He tries refusing to do his work but when he does finally do it (after my pleading with him for awhile) he does a fantastic job!  Are there any other parents out there having a time trying to get their young kids interested in doing homework?
205163
Make it fun for him. I use reward stickers. Each child has a calandar and each time that they complete their homework they get to choose a sticker of their favorite princess for my daughter and bob the builder for my son. They love filling up the calendar with stickers but know that they must earn the stickers. Make it a game and when he is done, reward him. When homework becomes fun, the children become more engaged in learning and will want to do more. I have five children and all are honor roll students.
584784
I'm having a hard problem understanding why you did not know he was failing long ago. Was there no communications from the teacher? Did you ever see a report card? Your son may have been lying about his grades because he was embarrassed and ashamed. You may be thinking that your harsh punishment of him is because of lying, but he thinks it's because of the grades. For our children to succeed in school, they need our daily help and involvement. So I ask again, where have you been all this time that your son was failing? What are you doing now to help him succeed and rediscover his love of learning that obviously has been lost somewhere along the way? All your harsh punishment will teach him is that in the future he'll have to figure out how to lie better. I would suggest some family counseling, because I think you are off-track in how you are handling your son and it's only going to get worse when he hits puberty, any second now.
426493
One of my children is one of those kids that thrives on excelling.  She has never brought home less than an A ever.  She also participates in dance (4 classes a week) plays the viola in the Orchestra,  and has been a member of Girl Scouts for 9 years.  She has also played softball and basketball.  She is an avid reader and is in bed nightly between 9-9:30 up at 6am M-F.   If she could sleep until 10 or 11am she would be overjoyed.  She is her own worst critic and demands excellence from herself.  She has a group of friends at school that are all equally amazing...and none of them ever get into trouble.  I have no idea where she gets "it" from....and I worry sometimes about the amount of pressure she puts on herself.   I guess only time will tell.  But to be honest I do watch her closely for signs of stress or "over doing"  and I do try to make sure there are at least two days a week that are "free" from activities so she (and the rest of us mear mortals) can relax.
53355
LOL! Is he looking to start a career? haha My 2 year old yells "SMOOSH" and stomps on any bug she sees! Then looks at everyone watching waiting for praise! Kids.... you have to love them. :)
477685
Had one the same way. I wrote him a note and left it on his desk. When that didn't work. He started to glare at me during class. Teachers don't like to admit they're not doing their job. Or at very least not doing it right. That is what they get paid to do, is teach. If you don't ask you can't learn. I didn't get really angry until I went to tech school. Then I was PAYING  them to teach me. YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO HAVE YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED. If your teacher isn't connecting with you let him know. If that doesn't work let another teacher know. If that doesn't work let the principle know. If that doesn't work let your parents know. If that doesn't work E-Mail Me.
611772
I am experiencing this from an opposing side, if you will. We live in Egypt and my children attend Egyptian schools. I do speak Arabic and I am educated in Arabic language and grammar, however, with subjects like Social Studies and History and Science, I am learning right along with my kids. (I know American History and Social Studies and I have to re-learn a whole new list of vocabulary for the sciences I studied in English.) It really is NOT easy at all for foreign parents to help their children with their homework in a second language. However, it is vital that the parents participate and learn as much as they can of the foreign language. Even if this means being only one lesson ahead of your child. As to the school district providing necessary outlets, most school districts in the U.S. will provide assistance to these parents IF the parents ask for it. I've found the assistance I've needed here and I also found that in Maryland I was given an Arabic interpreter when one of my children was being tested for autism (trying to determine if it was actually a speech developmental delay or just a bilingual issue.) Most school districts will assist if you ask.
292145
Be carefull who he hangs around with.  Watch his internet activity.  If you have to, take off his bedroom door.  It's yours, not his.  Watch for a lot of late night activity.  Smell his breath often and keep on him about grades and homework.  Raising kids is the hardest job you'll ever have.
68152
Sweetheart as a Mother of 6 children , let me be the first to say" CONGRATULATIONS" Then let me also and I STRESS this to you hon "DON"T MESS THIS UP,PLEASE"  You are obviously a very gifted young person and I applaude you. I begged and pleaded with my oldest son who I might add is also a very gifted person but no amount of begging, pleading or cryin even did me ANY good. NOW he's expecting his first child and he's working his butt off for very limited income. NOW he wishes he would have listened to me. But most importantly is that I know that down deep you knew the answer to your own question and you are very intelligent so what your probably lacking is the positive reinforcement you seek right now , sometimes I know when my oldest was younger he always did so well that I would forget to ask "hey, how u doin hon, OR Need any help?" Well for the record going to schookis so gr8
486582
Your son is a prime example of what is wrong with our education system. He sounds intelligent, and there are lots of intelligent people out there who dont test well. Our education system is one that if you dont test well, you are punished and labeled as a failure, no matter how intelligent you really are. The best thing you can do is encourage reading. Or with gaming, encourage him to find deeper meaning in the games. Gaming as of late can actually be considered an artistic form. Games such as Silent Hill, there is deep symbolism riddled with the games and story line (basically a visual novel). As with physics, try seeing if he can apply the physics he is learning to real life. Remember it is one thing to learn things in a book, it is a completely different aspect to actually apply what you learn. I hope that helps :D
525337
You sound like my nephew.  He is 13 and just this year I've started home schooling him.  I couldn't believe it when I learned that he failed math every year since he was in 2nd grade.  What a system we have.?!  There is nothing wrong with you just as there is nothing wrong with my nephew.  It really comes down to the basics and once you master them then you can do just about anything.  No matter how old you are it is never too late.  It is not your fault that you are having trouble as long as you are trying.  It's easy to give up when you feel stupid or like you just can't solve the problems.  I wish I could help you but we are probably too far away to make it work.  Please swallow your pride even though it is nothing to be ashamed of.  They failed you.  You have not failed yourself.... And seek a tutor or go back to the beginning on your own.  I started my nephew on the math work of a preschooler.  He felt silly at first but I made it fun.  He is thanking me now because he is doing Algebra with ease and we've only been working a short while.  Don't worry what others think of you now.  Worry about the future when your kids need a little help with their math homework.  You'll want to be able to help them ... won't you?  Sorry if I've rambled.  If you cheat your way now you'll be cheating yourself for the future.  I also have taught and tutored illiterate adults.  Every one of them said they wished they'd learned to read earlier in their lives but felt too ashamed to ask for help.  Don't be like them.  You've got it in you to get it right!  I have faith in you!!!  Have a wonderful day!
