My daughter's therapist thinks that an ADD drug will help my daughter do her homework. She is in 8th grade and is having trouble in math and science, like she always has in the lower grades and needs to go to summer school every year.

She gives her school work very little effort, she does only what's necessary, like homework, no extra reading, she's had tutors for years. She rather go on "My Space" on-line.

I really can't see how taking a pill is going to help her understand math better, and would like to hear from parents who have children on ADD drugs who improved their understanding of math.

Thanks!

jacal5,

Has your daughter been diagnosed with ADD? If she has, then it might be appropriate to discuss trying various drugs until you find one that "fits". But if she's doing fine in other subjects, and doesn't have ADD, then I wouldn't give her drugs!!!

ADD drugs do not change people's motivation. They are designed to help with focusing when a person has a real, life-long problem. If your daughter has a motivation problem, drugs won't help.

Some people just don't "get" math and science. Maybe she needs different tutoring or some creative way of introducing the concepts into a subject that she does like.

I hope some parents chime in here to give you their point of view.

--Rheanna

I agree with Rheanna.

If, and only if, your daughter has been diagnosed with ADD and the problem is that she can't concentrate, an ADD med might help. However, no medication in the world is going to change the fact that chatting on the internet is more interesting than homework.

We have a "no electronics" rule until homework is complete (for the first hour after school, minimum, to discourage the "I don't have any" excuse). There are programs available to limit the hours that your child can use the computer and/or to restrict access to chat rooms, if you want to go that route.

Good luck!

Thanks so much for your responses. I had her tested at a psychologist a few years ago and he said she is of average intelligence, has spacial difficulty when reading, and may have ADD. He recommended Stratterra but my husband didn't want to go the drug route. Since we are divorced now and I have custody, I thought maybe I should take the psychiatrist's advice and try a drug (I don't remember which one he recommended). My daughter does not want to take the drug because she remembers her father being against it and talking about the side effects and she is afraid. Can I force her to take the drug if I go that route, and what if she doesn't want to swallow it?

A few of her teachers wanted her to repeat 7th grade, but my ex has influence with the higher-ups in the school system and they promoted her anyway. The teachers did say she is very good in English, she has great computer skills, she does not need a foreign language because she speaks fluent Spanish, just math and science seem to be the problem. Next year she will be attending a vocational high school, she says she wants to work in the fashion industry or interior design. With her problems, I don't know if she would be able to have a career in those fields, especially if she has spacial difficulty.

How do you know if a child as a learning disability and what it is, or if it's ADD?

Thanks so much for any responses.

If she struggles with math, science and sometimes when reading then she may have a sequencing issue. But if doctors have evaluated her and said that she "may" have ADD and have not mentioned anything else like a developmental delay or dyslexia or anything, I would be careful not to try to find a diagnosis just to justify meds. Meds can definitely be tempting when you don't know what else to do. I understand that.

However, I think she needs one on one tutoring after school. Someone who knows about struggling students. Someone who knows that some kids do not learn well from a traditional school model and can modify the content so that she understands maybe visually....or kinesthetically....She needs someone to help her make the connections in order to be successful with the homework. When a child doesn't understand the homework the night before...they are hopelessly left behind the next day during the new lesson that builds on the understanding of what they practiced for homework. As the lessons quickly progress in this fashion the student only falls further and further behind. It happens SO fast too. If that student does not qualify for special services, well, then they just become a struggling student forever without the right support and it falls on the parents, who unfortunately aren't sure what to do because they don't have degrees in education and so why would they? And then where do they get any help? This is such a hard place to be as a parent.

Does the school require the summer school? So that she can be promoted? I'll bet she'd rather not go to summer school, am I right? I would tell her that she will be having a tutor for math and a tutor for science during the school year in the hopes that she can keep up during the year and then have the summer free to swim, talk on the phone and kick around on m space.

I would choose a tutor who was a former teacher. A lot of times teachers have babies and do not want to go back to work because they want to raise their little ones and so they have this expertise and can be available after school hours or in the evenings and tutoring is a very good way for them to exercise their teaching muscle and make a little money. You can call local private schools where they hire really great teachers and ask them if they have any teachers who have left and might be interested in tutoring or maybe they even have current teachers willing to tutor (although, I recommend one who is not currently teaching because she needs a full hour with a tutor for each subject she is struggling in and a good teacher will probably have her head more in her classroom and will of course spend more time planning for them. They won't be able to mentally devote themselves to your daughter). That might mean one hour a day alernating the subjects or 2 hours three nights a week. I would find the most highly acclaimed private schools in your city and start with them.

