Mar 26, 2009

Thursday Thirteen #82

Thursday Thirteen
Thirteen Things that Twisted Cinderella has found for doing schoolwork with ADHD children
  1. Create short lessons, do each thing in short increments. This will help to hold your child's attention.
  2. Look for some creative ways to keep your child interested (I have created a game where each bit of homework is in a separate stations and when she is done one, she moves on to the next station and at the end there is a prize. Something small like listen to a song on the computer, play with her moonsand, bake with mommy etc.)
  3. Movement while working helps them to concentrate. Perhaps jumping up and down on a trampoline reciting math facts or saying their lines for a play while walking across a balance beam at the park. Keep it fun!
  4. Have patience, and don't worry, it will get easier for you do this if you give it time.
  5. Help your child to learn to be organized. Lack of organizational skills is a characteristic of ADHD.
  6. Rewards and incentives are a great way to motivate.
  7. Engage the child and make sure she is happy, content and satisfied, that she has had an opportunity to go to the bathroom, to have something to eat, and have some fun as well.
  8. Hardest things first: start with the subject(s) the child dislikes the most, starting with the most difficult things at the start is a good idea because this is when the childs attention and focus will be at a peak. It also means that if towards the end the child has a subject they enjoy, then they will see that as a "treat".
  9. Establish daily routines to handle morning activities, schoolwork and bedtime. Routines help make sense of the chaos that uncontrolled ADHD can cause.
  10. Know the triggers. Know what things can make ADHD worse for you or your child. For some it may be eating a breakfast high in sugar.
  11. Stress can aggravate ADHD. Find ways to relieve stress and relax.
  12. Focus on the Positive. ADHD can make it difficult to concentrate or even finish the simplest tasks. The very traits that make ADHD a problem can also be useful. The ability to multi-task has be a great asset as a adult.
  13. Make learning fun!: The usual implements and methods of learning wont work with a child with ADHD, you have to engage them and make learning an enjoyable and creative process.




4 comments:

Cory said...

Great post!!! You've got some stuff in there that might help me get along in doing my own stuff!

Anonymous said...

This post is really useful. The concept of having stations for each task and having them move around is fantastic advice. I'm going to have to use that.

Anonymous said...

Most awesome, and very synchronistic with mine:

http://fullbodytransplant.wordpress.com/2009/03/26/thursday-thirteen-an-art-teachers-manifesto/

Birds of a feather!

Janet said...

that's a great list, well done!

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