68197
If this is a fairly recent occurence, it seems as if she's lost interest in school.  I'd say she needs something (or someone) to relight the spark of interest in learning.\n\nIf a kid is not interested in learning, often no negative reinforcement (punishments, restrictions, etc.) will work.  I think the first step is to get involved with what it is she's studying.  Do you and/or her parents know what her homework assignments are?  Our teenager has a planner where he's supposed to put all his assignments for every class every day.  What's the relationship between her parents and teachers?  Have they been communicating about her difficulties?  Teachers have a daunting workload, but are likely to be helpful in the case of a bright but failing student.  You may be able to establish email communication to get some or all of the assignments.\n\nCan you get a second copy of her textbooks that can be kept at home?  This way, leaving books at school is never an excuse to not do homework.  Again, her teachers are likely to be cooperative if they can.\n\nGo over her assignments every evening with her.  Help if necessary, but get her to do the work before she can do anything else.  Use homework as a condition to do the things she wants or likes to do. That way it's not a punishment, it's an incentive.\n\nThis takes a tremendous amount of energy and committment to do, but if you are consistent I believe it will pay off.  This could easily be a "phase" or some peer influence that you can work through.  You and her parents' increased involvement lets her know you're serious about this and love her enough not to just let her give up.  The "love" part she won't get at first, but in time I think she will.
369591
love how people want us to do their homework.\n\nmight want to look in that dust covered history book you were supposed to read.
10153
That is a very tough situation.  Do you have another adult that  can talk to them on your behalf and maybe get them to compromise a little?  Since he offered to talk to your parents, maybe you can ask if he can just come to your house to do homework or something like that while they are there.
491879
Niothing they are asked to do and when they finally do it, it is a crap job of it.\n\nThat is my son
129093
The only way you can motivate his behavior toward change is by consequences or for him to find an intrinstic reason why studying is beneficial to him. Extenal rewards such as "cash" only work in the short term. In order for him to change his behavior for good he has to find intrinsic rewards - internal motivation. For example, I did terrible in school all the way up till college when I figured out what I wanted to do with my life - be a therapist working with kids. Until I figured that out I wasnt motivated in school either.\n\nAt his age I guess he needs to get the message that sometimes we have to do things because it is our responsibility to do them. As a child his job is to go to school. Explain to him if he doesnt do his "job," consequences will occur. Figure out what he enjoys and use it against him and BE CONSISTENT WITH IT!!! I cant stress that enough. Also catch him when he's doing good and go above and beyond to show him hard work pays off.\n\nAgain, the only way you can motivate him to do it on his own is to help him find an internal drive, a personal motivation. If you cant do that, punishment and rewards are the only way.\n\nCounselorDan (Child Therapist)
98620
Bless you in your endeavor! Just to start out, you could surround him with books...give him time outside...not too much of the TV or video games or ipod...don't completely take it away...or he'll hate homeschool, just don't let him use that stuff during "school hours"...so he'll find something productive to do. Ask him what he wants to learn about and do a Unit Study...but don't overdo it, let him take the lead...but he may need you at his side for a while until he realizes he doesn't need a teacher to learn, just the desire to learn. The library is a great place to get all of the "curriculum" you could ever need. You could get him some science kits, or let him start a rock collection, or buy him a telescope so he could begin studying the stars, the possibilities are endless. I don't know why we call it homeschooling, it's really universeschooling...but I won't get into all of that...I'm homeschooling my 4 children and I wouldn't trade it for the world. They LOVE it and would not like to go back to school. \n\nI don't know where you live, but I'm sure you could find a homeschool support group near you. I'm in the Los Angeles area...many, many groups to choose from.\n\nThe best to you and your son!
209972
What behavioral interventions and work prompts are her teachers doing with her at school? Ask if you can sit in and observe so you can do the same thing for academic work at home.\n\nShe will calm down greatly when she has similar expectations and prompts across environments. Your behavior responses are probably different from her teachers, and this confuses her because homework is schoolwork is something that should happen just-that-way-that-it-always-happens.....