Day two of school is when the rubber hits the road at our house (day one is more of introduction, glossary reading, etc.) I addressed my daughter's pokiness. The first thing I did ... I took away the music she prefers to listen to. She likes gaming music which I have concluded might be a distraction to her mind since it reminds her of games. So.. Rule one: Absolutely no gaming music during school time ...After the feathers settled from taking away her music I explained why speed is important to her. At this moment she is taking 1/2 of a practice ACT test so that she can get the feel of working fast while working well. She will HAVE to learn to discipline her roving mind. I hope this works. I plan to give her several practice timed tests this year as well as do a few other things designed to speed her up.. possibly giving her time limits for her assignments (time limits is something I tried in the past and she really objected to them).

This is a tough one. I wish you luck with it. My ds can be this way. The more I push, the more frusterated he seems to become. It is almost a losing battle with him. Although, I must say, every year, it seems to improve. I wish you well. Let us know how she makes out. my version of fast

That's a really great idea. It gives her a real picture of what is going to be expected when she takes the test. Plus when she goes to take the test hopefully she will be so comfortable working on these type of problems at a fast pace she can breeze through it I'm writing this one down

Sounds like a good plan, Donna. I hope it works well w/your DD.

My daughter is already overwhelmed with school work. I see that this will be me------> for the rest of the year. Abeka 8th grade has tons of work...........I mean tons, and I have already pared it down to the bare necessities, and it is still a good 1/3 more than what she did last year......... The boy...........well, he is whizzing through..........

That is a fantastic idea. I was always amazed during exam time at University how many people lost so many points because they worked so slow. Our university had a habit of posting statistics on exams, like percentages with number of students, number of questions on various exams... average number answered and what the marks would have been if they were marked on the number of questions answered.. ie. If you did 25 out of 30 questions and got 21 right, your mark is 21 of 30, but what would it have been if it was based on the ones you did answer it would be 21 out of 25, does a difference for percentages...

I think I need to take that test . I have the opposite problem with my daughter; she works faster than I can drink my morning cup of coffee She usually has all of her workbooks finished in less than 45-60 minutes(phonics, handwriting manuscript, hand writing cursive, spelling, and her reading workbook). The rest is more hands on for both of us to do together(math, history, language arts, reading out loud, and science); which takes us quite awhile to get through on some days, because we have so many conversations about what we are reading/learning during our lessons . I'm getting homeschooling fever; I keep reading how everyone else is doing and I can't wait to start our full school days

I remember my 6th grade teacher telling us that we had so much more work in 6th grade then we did in 5th because she wanted to get us ready for juniorhigh school.... and then in 8th grade our home room teacher told us the same thing ..... "to get us ready for what lies ahead in highschool..." For some reason your post made me think of that!!! I hope you don't have to many bad days!!!!

I'm going through the same thing here, but for some reason my mind is not thinking clearly and the cause/effect did not register with me. We are having problems with sleeping in and listening to music as well. Just a bit too laid back for junior/senior high around here. I've been contemplating a stricter schedule. I hate to do it, but...

And I was just thinking that some "white noise" would help the girl..........was contemplating purchasing a White noise CD......

Funny you said that Tanya. Yesterday, during one of the boy's distractible moments, Jenna dragged a toy into the kitchen - it is one of those things that turns a gear in the center and you can link up other gears to it to make a chain effect. She left the motor running, and puttered off to the play room. I thought the noise would bother the boy and moved to switch it off but he stopped me. He told me the noise is actually helping him. I suppose it actually cuts out other distracting sounds. I didn't know there was a white noise cd you could purchase for this.

I may have to start instituting timed workbook pages. My dd's mind wanders everywhere. She does best when I tell her to have that page done by the time I come back (from switching laundry, taking the puppy out, etc.). Usually that is when she gets her work done. If I sit there with her I have to watch her doodle, play with the pencil, stare off into space... I thought normally this happens the other way around.

I think anyplace would have them...

