My teen works so slowly!

[mom2scouts]

My teen son is a bright kid who works hard, but he works very slowly. It's starting to become a real problem now that he's a sophomore and both the amount and difficulty of his work is increasing. He sometimes doesn't get all his assigned work done each week, but I feel bad if I make him spend so much time on schoolwork that he doesn't have much down time. He does have a good academic load, but I really don't think it's too much for college prep high school. He's getting slightly better each year, but not enough to remedy the problem. He would love to go to a military academy and it would fit him well in every way except keeping up with the academic workload. Now he's getting ready to take the ACT or SAT and I'm really worried that he's going to get a bad score because he won't get to many of the questions. Has anyone else had a student who plods slowly through the work? Is there any way to help him increase his speed without decreasing quality? 

[LAR]

We're in the same boat here.  Dd 15 1/2. 10th grade. Driven academically in the past with med school on her radar since 6th grade.... but has always been slow.  This year she's unbelievably slow. We've already dropped two classes (spanish and latin) because she was getting behind in her favorites (AP Calc and AP Physics).  This still didn't help.  So instead of volunteering two mornings a week, we dropped down to one morning. Still not helping.  She only has 2 other classes (FLVS English and OTA History). She took the PSAT and didn't finish in time.  She works so slowly.  I told her today that she's now too far behind in physics to catch up, so I was pulling her from AP Physics and putting her in FLVS Chemistry (it's free).  She had a meltdown.  Apologizing to me.  Saying there's something wrong with her because she can't focus at all. Says she just hits a block and can't move on. 

Wish I had advice for you, but we're also struggling.  I'm hopeful that others may chime in.

[mom2att]

To both of the previous posters: Consider psych testing for the purpose of getting a diagnosis that can help your student get accommodations. If the student is able to do the work but takes an amount of time that goes way beyond what is expected for the average student, there's a good chance there could be issues that will earn accommodation. I don't mean goofing off and just not doing the work, but spending hours and hours working diligently and doing the work well, but just moving at a pace that is beyond slow. I have one like this and two that are neurotypical--for my child with learning challenges, it is NOT just that he's dawdling, he is working his hardest but it just takes him a million times longer to stay focused and get through the material.

For my student, the issues are processing speed, working memory, and ADHD. He has a diagnosis from a psych, and from there we have gotten SAT accommodations for extra time, which made it possible for him to get a decent score, though he still struggles with the math (working memory issues and higher level math do not make a great combo!). Fortunately, mine is a super hard worker--he has to be. I know he will go far because of it.

It sounds like both of your kids have high goals and are willing to work hard--the right diagnosis/accommodations will help them achieve their goals. Just like a kid with poor eyesight needs glasses to accommodate vision, some kids need extra time to accommodate processing or attention issues.

In the absence of learning challenges, sometimes it's a matter of instruction in time management, for which someone to help with planning for awhile can really be beneficial--you have this many assignments this week, how are you going to break them up so you have enough time for all of them? How can you work in downtime as well? Don't forget to study for that test!  I know folks for whom the passage of time is an enigma--they can work on something for an hour but think it's only been 10 minutes. In this case, a schedule and an alarm can be very helpful. It's not always easy to get on the right track and make time for everything, but it is helpful to look at time as a limited resource of great value.

Hope this helps. I certainly understand where you're coming from!

[Garga]

The first two posters are telling my tale.

I know my son has ADHD and he takes meds, but it wasn’t until high school that his slow speed became a serious problem, even with the meds which help him focus.  I have realized he will seriously need accommodations for college classes in two years.  Sometimes these things aren’t apparent until you get a year or so into high school, so don’t feel too bad that you hadn’t realized this was a problem until now.

I just wrote a thread a day or so ago about getting time accommodations for him for the SAT this coming spring.  He is scheduled to have assessments done with a psychologist through our local public school in December to officially test him for speed/processing issues so we can try for accommodations on the SAT. 

@mom2scouts and @LAR, to prepare for my initial meeting with the psych explaining what I was seeing with my son, I wrote up a lengthy and detailed Word document with some official sounding words about what issues I think he might have and included many examples.  If you want to read through the issues I’ve seen with my son for you to consider whether your students might have the same sorts of issues, PM me your email address and I’ll send you a copy of my document. 

What made me realize that he really has actual issues that need assessment and accommodations was how he can’t do what *he wants* to do.  *He* wants to complete certain tasks in his own time, and he can’t do it.  It’s clearly not that he’s bored with his school work or is being defiant.  No, instead he works very hard at his work.  But he physically/mentally cannot move faster and it’s affecting his schoolwork, but is also affecting his private life and crosses over into everything he does.

