It is very helpful to give him a few minutes at the end of the day to collect everything he needs to do his homework, and to give him, or have him write down, a checklist of all needed books and worksheets. Then his teacher should check to make sure he has everything. My daughter was forever remembering that she had homework, but not realizing that she had forgotten her book until she was went to do it at home. Another possibility is having the school give him an extra set of textbooks to keep at home. A homework folder is a good thing to have - one side with completed papers that can remain at home, and the other with homework. Of course that is only useful if his homework actually gets into it.

The teacher may have the spelling lists for the year already done, in which case you could get a copy of all of them.

As he gets older and has actual lectures, you could put in the IEP that the teacher should provide a copy of notes for the class, or of the overheads or Powerpoint presentations. A common accommodation in college is a notetaker - another student in the class is hired to take notes to share. The notes are not usually as extensive in high school, but the teacher often has prepared an outline or something similar.

If he has difficulty concentrating long enough to finish a long set of math problems or a two page worksheet, you can have written in that he should be do even numbered problems only. That can be a decision that is made by the parent, not the teacher, on a case by case basis, if the homework is taking too long or he is getting frustrated.

Is he in a middle school where he travels from class to class and has a locker, or does he stay primarily in one classroom? If he forgets to bring his book/pencils etc. to class, you could write in that he is allowed to carry a backpack with all his books in it from class to class, or all the books for the morning or afternoon classes.

There was yet another study in our paper this morning, showing that homework for kids under high school age is actually counter productive. It makes kids hate learning. They shut down to new learning experiences because of the homework overload. School becomes something they dread, instead of something they embrace.

A kid with adhd should have minimal homework assigned , if any. Its simply unfair for the school to expect him to do the workload of the other kids at night, after sitting all day. I would tell them to limit the homework.

My sons teacher does a mass emailing ot the parenets in her class, with the days homework assignments, so that parents can check what is given, what projects are due, and anything else that the teacher feels the kids should know. It takes the teacher only a few minutes to type it up and hit send. Perhaps she could keep you informed by email.

Dont get mad at your SS. He cant help it. How you handle it is going to set the stage for how much he trusts you as a teen. Be on his side, praise what is good and try to find how to work around what isnt. I know it tests your patience, but if he is in trouble at home and at school all the time, he will give up, and just want out of school at th earliest possible age.

Firts off, it's great that he has an IEP. Around here, kids with ADHD usually only get 504's where the protection isn't as good. But...

Writing in the homework assignments is key, and having a teacher review and verify that they're written in is a very reasonable request. I'd ask that grades for homework assignments that aren't written in be automatically dropped. I'd also initial the planner regularly so they can see that you're reviewing it and are helping him keep on top of his homework.

I like TOS's suggestion about only doing the even-numbered problems (or similar) to keep the assignments from getting too long. My son is a very slow worker who also has severe attention deficits, and what we do that has consistently worked well is to ask what a reasonable total homework time should be per day. Then, whatever time they give you, add an extra 50-100% of that time and ask that you be given the discretion to shorten his assignments as needed to not exceed that maximum total homework time. Then you write on the HW what you have eliminated or accommodated and the time spent.

The other strategy that has worked well with our son is a ten-minute review and planning session when he gets home from school. Basically, he sets down his backpack, gets a snack, then brings his planner and homework up to my office to discuss. We review how much work he has, which assignments he can do independently and which he'll need my help on, and estimate how much free time he'll have for TV or bike riding. I'll then ask him 'leading enough' questions so he'll come up with a good plan to get all the work done.

Of course, it's easier if you don't have to worry about grades... My son's impairments are severe enough that a competitive college is out of the question. So I don't care what his grades are, and frankly, I don't even care if he passes the standardized tests. What I do care about - and passionately - is that he learns what he will need to know to live independently.

