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children with ADHD

Talking to the Teacher

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School is overwhelming with distractions for children with ADHD. Your child’s teacher is most likely not specially trained in assisting children with ADHD. Here are some ideas that you, as a parent, can communicate to your child’s teacher in order to help them succeed:

  1. Ask the teacher for an extra set of textbooks to be kept at home. Despite effort to remember, many distractible students forget to bring home their proper materials.
  2. Encourage the teacher to seat your child near the front and center of the classroom. This should not be done in an embarrassing or punishing way. Instead, seat him/her in the front using a “random” seat assignment. This way, there are not many students in front of the child to distract him/her.
  3. Communicate your child’s strengths to the teacher. If your child learns better by creating mnemonics or rhymes or by visual learning, the teacher may be able to tweak the lesson to help.
  4. Ask for extra feedback on your child’s behavior. Feedback should be given to the student and to the parent via email or take-home messages. Remind the teacher that children with ADHD especially need to celebrate their progress often.
  5. Tell the teacher that directions should be repeated and written for your child. Oftentimes, when the directions are stated once, they go in one ear and out the other. Repeating gives your child a second chance to catch the directions. Writing directions on the board or assignment gives your child the opportunity to look back at the directions as much as needed.
  6. Encourage the teacher to ask you for help! Express to the teacher that you realize that he or she is not an expert on ADHD. The teacher may have questions for you or for your child about what he or she can do to help. Also, if a school psychologist or guidance counselor is available, remind the teacher that help can be obtained from these resources as well.
  7. Ask if your child can share notes with another student. Taking notes quickly is difficult for students with ADHD. By sharing notes, your child can get the information that he/she missed during class.
  8. Ask for extra time on tests and quizzes. Even if your child does not meet the legal criteria for receiving extra time, the teacher may be willing to provide it regardless.
  9. Ask the teacher to set up a buddy system in which each student has a few phone numbers of classmates in the case of forgotten homework assignments.

Remember that the more you help the teacher understand your child, the more he/she can help your child!
Contact Dr. Gordon for help with your ADHD. We have treatment and solutions available online, by phone, and in our offices.

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written by:
 Brianna Malinowski, 
Jay Gordon, Ph.D

Bernstein, J. (2007). 10 days to a less distracted child: The breakthrough program that gets your kids to listen, learn, focus, and behave. New York: Marlowe & Company.

Photo retrieved from: http://www.longislandeyedoctor.com/2014/04/vision-therapy-kids-failing-school/ on Aug. 24, 2015

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Organization Tips

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For young people, staying organized in school is essential. But things can easily get disorganized with papers from different classes, take-home notices, homework, and trash. Here are some tips for keeping organized for school and home:

  • Label everything! Label each notebook and textbook with the subject name. Use color-coding to further distinguish different school materials. A green science notebook should match a green book cover, etc. Also include the student’s name in case of losing the items.
  • Do a daily 15-minute cleanup of the child’s room, work, and play area. Limiting the time will keep from overwhelming the child and will also prevent a massive and lengthy cleanup at the end of the week or month.
  • The child should dump his/her entire backpack onto the floor or table in the same spot every day. This helps them find “lost” objects and papers and allows them to sort through their papers and trash from school.
  • Sort through lose papers stuffed into notebooks and textbooks. Should the papers be thrown out? Should they be hole-punched and put into a binder? A binder may be better than a folder as the papers can be easily flipped through and organized into sections.
  • Create a place for important papers. Use a labeled box or office paper trays to save a place for completed tests until they are no longer needed.
  • At the end of the school day, the child should look at his/her planner to make sure that the correct books and papers are brought home for homework and studying.

 

Contact Dr. Gordon for help with your ADHD. We have treatment and solutions available online, by phone, and in our offices.

Get Started

written by:
 Brianna Malinowski, 
Jay Gordon, Ph.D

Sleeper-Triplett, J. (2010). Empowering youth with ADHD: Your guide to coaching adolescents and young adults for coaches, parents, and professionals. Plantation, Fla: Specialty Press, Inc.

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ADD Students – Homework and ADHD

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Tips for Assisting ADD Students / Students with ADHD

  • Organizing information and note taking: Students with ADD / ADHD require extra assistance to organize and prioritize their homework. At home, parents can help organize and prioritize assignments and record important dates onto a home calendar.
  • Providing a quiet environment for ADD Students: Make sure that the homework environment is quiet with minimal distractions.
  • Maintaining a routine: Routine brings order and order assists in the facilitation of focus. Homework should be completed at the same time each day in the same quiet environment.
  • Break into parts: The academic rule of thumb is that there should be 10 minutes
    of homework added on for each grade level, i.e., 4th graders should be able to handle 40 minutes of homework each night. However, for a child with ADHD, 40 minutes may be too long to sustain attention on one given subject area. Therefore, homework should be ‘chunked’ into smaller segments.
  • Manage time and set goals: After helping your child break their homework into smaller segments or chunks, set time completion goals and accuracy goals. Use a timer to externalize the time cue and provide the additional structure.
  • Rewarding: Use positive reinforcement. Keep your attention focused on positive behavior. Set clear reward for homework completion and even for completion of each homework ‘chunk’ discussed above.
  • Consequences: Adhere to the plan and set up realistic consequences for not completing the homework.
  • Communicating: Communication between the teacher, parent, and child is critical. Establish a weekly or even daily report card which reports missing assignments, test grades, and up coming projects and tests; and
  • Seek professional help: Know when it is time to ask for assistance from professionals.

students with ADHD

Contact Dr. Gordon for help with your ADHD. We have ADHD treatments and solutions available online, by phone, and in our offices.

Get Started