9 y/o having difficulty with homework. Any suggestions?

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Her problem lies in estimation and rounding to do "mental math." She can write out the entire problem and do the problems without a problem, but she can't seem to "get" the idea of estimation and rouding to add and subtract in her head. She's frustrated to no end and had a meltdown yesterday because of it. I can sit and talk through the problems with her, telling her where she needs to estimate, and she's got no problem, but when I leave her alone to do her work, she just fidgets, plays with her pencil, tears little pieces off her paper, etc- does anything to divert her attention from her homework. Her teacher really wants the kids to do their homework on their own, not be constantly coached by parents, so he can see where they have problems from the work they turn in. It took her over 2 hours to do her homework yesterday and she had no time to play, do her chores, or anything else.

She was looking up definitions for her spelling words as well, and kept telling me random things she was looking up instead of her words and I kept having to put her back on track. She's never really had this problem with focus before now. She hates doing spelling homework because she has a HUGE vocabulary and reads 4 grades above her level. She knows what the words mean, so she thinks it's a waste of time to ahve to look them up and write the definition from the dictionary.

I need sugestions on how to get her to focus, how to help her with her math, etc.

She works at the kitchen table where I can semi-supervise her, but I've got a 5 and 4 y/o that I'm entertertaining to keep them out of her hair so she can do her work. If she goes to her room and works at her desk, she gets distracted by a million other things she'd rather do than homework, so working at the table is better IMO.

First of all, she needs a quiet place to do homework away from outside distractions and siblings. Break homework assignments
into smaller, easier to handle portions of 10-15 minutes intervals to keep her from fidgeting and preventing her mind to wander.
Use a small, kitchen timer or an hour glass so she can see how much she needs to complete before she can have a short break.
Short breaks will prevent her from getting overwhelmed, frustrated and having 'meltdowns.'

Use everyday examples in life to make math problems easier to understand. There are lots of them! Doesn't your Gas and Electric
Company ROUND UP your bill to the next dollar?

Ask her teacher for advice on handling specific homework problems as the teacher is your first line of defense in any problem.
After all, she is being paid by your tax dollars...make use of her expertise!

I also used to have a ton of problems with the "copy out of the dictionary assignments". The "harder" assignments were actually easier, because they held my attention, while the copying was just torturous boredom.

It's been a long time since I had assignments like that, so I don't recall exactly how I got through them. I do know that taking frequent breaks is a very good idea; I always do that no matter what type of homework assignment I'm doing. Have clearly structured times of when to do homework also helped me; I would tend to keep putting things off unless I firmly decided "I WILL do my assignment at 3:00 no matter what."

I also had problems with mental math, but that just took me practice to learn. I can't offer any advice in that area.

My family learned the hard way about being alone to study - if the chld is an extravert, there is a possibility that being alone will make them miserable and unproductive.

My niece did her homework in the kitchen with the other kids playing and the neighbours dropping by and the phone ringing and the tv going - and she did her work out loud, too. She aced everything. She needs people and activity to help her think.

My brother was the one that got miserable and unproductive. Mom made a study place in his room. He was miserable. His grades went down. "Solitary confinement" shut him down.

Although I am not a parent, I still think there are ways to make children do their homework in a fun (and productive way)...

People with ADD (or like symptoms) may find it hard to focus, (or in certiancases boring)... So, one thing: Motivation...

I beleive, if we motivate the child, s/he will learn with pleasure. Nowadays, certain teachers also use these methods... (they will not seclude or punish the different puplis because they don't seems to follow the NT trend)...

NB: Being alone secluded and being placed in a quiet room are two different things. As in the latter, it dosen't say that there is nobody with the child to help... (music can also help bring in focus)
Or, the methods we show children can be later on adoptedby these children themselves, in their study environments... (as visual aids for simple problems, or using hands...)

Jennyfoo,

I used two methods to assist my sons in understanding estimation and rounding.

1. Draw a simple estimation question on a number line (I use a dry-erase board because my sons find it fun to write on.) with the line divided as accurately as possible to the divisions needed. For instance....draw a number line for 0 to 10 with the 1/2 marks shown. Then ask her if 6-1/2 is closer to 0 or 10? Keep doing this with various divisions, especially divisions between 0 and 1. The intent is to allow her to physically see the relative position.

2. Take 3 pieces of construction paper of different colors. Cut them each into 12 equal squares. Remind her that 12 pieces make 1 whole. Use these pieces to show rounding examples between the whole numbers 0 and 3. I use 12 because I can relate one sheet to a ruler easily and I can show the position there as well. Also I can use divisions of 1/4, 1/2 etc much more easily.

As for the busy work of definitions...my AS son HATES the "busy" work, too. In fact, for him, pushing a pencil is a real chore no matter what the subject. I finally realized that for him, quiet is NOT conducive to study. He needs some sort of sensory input to focus on "busy" work. Now, I let him wear headphones and listen to HIS music while he does math and physics problems. Works like a charm! He moves, he swings, but he does his work and it's done properly! Possibly, your daughter needs some sort of stimulation to allow her to focus. It took me a long time to accept this, because I'm just the opposite. Oh yeah, also, I have allowed him to work outside. The sounds of the birds and wind etc seem to work just as well. This might be a long shot, but I thought I would mention it.

