroffour]

New Gears of War 3 for a good week in school.

Gets to play it as he continues the effort.

[massdaddio]

This worked for my brother when we were kids. He hated doing homework. The deal was, he could watch tv or ride his bike or play with friends for an hour after school, gave him a chance to clear his head of school stuff for an hour. Then he had to do all of his homework before he could do anything else fun. Once homework was done, the rest of the night was his to do whatever he wanted. If he had a lot of homework, my parents would give him a break halfway through and play a game with him, but if he gave them a hard time about going back to homework, he didn't get the break again.

I know how frustrating it can be, you spend more time arguing about doing the homework than the time it takes to get it done. By catching this when he's young, life will be easier for both of you when he's older. You're a great dad. Good luck!

[defaultuser]

Here's my take:

1. The reward should be no more than a high-five and "I'm proud of you" kind of thing. You want him to develop intrinsic motivation to learn. Go ahead and buy him the X-box game but only because you love him and you're a great dad.

2. Diet can play a big part in this. Watch what he eats. Brain food works. Blueberries instead of candy.

3. Do the homework with him. Instead of reading it for him, read with him. You read a paragraph, he reads one if he gets tired. Talk about the answers before he writes them.

4. Try and get the homework done right after school. Its not nearly as fun to ride your bike when you know you have to go inside and do your homework. If you want until its late, he's tired and can't think clearly.

5. Make sure he gets enough sleep. If needed tire him out after homework by playing ball in the yard or wrestling or something.

6. I would not take away things that are productive, but you may consider limiting the things that suck brain power like video games, especially before homework.

Just my 2 cents.

[dadmisseskids]

Some good suggestions here guys, thanks. Some of them I do already and I have some ideas on how to structure something new for S8. We'll try it out next week and hopefully it works.