At any rate, I would get that started ASAP. Don't let it get any further this year. Every struggling student starts the year with a tiny grain of hope thinking maybe this year will be different. Maybe this year I will have a teacher who understands me. Maybe this year will feel better. And then when it flops - self esteem plummets because they see that they are the common denominator in the repeated feeling of failure. She NEEDS one on one help from someone who understands the text, understands the teacher expectations and understands how to reach kids who need the content to be presented through more than one modality. Basically, she needs to learn the material, but also needs to learn to jump through the teacher's hoops. An experienced teacher understands the purpose of what seemd like hoops and can tutor her on turning in acceptable and thoughtful assignments.

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Thanks so much for taking the time to give me such a lengthy response with great advice. Yes, her school requires summer school for promotion, and she did pass with a grade of 74. I've told her for years if she really focuses and listens to the tutor, she could have her summers free, she even missed out on a trip to the Carribbean this summer with her cousin, because she needed to attend summer school.

She's had tutors who are retired teachers and students from one of the top colleges in the country which is located near my home. They all tell me she is doing ok with her math homework, but then she doesn't do well on the tests, and gets a failing grade on her report card.

You are right, she always has high hopes for the new year, her birthday is Aug.19, and when she blows out the candles she tells me she wishes for good grades in school, yet every year she struggles, I feel sorry for her.
I don't know if her lack of effort is from frustration because of learning disabilites (ADD included), boredom or laziness in her part. Almost every parent I know is complaining that their children spend too much time on the computer and aren't that interested in studying.

She has been in special programs after school, since the psychologist wrote that she may have ADD, so I can't complain about public school not giving her extra help, although I can't attest to the quality of the extra help.

Anyway, thanks again, I will try to find appropriate tutors based on your advice.

In addition, thanks for sharing your success story of overcoming the difficulties you faced to achieve a rewarding career, I hope my daughter can do the same.

You're welcome. Her blowing out the candles and wishing for good grades reminds me of when I was youmg. I didn't understand why everyone else got it except me. And I knew I was smart so it didn't make sense. When I tell people that I struggled through school with C's D's and ocassional F's they just can't believe it because now I am so on top of things and so quick with new concepts. The thing is, I now know how I learn and I know how to obtain information in formats that support my learning style. Luckily, when you become an adult you have the freedom to do that.

Tutor quality is huge. That's awesome that the school offers programs to help. I understand your frustration about doing well with the work but then failing the test. A lot of times a tutor will work with a kid on a concept...say, multiplication. And they work and work and work on it and the kid catches on and can run through the process with few mistakes and they can do a whole page of it and feel good about it. Then they have a test. A test which often has multiplication and other concepts as well. That requires the student to rely heavily on their long term memory and strong computation skills to switch back and forth between concept procedures. For instance, the test might have multiplication as well as subtraction and addition requiring regrouping and some word problems that require analytical skills. Switching your brain from concept to concept in order to mentally retrieve the appropriate procedure is actually a really hard thing to do. In this situation, the tutor has to build conceptual understanding in a way where the student can be successful in multi-concept drills. Plus, a lot of times teachers think that the "test" should be the most difficult problems/questions. In my opinion that isn't really fair for the student. Has she been formally tested in order to get scores on like spatial reasoning, processing speed and all of that? That would be a WISC test or maybe the Woodcock Johnson. That would provide a dr. with lots of insight as to where the gaps in her learning seem to be.

How is her reading comprehension?
Is she able to make inferences when she reads?
Did she struggle to master her multiplcation math facts?
In what grade did the struggle begin?
And with what subject?

I am not feeling well, so I am just hanging out on the couch this weekend and happen to have the time to think about it. :O)

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Hi

How is her reading comprehension? improved from lower grades
Is she able to make inferences when she reads? yes
Did she struggle to master her multiplcation math facts? yes
In what grade did the struggle begin? 2nd
And with what subject? everything but spelling

I took her to Sylvan Learning Center, she was tested, but I don't know the names of the tests. They claimed she probably has a learning disability with her score, like the majority of their students. She didn't attend because we couldn't afford it.

When she had to take the 4th grade state test (ELA) on english language and arts I purchased books on preparing for the test. I worked with her almost every night on the main parts of the story (she didn't get that concept), and other criteria on the test that was explained in the book.
I even copied lots of stories from the internet and made up my own questions for her, and made her wear a watch to time herself during my home testing.
In addition, I made her practice essay writing based on the tips in the book.

Guess what happened? She received the second highest mark in the class on the ELA! All her classmates cheered for her when the teacher announced her grade. The principal stopped her in the hallway to congratulate her!
Aftee that, the teachers would say that she is very much improved, instead of talking like they expected her to fail. My husband told her teacher before the test that there was no way she would pass before I started studying with her, she shocked everyone!

Thanks for your responses, and feel better!!!!