Someone else mentioned breaking the work into small chunks. I do that too and it works, but I add a small reward for making it successfully to the end. Over the years, I've been able to slowly stretch the length of the chunk and my rewards have changed from Skittles to time on World of Warcraft to $$. Wherever his interests lie.

Also, just in general, I give frequent small breaks with activity.

I hope this helps.

David

see if you can still find a slide rule and instructions. My father had one in the 1970's l liked to fool around with. I thought it was fun and good for estimating. Younger engineers who have always relied on calculators/computers can accept a result that is in error by factor 10 or 100, but older engineers that have used slide rules would know the result is too far off what is expected.

Otherwise take one step at a time and just do the rounding to the nearest 10, 100, 1000. Do mental math problems using numbers already rounded. After this is ok, then and only then do some problems with both steps.

IMHO a 9 y.o. should not really be doing homework.

You can google search for sites that argue homework in primary school is counter productive. They should be playing with other kids. And reading. Reading is good.

we will be amazed, but younglings do homework.

Of course nine-year olds won't be required to write disserations on ethics, or writer PhD material, but simple homework as spelling and basic algebra should not be too demanding (well, of course for NT kids).

In our case, certain forms of AS/ ADD need special care in studying... Of course plaing and reading is important (some TV as well, as these educational - and interactive - programs)

I recently watched a show called Nanny 911 and this single father
with 4 kids had a son who was very similar to what you described
with your daughter. The father was a bit overwhelmed because of
the other kids (and other stuff). He was leaving the child alone to
figure it out for himself and it was a total disaster. The father, with
the nanny's encouragement DID coach his child which was totally
needed in this case. The key to the success, and believe me,
the childs demeanor was like night and day, was that the father was
very loving and encouraging, and gave him lots of attention
and praise, when he figured something out and/or got something right.
Not a huge noise, just genuine quiet attention and encouragement.
It was amazing to see.

The following quotes are from page 252 of the Complete Guide to Asperger's Syndrome by Tony Attwood.

"I have yet to read a research paper that has clearly established a corrolation between the hours of homework in childhood and adult sucess in terms of employment and quality of life".

and

"My opinion is that the child with Asperger's syndrome should be exempt from punishment for not completing homework assignments on time, and that there should be a maximum durration of homework of 30 minutes, unless the child or adolescent wants to spend more time on his or her homework. After that time, the parrent signs the assignment and homework log to indicate that this was the amount of work completed in the time available, and the grade for the homework should be based upon the work completed."

I must say that I agree with Attwood for sure!

Today, the youngest was ill and was taking a nap, the 5 y/o was happy to come sit at the table and go over his letters and draw a picture while I coached her with her homework. I must say, that as a parent with AS, I can not stand it when the written directions on the homework contradict what my daughter says the teacher told her to do. UGH! Who to believe? The homework instructions or the daughter with communication problems?

IT went much better, but then it wasn't estimation and "mental math" today. I insisted she do her math pages before she did the work she was looking forward to: drawing pictures to correspond to her spelling words. That seemed to work well. It was motivation.

I may have to talk with her teacher about the amount of busy work. She knows the work, why do the busy work that frustrates her? I think that being in a totally quiet environment with no distractions is probably not what she needs. I know that I often did my homework best when I was being distracted by TV, music, or my siblings playing around me. To this day, I can't concentrate when it's totally quiet. I will turn on the TV or music while I read to have the background noise. Perhaps my daughter is very much like me.

Thanks for the input guys! I'll let y'all know how things go with the homework.

She's in GATE, and I'm not looking forward to the GATE goal-setting conference with her teacher in a few weeks. They want the kids in GATE to do special projects in addition to their regular work at school. My daughter will not want to do extra work unless she can come up with something SHE really wants to do- that is of interest to her. We will have to forego any additional projets if she's stressed with regular work. WE did last year.

oh I can totally relate to what you are going through! While we are still in first grade math, I can relate to the "just please sit down and do it!"

What I have done that helps is I have made a 3 piece divider out of cardboard. Basically 3 pieces that have been taped together and I put it on the kitchen table and it makes a sort of "cubicle" This helps with the visual distractions. Also, I have a 3 (almost 4) year old that wants to come in the kitchen and talk to his brother or play the whole time! I now put up a baby gate to keep him out. I'll put in a movie or something to hopefully distract him. My son might on some days wear headphones (not music!) so that he can't hear outside noises. Also, I break his assignments up. If you do this number of problems or words (depends on the homework) then you can have this number of M&Ms for a reward. I over time make him do more work before he gets the reward. Now keep in mind though, my son is in 1st grade so the homework isn't that much to do (most days anyway). Also, I have an agreement with his teacher, that if he is just having an impossible night with tantrums and meltdowns, we can turn the homework in late, or if it is half done and he has shown that he understands the material, I can turn in in like that and he doesn't get penalized for any of it. This is in the IEP!! !! I call it my "homework veto right"

Hopefully maybe something helps!
Good Luck!