Children with attention problems often lose their books or forget to take them home, so they cannot do their homework. If possible, send a separate set of books and supplies to be kept at the student’s home. All books and school supplies should be kept in one place in the home, so that once the child sits down, he or she can just begin working without getting up again to get a pen, paper or glue. Three such trips to look for some item can easily take an hour because the child gets distracted while walking around searching for the object. At the end of an hour, the child’s homework is not one problem closer to being done, the parent is angry and the child is upset because that is one less hour to watch TV or play with friends and there is just as much homework as ever. All of this could have avoided by having everything (and I do mean EVERYTHING – papers, pens, glue, pencil sharpener, school books, notebook, tape – in one place).

If you have several children and not a lot of room, it is likely you don’t have a desk, bookshelf and perfect study area for each of your children. Here is a simple solution. Get a cardboard box. Put all of the child’s books and school supplies in it. When it is homework time, pull the box out from under the bed or table where you keep it and work can start.