<p>School's been in session 4 days and my high school junior has already forgotten to bring completed math homework to school TWICE! His teacher was not happy on Friday. My son is disappointed in himself but this is an ongoing problem! Last fall his Spanish teacher was kind enough to reach out about this problem (and also him not knowing what the homework was) and things improved. But how long can this go on!? It was almost funny when in 7th grade he used to tell the teacher "someone must have taken it" and him really believing that when actually he just left the homework someplace. But enough is enough. Anyone else have this issue? My son is even on the old side for his grade (nearly 18!), a responsible driver and all around good kid, but why so disorganized?</p>
<p>You need to work together to put some organizational steps in place. Maybe a check list in the morning before he leaves for school. Maybe organizing his notebooks differently so that his Math homework always goes in with his math book after he completes it. Stuff like that. Do it together at first to get him in the habit of whatever steps you come up with and then let him do it himself once they are part of his routine.</p>
<p>If he is so disorganized that he is regularly forgetting homework, perhaps you should take him for neuropsych testing to see if he has memory or organizational issues. If there is any chance of lack of sleep, that can cause memory issues.</p>
<p>Like little kids, when you go to kiss him good night, ask if he has his homework in his bag and his clothes ready for the morning.</p>
<p>Nearly 18 is old for a junior; if there was a reason he was held back or started school late, maybe before college is a good time to revisit any possible issues.</p>
<p>Mine has a medical condition where he forgets homework on occasion, so he has a 504 plan to get reminders which has worked very well. I have brought in items he has forgotten on occasion.</p>
<p>Think about it - if you drove to work without a document you were working on at home, you could stop home (if you didn’t work too far away) and get it. Kids can’t do that. Adults are allowed to compensate on their own in ways kids in school can’t.</p>
<p>There of course are other things to try, such as using calendars and making lists. I make my kids put “English - none” if there is no English homework, instead of leaving out English completely. If a subject is missing from the homework list, they have to try to find out if there is no homework or if they forgot to write it down.</p>
<p>Yes, there is a very good reason he was held back. He is deaf and did not hear well until age 4 (cochlear implant) so had a late start talking and listening at a level required for mainstream education. </p>
<p>My bright scatterbrained son had the same issue. He began to routinely scanning the finished work to his email and that of the teacher. Especially helpful for important essays, lab reports etc. No more ‘you never submitted it’ because there was and email to prove. If he forgot the homework he could run to the library to print. Later when attending PSEO he found many of his professors at local U accepted homework in this manner. A good life skill for your student and peace of mind for you.</p>
<p>Some parents would suggest natural consequences (unhappy teachers, grades) , but it seems this is on going even with that and is a chronic issue.</p>
<p>In the days of computers and electronics, it would seem he could have a reminder on his calendar put into his phone. Also a note on the front door before he leaves the house. A routine where his backpack is checked at night, packed, and sitting at the front door the night before.</p>
<p>I also agree with the testing- especially if there are other concerns. Why is he 18 and a junior? Did you delay his entry into school because he seemed younger? Did he repeat a grade? These could go with problems with attention and organization.</p>
<p>I think it is important to identify any learning or organization issues like this- for school and for him. Ultimately he needs to learn strategies to compensate for them as an adult. These may become considerations when choosing a college. For some students it makes sense to start at a college near home and possibly even live at home since they may not be ready for organizing academics with laundry, a changing schedule and other demands of college even though they are intellectually capable. Better to start out strong than to leave home and do poorly. </p>
<p>For now though, your son has two more years to learn to be more organized.</p>
<p>Thank you everyone so far! As stated above in #3, deafness is the reason for the delay. And, yes, he has been tested regularly both cognitive and speech and language. No concerns of executive function besides self acknowledgement of occasional disorganization.</p>
<p>College is the reason I am having concerns! He has said he wants to remain close and not a plane flight away like his brother.</p>
<p>He does his own laundry.</p>
<p>My younger son did not speak at all until age 5, and was not conversational until age 10. He therefore has missed some things that have come quite naturally to others. Perhaps your son has been coping great despite his learning to talk late, but there still are some minor issues as we have</p>
<p>I suggest again to try the neuropsych testing, because it helped us understand where our son was at and why he has certain issues with remembering. Everyone was blaming him for being forgetful or lying about being forgetful.</p>
<p>This might be interesting for you:
<a href=“http://www.cats.gatech.edu/cats/articles/Hamilton%202011-%20WM%20skills.pdf”>http://www.cats.gatech.edu/cats/articles/Hamilton%202011-%20WM%20skills.pdf</a></p>
<p>Yes, it could be just a distracted teen, but maybe not. As a professor, it is much better to know about needed accommodations and document them in high school, so they will be easily available at the start of college.</p>
<p>Scanning and emailing himself his homework, and then putting it in his bag, might be a great idea, if he doesn’t want to push teachers to print out his homework or read it online (my son has had teachers who were very email adverse). I know my son would not want to bother his teachers, even though he has a 504 plan which includes homework accommodations.</p>
<p>kids need routines to avoid these issues.</p>
<p>When my older son had this issue, he had to immediately put finished assignments into folder/backpack. And when he was completely finished with all homework, he had to put his backpack by the front door.</p>
<p>This sounds like executive function issues…so routines are needed.</p>
<p>I love the scanning homework idea! I don’t think he needs to email it to teachers, but just having a backup copy on Google Drive accessible to him at school would be great, but, plus, just the act of scanning should make him remember to bring it in in the first place.</p>