Edited October 26, 2018 by Garga

[Arcadia]

3 hours ago, LAR said:

 We've already dropped two classes (spanish and latin) because she was getting behind in her favorites (AP Calc and AP Physics).  

She only has 2 other classes (FLVS English and OTA History). She took the PSAT and didn't finish in time.  She works so slowly.  I told her today that she's now too far behind in physics to catch up, so I was pulling her from AP Physics and putting her in FLVS Chemistry (it's free).  

 

Do you have any idea why she is slow? My DS12 who is a slow worker has a lower processing speed compared to DS13. We have him evaluated in elementary school because teachers were asking about learning disabilities for him. 

AP Physics however takes less time than AP Chemistry for him (same for DS13). My guess is it has to do with my kids reading speed being slower than computation speed. They read numbers (including their own answers) faster than words.

For test prep, using a one minute timer has helped. He was able to finish the SAT the second time he took it which helped bump the score up significantly.

For finishing his work, we found doing the homework for a subject per day the most effective. For example, Tuesday homework time is spent on Chemistry only and Friday homework time is spent on Physics only. OKState German takes up a day of homework time too. He is just less productive/efficient with time confetti compared to DS13.

ETA:

We paid for evaluations using insurance and HSA. My husband had a few arguments with insurance and they ended up covering quite a big portion of the cost.

Edited October 26, 2018 by Arcadia

[katilac]

3 hours ago, LAR said:

 Says she just hits a block and can't move on. 

 

This sounds like anxiety is a possibility (freeze response, inability to move on). 

[Meriwether]

That sounds a lot like my Ds14. He is a bright kid, but so he is a slow worker. I feel bad, because he is upset that he cannot get everything done that his sister does. I do not anticipate great test scores, even though I think he will get almost every question he answers correct. He improves every year, so we'll see where he is at. I won't know his score range until he actually takes the ACT, but I am mostly trying not to worry about it. I hope Dd15 will qualify for good scholarships, so we can afford to just send Ds14 to a state school. The system isn't made for people like my son, even though he is a diligent student with good understanding.

[klmama]

OP, have you had your ds's vision fully tested?  My slow worker with 20/20 vision turned out to be far-sighted.  The problem was that up close, dc's eyes blurred after a few seconds, and dc had to pause to blink so they would become clear again.  That slowed down dc's speed tremendously. Getting reading glasses made all the difference. 

[GeoKitty]

My DS , 16, is also very slow at his work. I know he has very slow processing speed from IQ testing when he was young.  Coupled with a very high IQ.... so he is capable of the work. But it takes him forever.  I don’t want him doing school all day long. But I want him to have a solid honors level education (except in math.... happy with teaching textbooks there for him).  So, I don’t want to cut back on his work.... but I feel like we have to.  Sigh. 

[tampamommy]

mom2scouts, 

I pm'ed you. Hope it helps!

[be_be]

My son is also a slow processor and I had him tested in 8th grade and he just needed additional time to do work.  They were going to give it to him in ONE class but after seeing the number of kids in his class plus his issues that's when we decided to homeschool.  I find that having a checklist of things to do everyday is very helpful and if he's taking longer than normal or is stressing out about it, we will adjust the list.  All is "home" work is due on Friday and that gives us the weekend to go over it and spend time on it if he needs help. His IEP is good through 11th grade and I can ask for special accommodations when he takes the SAT/ACT, which won't happen until next year.

[lewelma]

My younger ds is super slow.  In contrast to other posters, when I had him tested, he showed no evidence for slow processing speed, ADHD, or working memory problems which are what is typically implicated in being slow.  He does seem to have a terrible sense of time passing.  He has finally set a timer that goes off every 10 minutes at night for an hour before bed, so he is more aware of the passage of time. Before doing this, he would go to bed at 9pm and start reading only to look up and find it was 3am! He said it felt like only an hour.  I also sense that his mind goes down lots of bunny trails.  When I am working with him in Chemistry, he is asking all sorts of really good questions, but if we don't look them up right then, he is just too distracted by the unanswered question to complete his work.  My guess is that this happens a lot with many of his subjects.

But the thing is, this is why I homeschool, so that my beautiful ds can learn in a way that works for him.  I will not bow to the pressures of a standardized school system that wants me to put him in a little box and force him to learn in a certain way on a certain time table.  We are not unschoolers, but I definitely adapt to what the day gives me, and if he can't get done what was on the list, well then, it just moves to the next day.  There is a big difference between age 15 and age 18, and I fully believe that in those 3 years, he will grow and change and work a bit faster.  If he needs a gap year between high school and college to complete this maturing, then we will encourage that.  Mental health, physical health, and positive self-perception as a learner are the key.  That with a decent work ethic will get him far. Stepping off my high horse now....

Ruth in NZ