Cool, that might be a great help for him! (and me)

That's a great idea, Donna. I had read somewhere on a message board that classical music actually helped this homeschooling family accomplish more. Well, I tried it...it didn't go over too well. DJ found it way too distracting. Maybe because he wasn't used to it?

I'll do that. It plays quietly in the background. I keep the volume so low that it can't be heard unless she is doing workbooks or something of that nature.

When the kids were younger we listened to classical music in the background sometimes all day and sometimes during an hour that was educational. I actually considered trying classical music again since we get it without chatter via satellite, but then I remember that when she has to jump through the burning hoop of the college entrance exams, she will be in a room with random noises going on. I need her to learn to concentrate in that environment. She did OK on her timed test today .. just OK though. She finished no parts in the alloted time. She realizes now just how hard that she needs to work on this. I am hoping that she continues with this productive frame of mind and works hard toward improving. She was so interested in her timed test challenge that afterwards she told me what she needs to improve. It seems that taking this test helped.

My DD is going into the 4th grade this year, and we have always had a problem with attention span/daydreaming. I have tried to time assignments/work with her, but then she makes alot more mistakes. So, I really am not sure what to do about it this year. Maybe the white noise thing could work for her too. It's worth a try.

I just got our first SOS CD in the mail yesterday ( I'm buying them off of ebay, helping keep costs down ) This one is in Lang Arts for 6th grade. I installed it last night, had him do the first lesson today. Took him all of 25 minutes, and he complained that it was too long!!!!!! I reminded him that if he was in PS, he would be having to do double that amount of time on the subject, so quit complaining! He quieted down after that. Only took him about 10 minutes to get his handwriting assignment done. His hs group has a 750 challenge..... from now until Nov 17, read 750 pages, do 750 minutes of exercise, do 7.5 hrs volunteer work. Whoever accomplishes this gets to join the party at The Playground ( inside roller rink, laser tag, rock climbing, etc ) and will be presented with an award, so he's going to be doing a lot more reading, too. He's turning into a speed reader, but can tell me everything he's read from every book in the last year! He retains so much, that he is just whipping thru assignments, and I hope to keep the momentum going

This is an interesting topic. My daughter has a tendency to day dream, too and she panics during timed tests. She gets one every day in math and she had been improving last year. It seems that we are starting over from scratch this year. But, I think it is good practice to get used to have a time frame. Sometimes, I will tell my son that he has X number of minutes to finish or he gets to finish it after dinner. He usually gets it done.

I tried many things with my daughter years ago but it seems I was not diligent or vigorous enough. I never tried white noise. She has a white noise machine in her room that she used to use to go to sleep at night, (it no longer works) I never thought about using it for school time.

Donna, hope your ideas work. My 10yr old doesn't do things in a timely matter either. I have been putting a timer on her desk while she works. It used to intimidate her. I don't know now, but it seems to be working. Hope to have this problem licked soon myself.

Oops! I almost forgot. A few months ago, I took dd to a nutritionist and she was given enzymes to help her concentration. The brand can be found at a healthfood store near me. I haven't tried online. I gave her the capsules 15 mins before school. They are to help her concentration. I guess they worked because she is better now. She just works too slow. If you're interested let me know and I will post the name for you.

I hope it works for you. I think I'm going to have to do something similar with my kids.

I've decided to institute a more rigorous schedule for dc. Especially for dd. She is required to wake herself, shower, dress, morning chores and eat an "iron-rich" breakfast in enough time to digest and be ready to work at 8am.

I had a son who was this way, and I am glad he has graduated. However, it carries over into the rest of his life too. He gets caught up so much in the little details of things, that he looses track of time. It really bothers him too...he knows it happens, and he has tried to change it. Using alarms on his watch, you name it. It isn't that he doesn't work, because he does. He keeps going, and going, and going, but he is very slow at the progress. I never heard of using enzymes for this. I wonder how it works? I would be interested in knowing more about this, if nothing else to learn how enzymes can help concentration.

hmmm, I just read somewhere about the benefits of enzymes. I can't remember where or what though. I will try to remember and post it later. Oh I hate it when that happens.

Maybe you need some enzymes as well........