Gamom3 Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 Ds has been working SO slow every day lately. We started work today at 7:30am, I just told him(6pm) to put his work up. He has one thing left, but he can finish that before bed. His work isn't any harder than a few weeks ago. He dawdles sometimes, gets up to go to the bathroom a couple of times or just sits there. He gets to the point where he doesn't want to focus on his work How do you handle your dc being slow??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snickerdoodle Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 I don't know. Mine are younger than yours but I always say something like, "you are only wasting your playtime. If you don't mind then I don't mind." It has been moderately successful. Mine are definitely not overloaded with work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gretchen in NJ Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 I use a timer. It works on most days, but not always. DD9 and I came up with a plan together. If I give her an hour to complete math, I set the timer for 30 minutes. This way at the half way mark, she will know if she is on track for finishing within the alloted time. My goal is to have her finish in 45 minutes. I have not had to use any incentives along with the timer. The timer seems to be enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
athena1277 Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 My dd is only in K, but at times she is sooooo slow. I'll tell her to do her phonics work while I do something else. When I come back a bit later, thinking she must be nearly done, I find out she has only written one word! It is sooooo frustrating. I tell her I'm sitting the timer for x minutes and she better be done when it goes off or she's in trouble. I overestimate the time she needs so unless she just sits there, she always beats the timer. It might help to choose a reward for beating the timer and a consequence for not beating it. HTH! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aubrey Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 Chase them w/ a vacuum cleaner. Oh, wait. You meant w/ school work. Eh. Go ahead & chase them w/ the vac. *Something* will have gotten done. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CalicoKat Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 a time-sensitive "carrot." what's worked here from time-to-time candy rewards hot lunch at a fast food of choice fav. PBS show or video for after school Wii time a trip to the dollar store to spend allowance money always put a time limit and quality of work standard on these. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest janainaz Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 It is VERY frustrating. Very very very frustrating. I am just like my son some days. It takes me three hours to get two loads of laundry folded and put away, I go from one task to the next and hardly get anything accomplished. I drive myself nuts. There are just some days that I can't seem to focus. Most other days - I'm on top of it and have no problems getting my stuff done. The same goes for my son. He does well 'most' days. I really need to re-learn compassion with my kids and go about things the way that I would want someone to handle them with me. Yelling, getting mad, screaming, punishing - etc. does not work. I end up feeling terrible, my son feels frustrated that he is unable to focus and in the back of my mind I know I need to lighten up and stop taking life so seriously. My kids are human, just like me and maybe they need a jolt of something new in their day or a little humor. School will get done. Life is more than knowledge, discipline and education. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TKDmom Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 I don't handle it well at all. I have a short temper. But maybe he is ready for a break? I take forever to do housework b/c it is tedious and I want to be somewhere else. Maybe if he could take a week off and then come back to his work refreshed, he'd be able to focus better. Just an idea I thought I'd throw out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klmama Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 When mine gets that way,usually it's because he is growing and needs more protein. I try to increase the protein amount at breakfast, as well as giving protein snacks throughout the day - cheese, roasted nuts, celery with pj, etc. Exercise helps - we've found that running laps is the most effective way of perking up the focus and work speed. Sometime a change of pace is all that's needed - educational games or videos, or we may do a one-day unit study on whatever he's interested in at the moment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LizzyBee Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 Nothing I did worked very well. Turns out my dd has a slow processing speed. The EdPsych told me processing speed can't be treated; it has to be accomodated. So we accomodate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frogpond1 Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 Limit computer/Wii time... I guess with my 8th grader I've just been working on the slow and steady track of making him responsible for time deadlines and accountable for his work time and over the last year I see signs of maturity. He'll be a young 9th next year. Most of all, don't give up hope, keep working. One thing we do in the mornings is set a time that the kids have to be ready by and then we have inspection. If they don't make it they lose Wii for the day and we have a calendar where we X of the day. We had some very rough weeks, but now we seem to have rounded the corner. I really try hard to make sure ds is well fed, has as much sleep as you can expect for a 13 year old and I'm really trying to have fun times with him despite the trying times. He goes running once a day with a neighbor buddy and that helps get his blood pumping etc. He used to take forever and he was highly distracted, but now he does most of his work without a lot of intervening. I don't let him completely out of my sight during the day. I practice Charlotte Mason's "Masterly Inactivity," where I know what he is doing at all times, but I don't let on that I know. I let him think that he is on his own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ohdanigirl Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 Chase them w/ a vacuum cleaner. Oh, wait. You meant w/ school work. Eh. Go ahead & chase them w/ the vac. *Something* will have gotten done. ;) works with mine, LOL:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gretchen in NJ Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 Chase them w/ a vacuum cleaner. Oh, wait. You meant w/ school work. Eh. Go ahead & chase them w/ the vac. *Something* will have gotten done. ;) :lol: Aubrey!:smilielol5: :thumbup1: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myfunnybunch Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 Physical activity works here. When I have dawdling dreamer, I ask him to run up and down the stairs a few times, or I take everyone outside to play soccer or baseball or have races or dig in the garden. Something to get the blood pumping. I think we all know what it's like on those days when we feel like we're just thinking through mud. A break and a good sweat helps clear our heads. It seems counter-intuitive to take time out from schoolwork for slowness, but usually we're all more focused after exercise, myself included, so the work ends up getting done by about the same time either way. Cat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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