Focus issue

I have been in the forums all morning reading up on other parents and concerned family members who are being faced with an issue I have been facing since my son began kindergarden. He is now in 4th grade and as the work load gets bigger and more complex, his focus issue seems to hold him back more and more. The average homework assingment takes 45 minutes. Fir my son it has taken up to 4 hours.
We had him evaluated by his pediatrician who said there is nothing concrete and consistent enough to diagnois him with ADD or ADHD. But he did voice his frustration in the local school district sending his patients in because they forget that the standards in general education have risin to points where children of these ages are expected to know things that their brains can not conprehend. he voiced that many times he sees children who are "smart" by memory these days not because they understand concept and reasoning.
I am now on the road to finding an alternative solution. His school had finally decided (because I refuse to force my doctor into medicating my son with no just cause) to work with him 2 times a week on a more indivisual level with RSP specialist, who help children with such issues develop ways to help themselves stay focus and grasp concepts being taught. He is an entire grade level behing in reading according to their standard. And every few months had what we at home call a brain growth spirt, where he suddenly is able to graps things, get work completed faster and reading improves, then after a few months of that we are back to square one.
I have also decided to order the herbal remedy some discussed briefly here, Focus. I will be brining it to his doctor so I know what I am getting into as well as hsi doctor.
Does anyone here though have any real insight to what could possibly be going on?
At a lost...

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

It is critical at this stage to have your son tested. Difficulty with focusing can derive from many sources, only one of them being ADHD. While it is possible that he does display an Inattentive-type ADHD, it may also be the case that he displays a learning disability. This needs to be ruled out, and the only way to do so is through testing. Request the testing according to whatever procedure your public school system employs. Every school system in the country, under guidelines of federal law, must evaluate youngsters when there is some obstacle to their learning.

[S.Grimes]

We are having the same problem with our 7 year old daughter.  Last year, when in 1st grade, she seemed to be doing great, at grade level or above in reading, 100% on all her spelling tests and at satisfactory level or better on everything else as far as her report cards were concerned.

Since starting 2nd grade a month or so ago, we have noticed a huge difference in her performance.  Homework is taking her at least 2 hours or more, she cannot focus and when we ask her a question on a paragraph she has just read, such as science or spanish homework, she looks at us like she has absolutely no idea what we are talking about.

Could this just be her way of adjusting to the workload in 2nd grade or should I be worried?  The most her teacher has said this far is that she talks too much in class and could do better with more focus.  How do we help her overcome these problems before the school year flies by without her?

Worried parent
S. Grimes

[nytexan]

Wow. You just described OUR 7 year old son to a T! really!
We're scheduled to have him tested by a psychologist/educational evaluator that our pediatrician recommended. He meets with us first, then observes the child in class, which is great, THEN does testing.
We're also freaking out  b/c we want him to do his best, whatever that is and the 2nd grade is starting to get harder now. He's come home with reading packets that aren't complete and when I ask him why he didn't finish them in school he says he was "thinking." (We're gonna try and speak with his teacher again to see if she can better help him understand things when he seems to not get it.)
I've been reading around alot this past week and he seems to show some signs of inattentive ADD, as well as ADP (audio difficulty processing).
Part of me hopes it  just the auditory stuff so he doesn't need to take meds. (even though my former boss' kid does and he says they worked wonders)
I hope you read this since it's way later than your original post.
I've been digging for answers like crazy!