By coincidence, my youngest son was assigned the same reading book as my oldest.  With two copies of the book here at home, I could then follow along in a separate book while my oldest son practiced reading, instead of hovering or sitting very close. 

Giving him some physical space while reading really decreased his stress level, and reading practice was a lot more relaxing for everybody.

From now on, when he gets assigned a new reading book, I'm going to ask for 2 copies.

Today I found out about a DVD called "How to do homework without throwing up" by Trevor Romain.  The Indiana Jones-like story looks like something my kids would like (ages 6-1/2 and 10).

Here's the official product description:

"Escaping the Panther of Procrastination When procrastinators Jack and Skye are suddenly thrown from Trevor's sketchpad into the Amazon jungle, they begin to see their assignments in a whole new light! If they don't return the "Golden Goat" idol to the "Tomb of Doom" before Skye becomes a hairy goat-girl, they'll never finish their school work!"

"Defeating the Homework Curse
Laugh along with Jack and Skye's hilarious adventure as they learn good homework skills such as making a homework schedule, finding a homework helper, eating healthy snacks, doing the hardest homework first, and more (*)! Using humor, original music and a fun cliffhanger storyline, this DVD provides practical, easy-to-understand lessons that teach kids of all ages simple ways to defeat the dreaded homework curse!"

* Note from NorwayMom:  Signs are posted on tunnel walls and other places where the action is occurring, naming the effective homework strategies.  The strategies shown in the youtube videos are:  have a plan, take breaks, hardest assignment first, eat healthy snacks, ask for help, no excuses.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/product-description/B0007N1 JDC/ref=dp_proddesc_0?ie=UTF8&n=130&s=dvd  - product on Amazon

http://comicalsense.com/main.php - official website, which seems to be down this morning.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ods2KvoTKfo - music video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_hDVN6xbT4&feature=relat ed - trailer

OMG!!!

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS POST!!!

I WAS DREADING THE START OF SCHOOL FOR THIS VERY FACT. BUT WITH THIS POSTING....I CAN BE ACTUALLY HELP MY DAUGHTER INSTEAD OF STRUGGLE WITH HER. 

THANK YOU~ THANK YOU~ THANK YOU!

Thanks Norway,

I am dreading school starting for this reason as well..kindy and first grade was too much of a demand on her and I know the older she gets the more she will get...she hates to do it..it is easy as pie but she rather do anything but homework...I practically have to straddle her to do it.

https://www.socialthinking.com/images/Homework_Reprint_July0 7.pdf

It's by Michelle Garcia Winner, and is called "Teaching Organizational Skills to Individuals with ASD".  The focus is on Executive Dysfunction and homework.

One of the things she mentions is a Gantt Chart.  This is a project timeline that shows the various project tasks and when they will be worked on and completed.  Here is a very simple example, listing tasks and showing progress in blue.  As you can see, at today's date (vertical line), a few tasks are behind schedule.

http://www.lifehack.org/wp-content/files/2006/09/20060927-ga nttchart.gif

You don't need special software for this, you can make simple homework project Gantt charts using Excel.  Here's a youtube video showing how to do this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CW_wGSFavTc

She also mentions a "Social Behavior Map".  This is a product/book of hers that charts Expected vs. Unexpected Behavior, comparing them in terms of how they make others feel, consequences, and how they make you feel.  You can see a picture of one at Amazon (click on "larger picture"):

http://www.amazon.com/POSTER-Social-Behavior-Template-Surfac e/dp/B000FLVL48

Various homework helpers.  This link brings you to videos that demonstrate math operations.  Click on other tabs (above) for helpful stuff related to other subjects.

http://school.discoveryeducation.com/homeworkhelp/math/math_ homework_help.html

Tips from Dr. Greenspan on homework:

http://specialchildren.about.com/od/learningstrategies/a/See -The-Big-Picture.htm 

This was a good point:

"The response of "doesn't want to do it" often reflects an insecurity about the task, which may relate to worry about his ability to carry it out -- or it could simply be a boring task, such as washing dishes. If a parent and child talk through the task, those feelings and reasons will come out, and together they can work on raising his confidence or discussing why something must be done."

Yes, homework can in certain cases be simply boring and nothing else, but I believe the situation is usually more complex.  Like Greenspan says, the child doesn't have confidence in his ability to meet the demands of the task and he doesn't experience mastery/satisfaction as he completes it.