We are working with Caleb on his math today. He isnt gonna pass if this is how he does in school. I got a note from the teacher yesterday saying that he doesnt pay attention and isnt learning what he needs to learn. He just doesnt try. He doesnt care. I am trying to tell him how important this is. But he doesnt care. He is going to fail the 3rd grade if he doesnt start doing better.

:goodvibes

Do you think part of it is because he was without his meds so long and he was having a hard time paying attention?

Do you think part of it is because he was without his meds so long and he was having a hard time paying attention?

I really dont know. He just doesnt understand anything. And I am not overreacting. He knows how to do NOTHING. He can not do word problems for the life of him. And that is pretty much all the EOG is. I printed off all kinds of word problems for him to do. So far he has done 8 questions and has got 8 wrong. I am explaining it as simply as I can but he doesnt get it. He couldnt even tell me how many dimes made a dollar.

Awww that's pretty sad. Has he been tested for learning disabilities of any sort?

Awww that's pretty sad. Has he been tested for learning disabilities of any sort?

Yes. And the school says he is fine. He isnt fine. Really he isnt. And I dont know how to help him. He can not process these word problems. If its just questions like

12
+8

he is fine. But throw some words in there and he is totally lost.

Lissa, is he on an IEP?

Lissa, is he on an IEP?

Whats an IEP????

IEP = Individual Education Plan

He might need special education services. That's what I had the whole time I was in school. I had an IEP as well.

He might need special education services. That's what I had the whole time I was in school. I had an IEP as well.

He has had all the tests. They say he doesnt have a disability so he doesnt qualify for special education. I have come to believe after today that he just doesnt care and he doesnt try.,

He has ADHD right? You can fight for an IEP under that diagnosis. I had to fight for Gabe's.

Does he know the "social" concequences of faling....friends being a grade ahead of him, not being on the same teams etc...maybe that will help:dunno I'm sorry I hope he can get help over the summer. Have you though of Sylvan or another learning center over the summer to bring him up to grade level, then have him retested before school starts?

Also, he doesnt HAVE to have a disability per say. Just him being behind is enough to qualify for special ed (extra help) in the areas that he is behind with him being ADHD.

He has ADHD right? You can fight for an IEP under that diagnosis. I had to fight for Gabe's.
:agree

He has ADHD right? You can fight for an IEP under that diagnosis. I had to fight for Gabe's.

We fought for the learning disability testing. He has had extra tutoring. Its not that he CANT learn it. He just doesnt seem to WANT to learn it. After 2 hours today he finally got 3 questions out of 8 right. After that I was exhausted.

Does he know the "social" concequences of faling....friends being a grade ahead of him, not being on the same teams etc...maybe that will help:dunno I'm sorry I hope he can get help over the summer. Have you though of Sylvan or another learning center over the summer to bring him up to grade level, then have him retested before school starts?

We have explained all that to him. He knows he needs to do good or he will fail. He doesnt care. I have told him I am cancelling all his computer accounts for his games. I have punishments but they dont seem to work. It comes down to him not caring enough to TRY. He just doesnt TRY. He can get it if he wants to.

omg that sounds just like my little brother.. i was always the one tutoring him and it was soo exhausting. one night he tried to tell me he had no idea what a decimal was even though he was on the second chapter multiplying and dividing them. he has ADD but he just wouldn't try.. i honestly have no idea how he just graduated high school. i hope you get through to him!

He should be eligable for the 504 plan. They will have a board to decide if he needs it. Its just an extra support in the class room is what it is. Its not him actually going into a special ed class room.. at least not for mine. My son just flat out does not want to do work he doesnt want to do, he will do it if its something he likes. He excells in subjects that intrests him. He has skipped a grade, made 100 averages and then just suddenly quit doing anything. As his ODD got worse so did other things and one of those things was school he quit everything he didn't want to do. Now hes been diagnosed ADHD too.. he is FINALLY on meds so this coming school year I hope and pray will be better. He will be on meds and the 504 plan in the class room. By all rights he shoulda failed this year.. hes missed 2 1/2 weeks of school because he has been in and out of the hospital with his behavior, and then some family stuff happened. They had a meeting and decided to pass him because they said they KNOW that he can do the work just fine. He knows how to do it.. Its just that he doesn't want to do it and they didn't see how holding him back would help so that was good. The way you describe your son in alot of your post maybe you should talk to your doctor about ODD. It runs in pairs so ADHD is something that its usually paired with. Its a really frustrating disorder because they do alot of things on purpose and out of defiance... then adding ADHD in there.. words can not describe. trust me.

how your son is is pretty much what I was like in 3rd grade. Thats when they found out I have ADD. I got on my meds. Went to a little bit of special ed. And well senior year my final grades were 2 bs and 3 A's.
I actaully still barely understand word problems... And reading time on a normal clock is hard for me

NM...read a quote wrong

Hey there, I worked at a school where we had a bunch of students who didn't care/didn't do well in school. One of them sounds a lot like Caleb.

He had a lot of trouble with word problems. Would get frustrated really easily and smack the table, throw his pencil, whatever.

We found out a big part of his problem was his low reading skills. It was very hard for him to read and understand the problem, or even read and understand the directions on a worksheet.

The other thing that made it hard for him was that he was more of what teachers call an "auditory learner." That meant that he understood and worked through things primarily by listening and talking instead of by reading and writing them down.

When we talked through the problems with him and asked him to tell us how he would get the answer, he understood much better than if he saw the explanation on paper.

By the end of the year, with trying a lot of different methods and working on his reading, he improved quite a bit. So did his concentration even though he was borderline ADD because he understood more fo what was going on.

Maybe some of those tactics could help Caleb. I hope you all find some solutions that work for you, it must be very frustrating and upsetting for you and for his teachers. I remember from working at our school the toll problems could take on the parents. :hugs :goodvibes

Hi there. Maybe I can help you..or atleast try. I'm an Occupational Therapist and I work with children with special needs. I also have worked in the school system. Your son sounds like a little boy I currently treat. PM me and I'd be happy to talk if you'd like.