Thanks all. Let me explain a bit about what is going on.
Well, in terms of un-focus, he used to be fine with homework. Back in the previous 3 years when it was just the practice envision sheets. He would usually get assigned the enrichment worksheet for homework each night. On certain days, he would get special homework that was from his enrichment pull-out, which, according to my husband, was usually poorly laid out or had poor directions but once figured out was also fine. He usually did the homework in one sitting in about 15 minutes - sometimes less. He would do mathnasium for enrichment about once a week as well and he would do math games on the internet.
Then, hit this year with this crazy, lazy teacher. She pulls off these very repetitive, very long worksheets off the internet (or from Target) and gives them for homework. It's usually 2 or 3 sheets of 30 problems or so. Suddenly, DS is very unfocused with homework - he keeps walking away, has to be told repeatedly to sit down and do the homework, etc. We scribe and have been encouraging him to use panther math paper (it is a lot of writing) but he still insists it's too much - too cumbersome (the math apps designed to make things easier for dysgraphics are too cumbersome, too complicated, too many steps - I have to say I do agree and I have several times now thrown the iPad in frustration with panther math paper.. not kidding). He has a few time now just put down any answers, literally - just fills in random numbers to be done and puts it away thinking I won't look at it, which I do and discover the ruse.
Recently, this week, he has taken to hiding the sheets and then telling me he lost them, etc. His special-ed teacher has a few times now indicated to me that she thinks the homework is too much. She is the one who noticed him hiding the sheets this week and called me more insistent about us doing something to lessen the load. When she talked to him about it, he got very emotional and complained that he feels overwhelmed by the homework and wants to quit accelerated math (little does he know I heard the teacher below is giving a bunch of homework as well but he thinks they are only getting the usual one sheet). So, spec-ed teacher called me and really wants to either use his accommodation of reduced homework and/or she wants to carve out some time in the day for him to come to her classroom and do some of it so that he is not overwhelmed by having to do it all in one sitting. He is not having trouble with the concepts at all. He is doing well on the quizzes and the tests. Everyone agrees that he is not struggling at all with the concepts.
I am/was a little resistant. I mean, he has time for minecraft and you-tube and refuses to miss soccer practice, etc. he still loves mathnasium (as long as he does not have to do his actual homework or school work there). But his babysitter said to me yesterday that his homework is very repetitive and is taking him an hour and that he is very unfocused on it but clearly knows it. This just after the spec-ed teacher told me she thinks we need to do something because she feels the homework is destroying his love for the subject.
On top of all this the teacher is just a very poor teacher. I can tell spec-ed teacher does not like her. I have also found out parents have been complaining about this teacher for years and she is teaching accelerated because it is where she can do the least amount of damage