<p>As I mentioned, he has been tested, has been observed in the classroom, etc. we are not lacking of information in this regard. This problem is not of enough magnitude for a full blown neuropsych evaluation, which I am fairly confident, based on existing data, to reveal nothing or only minor difficulties within the realm of a neurotypical big picture. Nor do I feel it is worthy of college accommodations (which he will have some of already to access the curriculum, such as an FM system for professors to use so he can hear lectures.) It is the sort of thing, however, that can bring an A- to a B+, etc. Frustrating that he doesn’t pick those very low hanging fruit!</p>
<p>Sounds like an organization problem to me. Two of my kids regularly lost completed homework so I helped them get organized. There is a pocket in the front of each of their binders labeled “turn in” and the rule at our house is the homework is not “done” until it is in that pocket. </p>
<p>My kids also save a copy of important assignments (not everyday hw) on their flash drives just in case. </p>
<p>I’ll second (third?) the idea of “routine”. Both my kids have school planners and have been taught to write class assignments in it (including “English: none” rather than leaving it out) since a very bad ninth grade year ended with D getting much lower grades than her subject knowledge should have indicated. And she’s permitted to do homework where she likes if it makes it into her backpack immediately thereafter, but if it doesn’t, she has to move back to the dining room table like she did in elementary school. The incidences of forgetting have become fewer and fewer as time goes on. She has an IEP accommodation allowing her to submit work late, but we’re trying to wean her away from it as she gets closer to college. So far, so good. ::crossing fingers::</p>
<p>Does he have a designated place in which to do his homework? If you can make a certain desk, counter or corner of a table his homework spot it will help him to stay organized. At the end of the evening he should be able to see what he’s been working on and make sure it’s packed up. You can also make sure his homework’s in his backpack without having to hunt all over the house or invade his private spaces.</p>
<p>We had to experiment with various organizational systems with D before she hit on one that worked for her. She had a system similar to mom2collegekids’s kids. D’s high school is on the block system with A and B days. Two backpacks: one for A day, one for B day. Two sets of binders, different colors, with page protectors for homework papers by class - one binder for A day and one binder for B day. It took D about a year to come up with this system.</p>
<p>Lots of good advice, just help him find a system that works for him. The less complicated, the better. We did have a house rule that the backpack needed to be packed before the kids went to bed. Usually that took care of it and the kids were not happy if they didn’t pack their backpack the night before because they were scrambling around in the morning. I agree with previous posters that routine is absolutely key. By the time they were in high school I didn’t lift a finger anymore - they needed to own the process.</p>
<p>My high schooler does all homework in Google Docs. Then he can access his paperwork at school if he’s forgotten something at home. </p>
<p>Op,
Hugs to you. This completely describes my son as well. Does the HW but either forgets it at home or forgets it in his locker from grade 5 onwards. The non-turning in of HW has resulted in a grade drop in every class in HS (from A- to B+ or from B- to C+, etc)
- He was diagnosed with ADHD - inattentive type at end of 9th grade. Adderall (now Vyvanse instead) helps a little with remembering HW
- I created an “active file” for school. It is a binder which has the current week’s syllabus/HW list, and pockets whereby he is supposed to put his finished HW into each pocket every night… This binder was then placed in backpack and placed by the front door every night.
- Up to end of 10th grade, I used to make him show me the active binder, and I would check if HW from the syllabus was in it’s pocket. This was met with tons of grumbling. 11th grade, I did not check so he did slip back a bit and would often choose not to follow it.</p>
<p>I had tried many other organizational tools:
An event planner with HW penciled in and checked off
an accordion file
an ADHD coach</p>
<p>None of them worked.</p>
<p>I love the scanning the HW idea!! Gonna make him try it.</p>
<p>@13thFloor my son does a lot in Google docs too, for English and History, but it’s not really practical for math or science with symbols and diagrams.</p>
<p>So I talked with him and he is really mortified and thinks the teacher thinks he is not telling the truth about having done the assignments. The first one, a summer assessment with about 4 pages of assorted problems, was to be brought in the first day and he did it but forgot it at home. The second one he actually had completed two days in advance. It was in the folder, in the backpack, but then for some reason he took everything out of the backpack and went to an evening band practice. Meanwhile, my husband tidied the pile of his school stuff on the dining table. Son still blames Dad for moving things but honestly those folders were in plain sight! And it ultimately is his responsibility. Hopefully next week goes more smoothly. Son insists he has a “system” and would like to drop the whole matter. I think he is very disappointed in making a bad impression on the math teacher.</p>
<p>Does he use a planner? Does he have a dry erase board he can check each night? One son has each class listed on a dry erase board and everyday he writes down if he has homework. He puts homework directly into backpack once done.</p>
<p>I’d ask him what his system is…over a bowl of ice cream or something nice you all do together–doesn’t have to be food. </p>
<p>I do agree that, once out of high school, it gets easier for kids like this (including mine). If I leave something on the home computer, I can run home. If my college student forgets something, it is stll on his laptop which goes everywhere with him and he can run into a building and print it if he needs a hard copy. But if my high school kid forgets it, he gets a 0. I realize we need to raise accountable young adults, but once we are adults, we often get more latitude. </p>
<p>In the meantime, scanning sounds like a good solution. Also, we use ical for all family members, with key school due dates entered. He can set it so he only sees his own calendar, whereas I am master of the universe and can see it all. </p>
<p>Hang in there. </p>