Hi, Pam.

I, too, have a son with ADHD. Sitting and writing answers on the timed sheets was very 'painful' for him! ;-) I did a variety of things to help get them done and keep him 'engaged' in the worksheet.

One thing I did was to have him complete a line and then do 10 jumping jacks or run around the room 10 times. This gave him a 'reward' for completing a line.

Another thing I did was to do the equations verbally. My son has dyslexia as well, so not only was it painful to sit still, but he also had to 'focus' really hard on how to write the numbers correctly (not backwards and reversed). So, we would do our math worksheets like a relay race. He would run to me, I would give him an equation, he would answer it, then run back to the 'starting point'.

Do the equations on a white board using a variety of colors. I would write the equations down on the board and make sure he would answer the equations in many different colors. This gave him the variation and 'different' he needed to keep his mind focused.

Finally, find an unusual place to do the worksheet. This may or may not work for all kids as sometimes it provides more distraction....but I would tell my son that he was to do a worksheet today. He would groan. Then I would say, yeah...but today you will NOT do it at your desk, you will do it under the kitchen table (or on the deck). I would even through in 'tricky' things like, 'Yeah, but you have to do the worksheet while standing on one foot, etc. This provided a 'fun' element to the worksheet and helped get them done.

Let me know how it is going! Perhaps you have more ideas that would help me or someone else! ;-)

Have a great school year!
Rachel