Too much help?

OK, here's the thing ... Kevin had 3 weeks to complete 2 Language Arts projects. (6th grade, new to middle school, and struggling a bit to get in the swing of things and stay organized, etc.) He had to read a book and do 1 vocabulary project and 1 activity project, from a list of 10-15 on each. He 'chose' to do a Crossword Puzzle for the vocabulary project (using 20 words from the book that he didn't know, had to look up definitions for.) For the Activity Project, he chose to do a time line. OK, that's the easy part ... the hard part was getting him to actually READ the book and DO the projects. 3 weeks came quickly, and both are due on Monday. I told him that he basically is in lock-down today at home (with the exception of taking a karate test this a.m.) ... and IF he didn't finish both, he couldn't go to baseball tomorrow. I made DH take out 7 y.o. DD (so that she wasn't a distraction to her brother) and I stayed home to 'help.' Mind you, as of this a.m., he still had 70-80 pages left to READ of the book (although he had pretty much laid out the words for the crossword puzzle and looked up most of the definitions.)

Let me add at this time that Kevin (although 'gifted') has ADHD as well as auditory processing problems. He's had some fine motor skill issues which make handwriting somewhat difficult for him at times. SO, we have HOURS of work ahead of us, for a kid that has some trouble paying attention (not medicated currently for that) as well as handwriting problems.

I was torn ... part of me wanted him to bumble through this on his own, take a failing (or not so great) grade and 'learn' from the experience. Part of me KNOWS he's capable of more than he's showing, and wants to help him. Let him SEE that he IS capable, and help him get a decent grade in hopes of him feeling good and proud, and wanting to keep working hard.

SO, I gave him my day and helped. I read WITH him ... where he'd read a page and I'd read 2-3 to get through the book quicker. (He had chosen "Around the World in 80 Days" which fit perfectly for the time line.) He had, as I said, laid out the words for the crossword puzzle, so while he was reading, I went ahead and did the puzzle itself in Excel ... His handwriting is atrocious and it's been suggested that he use the computer as much as possible. I pretty much did the crossword puzzle project. Well, he laid it out AND looked up the definitions ... but I made it LOOK nice.

As far as the time line, we read it together. Then, I had him DICTATE to me a dozen or so different 'events' he wanted to include, and I typed them in WORD. He then used my print program, copied and pasted from WORD into that program ... I had gotten him started, but he did cut/paste, and then selected pictures to include in the time line. This printed on like 6-7 pages, and I did tape it up for him so it was like a banner.

Too much help? Now, he really did a lot of work (although a lot of it was with me cracking the whip and forcing him to stay on task.) I know that he never would have finished it without my help ... and it certainly is a lot nicer than if he'd done it on his own. I don't feel like I did it for him or anything, but I'm wondering if I did too much. My HOPE is that he sees how easy things are IF he just does it ... and that he'll feel proud of his work/efforts so that next time, he'll be in a better position to work more independently. I know he has some 'issues' and I try not to let any be a crutch for him. (Heck, he doesn't even KNOW he has ADHD or auditory processing problems.)

I am proud of the fact that he really did stay focused most of the day ... and we worked on this thing from 1:30 - 6:30 without any break (other than a phone call or the bathroom.)

But, is this TOO MUCH? I'm not the type of mom to DO the science fair projects or book reports. Did I overstep, or what?

Nancy