I had this problem with my son. Part of the reason is a bit of attention deficit but I might call it attention distractability. In this situation it isn't a child's fault. It is the way he is wired. But you don't necessarily need to "do" anything about it (ie. meds, pscychologist, etc.) but you need to learn to manage it and come up with cues, etc.
Firstly prepare yourself that as a parent you WILL have to spend sometimes several hours a night with him doing homework at least for now. If he has special needs as above it is more homework than others because he was not able to concentrate in class. Suggest his teacher sit him near the front. Ask her if any cueing is available, such as tapping on his desk or calling his name when he becomes distracted. Encourage your son to ask questions in class to clarify what he needs to know. Sometimes kids like this don't do their work because they don't understand what is expected.
Back to at home, ignor the tyrants. When you sit down with him to do the work, if he starts his temper tantrum, leave the room and let him finish it. IGNORE IT as much as you can. What you will find, is after a couple of times he realizes there is no payoff and also his frustration is then released in a safe place where mom isn't going to hate him or wack him.
Come back to the room when he is calm pretending nothing happened.
Children like this sometimes have trouble with ALL THE HANDWRITING (or printing). There really is a connection in the brain that makes that difficult. If he is good with typing, ask his teacher if he can hand in typed reports. Sometimes this is helpful.
Unless you want to have him tested by a professional (sometimes that compounds the problem), then I'd suggest you hang in there. In a couple of years he may surprise you.
My son, now 12, is showing so much self-management I can hardly believe it is the same child. He still has more homework than others, but he is doing it.
Bless you.
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