We do something like Sweeby's ten-minute review:
Right after school (like the second he walks in the door, or even in the car before we drive away from the school) I check A__'s homework book to see what's in there for the night. He rarely has more than 15 minutes of homework, but then he decides if he'll do it before his snack or after it (he tends to choose before)... Once it's done, it gets initialed.

But AT SCHOOL is another story... A__ sometimes forgets to write homework down, but his grade three teacher checked their books most days (don't know yet what his grade four teacher will be doing) so he was usually accountable.
I'm concerned about if his teacher doesn't check their books this year, on top of being ADHD forgetful, A__ is quite a schemer and will try to skip things he doesn't like...
So I'm hoping his teacher would give a list of the following week's homework so that we know ahead of time what A__ is supposed to have done.

Could you ask for SS's assignments to come home to you once they are graded for initials? A__'s teacher did this last year, and it was a good system... That way we knew how he was doing and how much he was handing in.

Oops - Need to clarify --
I was suggesting that missed homework assignments that weren't written in the planner should be forgiven, not that any homework assignments not in the planner be dropped. Of course with some of our kids, that's the same thing! ;-)

You had so many great suggestions already that it is hard to add to it!

I was a teacher and some of my students with ADHD also got other accommodations that help them with learning. They get extra time on tests/quizzes as well as a chance to re-take failed tests/quizzes. I always made study guides for my whole class and played a review game, which seemed to help ADHD students a lot.

They get extended time for projects as well as me modifying directions for their projects. I usually send home the project directions a week or so early with them for them to read over with their parents and get a head start on it.

I also modified their assignments so they were shorter than the other students and shortened their spelling lists. So instead of having 20 words like the rest of the class they may have 12-15 words. And I would always make them word search puzzles at edhelper.com with their spelling list words. They loved them and it really helped.

The rule of thumb should be that your child should have 10 minutes of homework per grade level...meaning a 6th grader should have no more than 60 minutes of homework per night. I would always tell my ADHD students parents that if they worked more than the 60 minutes to just stop them, put the assignments away, and write me a note letting me know. They could either continue it the next night, or I would find time during the day to finish it with them.

I forgot to add reward charts. For students with problems remembering to turn in assignments I made a chart with Mon-Fri on it. The student and I thought of some rewards together they may like if they had no missing assignments for a week (or sometimes shorter period if needed).

Rewards were simple things that could last the whole next week like being my errand runner, being the chalkboard eraser, being the paper passer, or anything that would give them that extra time out of their seat and moving around. I also on occasion gave them a homework pass if they were doing really good for weeks. The homework pass would be good for skipping half of a homework assignment or even a whole assignment.

you can write in IEP (although it is hard to defend) that he will be provided wiht school supplies when he forget them(pencils and paper). It will eliminate excuses: cannot do my work, have no pencil.

you can request that teachers sign his planner after every class (he needs to show planner to his teachers).

if you write in IEP "extended time", then he will get up to 5 days of extension on each assignment, or accommodated assignments (shortened or rephrased). You can also put "small groups" so he will take tests in small groups not with the whole class.

You can request weekly progress reports.

extra textbooks (at home and in school)

You can pretty much write whatever in IEP as long as you can get everyone to agree, it can be a challenge. If you get his case load provider on your side he/she will fight for yours and his rights (hopefully).

I recommend hiring a child advocate who is familiar with your school system. The advocate goes with you to IEP meetings and makes sure that the goals are clearly written. You do not want to sign-off on a bad IEP.

Currrently in the IEP there is allow for extra time on assignments and extra time with tests. There is also taking tests in alternate locations... but everything else is very vague like he needs to implement behavioral strategies and he needs to implement learning strategies. I mean to me that means nothing. There is also giving postive reinforcements like weekly rewards. He has never gotten a weekly reward. So, I feel it needs to be more specific with things that will actually help him. They put him on special standards last year. which, DH and I want him off of. It did nothing for him his grades went down and his behavior got worse. Also, if he continues on special standards through 8th grade he will not get a real diploma. This is not okay with us. He is a very smart boy but we just have to get some things in place to help him succeed. I am going to talk to DH about these ideas I love them... any more thoughts or ideas are much appreciated. They

A weekly reward is much too far in the future for a lot of kids with ADHD (or actually for a lot of typical 11 year olds). Even daily is probably too long a period.

