I need help burning a fire under my son's feet (metaphorically)!!?

Question

So, my son is always dragging his feet to do anything! He just turned 6 and it takes him forever to do everything! He's very smart, but has no urgency within him. Homework takes hours, he gets bored.. He's already a year ahead in school, so moving him up a grade would be bad for his social being. A 5yr old in second grade would've been bad. He takes alot of time for everything, I even had to put a timer in the shower, so he wouldn't be in there all night. What can I do to get him moving on a daily basis??? HELP!

Answer 1

my son has the same problem except he's 9.  i feel like telling him to light a firecracker in his a$$ and get movin!

I've gotten advice from the teacher on this and she mentioned the timer thing too.... almost like race to get it done but neatly?  with his homework, make it fun in a way...tell him your going to set the timer for however long so instead of him getting bored it's a bit more challenging? Or a calendar that he creates to get things done in a reasonable time...with his own stickers he picks out?  But just from my experience they don't move for nothing unless somethings in it for them!

Answer 2

For the morning routine, I would turn on the radio. Let him get dressed in one song, eating for two, etc. If the music's upbeat, he might move faster too!  As for homework, My son is like that sometimes, and we will tend to make everyone wait on him to finish, so he feels like he's gotta hurry. example: we want to go out, but can't till he finishes his homework! (We usually have a fixed time to go, but if i tell him this, he hurries a bit more!)

Answer 3

great ideas, also try to turn things into a game. When I told my son to clean his room, i would turn on the timer and say, see if you can beat 5 min. Then the next time, it would be "see  if you can beat your old time of 5 min", and make things more routine.

Answer 4

He needs some motivation, give him a more active lifestyle. get him into scouts or 4-H or something where he has to learn to be quick on his feet.

My parents did that to me when I was younger, and I was the same way. now I am 18 and they are begging me to slow down. I'm even moving 1400 miles away in two weeks to start another job. in addition to already having been in college for two years, and worked 4-5 different jobs. ( some at the same time.)

Answer 5

Try to find a way to reward him when he does what you want.  Perhaps give him a candy or let him do some activity he enjoys.  After a while it should be habit for him to do it.