My son is 5 too. Meds help a lot but you also have to have a lot of love and understanding. We dont let our son have sugar after 6 pm but my son is very hyper. Some kids with add or adhd need special ed. for the first few years of school, talk to your school. Here if u need to talk..

I would go to the principle......number one the teacher has to be on your side. I have a 10yr. son and I'm very lucky our school tries to understand....plus help kids with add. My son has to sit right up in front of the class...so the teacher keeps an eye on him. People, with add have a hard time with all the noises....we are distracted with everything already....so if the kids around your son is talking it is not a good thing. Memory, is very hard for people with add....you have to remember our brains are going a hundred miles an hour. Things, are popping in and out so fast plus we are usually very hypersensitive to light,sound and touch. Your son needs you to fight for him....he shouldn't be punished.....he should have smaller goals to reach. You don't want him to hate school so much you won't be able to get him to go. I have add....I'm 46 and I can remember being in school failing gr.2 and all the kids laughing at me. Well, at 7yrs. old I told myself if I failed again......they would never get me to go to school again. Schools cater to audio people and add people are visual people. I have to say I don't like your son's teacher at all. She sounds like the one who failed me in gr. 2 she didn't even tell my parents I was having problems. I hate her still....my life could have been so much more if it wasn't because of her. I'm rambling but I wanted to say get books on add learn all you can about the illness and your son is very smart you and him have to figure out what is his way of learning. I wish you luck and I'm sending hugs your way for your son.....coming from someone who knows what it is like being add. You also have to tell your son how special he is add is not a sentence.....he can be whatever he puts his mind to....he's young and should love school. I was the non hyper add person to. take care

story of my life, my son was diagnosed years ago ,and i felt that i was forced to put him on ritalin because the school couldnt handle his disruptive behaviour, his innatentivness,and his lack of concerntration to focus on the tasks at hand, of course i did it because he was struggling academically to keep up.
i recently learnt (after so many years)if you keep everything posative instead of negative these kids actually want to please their teachers and the key was to get a teacher that understood adhd/add and could manage and make specialised programing for for son, and guess what it works.
1- never let them blame you ,your son or family life.
2-give them teaching techniques this forces them to understand in a subtle but assertive way.
3-always be posative
4-make the school assess him and give proof or documentation of all you finding from your visits so when it comes to the crunch you can stand your ground.
in my years working along side teachers i have learnt something.
"teachers are like hairdressers hard to find good ones".

oh and why not suggest a diary for you son to take home weelky to be signed by both teacher and parent to keep track of academic assignments.

Hello "momNidaho" and "5 1/2 year ols Son".
You are my first person that I have reached out to since signing up to this community. I came to this site looking for help and support as I grasp for straws looking for answers and solutions that I am faced with as I cope with my ADD. If you read my profile I also have a 14yr Son who is ADHD. I have traveled simular roads that you are traveling with your son now.
As I read your posting, my heart is very saddened for you and your son.
I am still trying to learn as much as possible about ADD/ADHD but I hope to give you some direction to resolve your situation or at least difuse the situation.
As I have reached this portion of this response, I am angered at the way the teacher has handled your child. I don't know how much time is spent teaching the teachers of tommorrow how to handle students with special needs. Maybe I shouldn't fault the teacher but maybe the blame should be directed more towards the programs that prepare these teachers to become teachers.
If I may make a suggestion, I would ask to meet with the principle of your sons school. I would have a one on one conversation, explaining to the princple how things have unfolded up to this point in time. Ask the principle, how does the School Board handle these situations.
I would also ask you to do some research of your own and see what kind of support or protection you can get from the "ADA", (American Disabilities Act)in your location as well as State wide area. I would pay close attention to your personal rights as well as your sons!!!

After you have done the ground work you now have ammo if you feel that you are not getting the cooperation you hope to get. It would be at this point that I would ask that you have a meeting with both teacher and principle and discuss possible options. It would be at this time that I would mention the "ADA", and tell them that I you don't get the satisfation you are looking for, you will go to the school board and "TAKE ANY NECCESARY ACTION!!!"
Plz understand my intent, and it is by no means to wage a war with the teacher or the school. This is your son and your sons future were talking about.
I have great admiration for our teachers and I feel that they don't get the credit they deserve nor justifiable wages. I feel that the teachers are the key to the future of America. We need to invest in the future through our teacher as well as our kids!!!
I hope I was able to give you some direction and hope you succeed.
You are welcome to contact me, and let me know how things turned out.
To You and your Son I wish you all the best!!! Sincerly, Mark P. S.

Yes!! There is light at the end of the tunnel and it isn't even an on coming train!! Talk to the doctor, see what he/she feels is the best course of treatment. Be it diet, meds, accomodations in class, OT or all of the above. We had to seriously rethink our position on meds. We were very resistant to the whole idea. In the end, what we knew is that what ever we were doing, wasn't working, and our child was unhappy and frustrated. So we decided to give meds a try. And it has been a blessing. Even after just one week we have noticed a difference. The most important one is that Rebecca is happier and doing better. No, things aren't 'perfect' and we have a ways to go yet. If the Diagnosis for ADD came from your pediatrician, I would take the advice from the teacher/school and get a neruo-psychologist to evaluate. (there is always a chance the teacher is right, distasteful as her behavior has been, she may be on to something)
We as parents, and this is likely to tick a few people off and I apologize in advance if it does, also have to be careful to not let ADHD define our kids, nor excuse them from completeing work. I had a neighbor who did that with her sons. Every failed grade, every missed assignment, every screw up in school was the fault of ADHD, never did she and her husband hold their kids accountable for their behavior or choices, because 'it is all the fault of ADHD!
My daughter has ADHD, there was a thought for a time she had Aspergers or Sensory Intergration Disorder, I still expected and expect, her teacher to hold Rebecca accountable for incomplete work. If that means missing recess, so be it. Her assignments are being, and for the sake of the teachers ,have been for awhile, modified to accomodate Rebecca, Rebecca still has to do her part in all of this.
At the very least, consider holding your son back a year. On top of ADHD he is only 5, and boys mature much slower than girls. Better to hold them back in kindergarten than to have to face that issue in say 4th grade when it is far more emotionally damaging than it is in kindergarten.
I was held back, back then they didn't call it ADHD, they said things like "She isn't living up to potential" or "If she would just try harder or concentrate more" as well as the ever popular "She is flighty and inattentive" Yes, being held back was difficult, more later in life than it was then. I don't blame my teachers, or my parents, it is what it is, was what it was. The one good thing is, I never let it define my life, I used it instead. (Darn genetic stubborn streak) I have a fine sense of "OH? So that is what you think? Fine, let me show you how wrong you are!"
Look into tutoring also, it can be a great help, and kids often do for others what they won't do for us. Look for and take advantage of every tool, assistance program, educational oppurtunity you can get your hands on. It is out there!
And remember, there IS light at the end of the tunnel and it is beautful bright and wonderful!, You just need to get threw the tunnel to reach it!