Does his grade still have recess? I would suggest putting in his IEP that keeping him in from recess NEVER be used as a punishment, or when he hasn't finished the classwork, because kids with ADHD need to be able to run around outside even more than other kids.

And I agree completely with Kathline about the homework issue, especially for children who are struggling in school.

I found that when a child has executive function disorder, which is common in kids with ADD, it works well to sit with them while they do their homework. Have him explain it, or talk out loud, as he is doing it. Scribe for him if necessary. The adult's task is not to do the homework, but to keep him focused, to encourage him when he gets discouraged, and to help him get started when he doesn't know where to begin. I read somewhere that what successful adults with executive function disorder usually have found someone to be their "frontal lobe" - a spouse, a job coach, a tutor, etc.

They do still have recess but it is not daily. More like once every other week or so they have 'gym' or when the teacher schedules it in I suppose. They switch classes this year to prepare for middle school. (he is in the 5th grade) He has a reading/social studies class, math and then science. This is why I feel it is soo important to get things in place now. Usually, I do sit with him while he does homework or I set the timer and come in and out to check on his progress. The timer seems to work well and gives me an opportunity to work with the other kids and their homework and what not.

That is terrible - I think a lot of kids that age need daily recess. It is unreasonable to expect them to pretty much sit still for 6.5 hours. Gym 2X a week is required by my state - I had thought regularly scheduled P.E. was mandatory everywhere in the U.S.

"That is terrible - I think a lot of kids that age need daily recess. "

I could not agree more! Most parents in my neighborhood are so worried about being able to get little Madison into Harvard that they completely forget about getting her through fifth grade happy and healthy. The more academics our schools can pack in, the better -- as they see it.

But our kids also need recess. I mean, they NEED it! They need a chance to clear their heads a run around, and in the case of some, to repair their egos from the difficulties learning and do something they're good at. Not to mention the health benefits and simple fun it adds to the day.

For what it's worth Mom-of-4, you may find that switching classes is great for DS. Just that little bit of physical movement may give him enough 'break' to get by, and the more broken up nature of his day could be great with his ADHD.

I have custody of my nephew from my previous marriage and he has an IEP and he is 11 My nephew has had an IEP since his second go round in kindergarten. He now is being transitioned into regular ed classes. I have a daily sheet sent home with all homework and any behavior issues, this works.... You have to request it and they have to do it... Its the only way to keep kids from falling through the cracks of our messed up school system

One thing to watch for are the goal updates that you should get around report card time each quarter. I noticed that one special ed resource teacher I worked with was not accurately updating goals. I noticed that each IEP kid I worked with was meeting each goal by 80%!! The kids (in my mind) could not do what the resource teacher was marking off that they could do.

I had to call her on this fact and it was a huge deal! I am sure that she had also done this for other IEP kids that were in other classes and no parents or teachers even questioned it. Made her job easier. So these kids were just being passed along without achieving the goals. Watch for that. If they say he met a goal then make sure that your child is actually able to do what they are saying he can do.

Ok every time a school has an IEP they get money and they keep getting the money as long as the IEP exists

Teachers might be required to put unreasonable goals into IEP. Our district (as I assume others as well) mandate to write goals taken from state grade level expectations (no matter what disability). Ha, it makes no sense.

Nobody can make parents to sign IEPs that they don't agree with. Make sure you know what you are signing.

Agree about recess. Once every other week? i have never heard such thing, they have to have it daily in elementary schools! same with Gym, the more the better.

No matter what they are required to put in I do not feel it is okay to say that the child can do X if they can not really do it. To me that is like giving a kid 100% on a spelling test that they got 5 wrong on.

of course it is not OK, I didn't say it is, I said it makes no sense.