There are a number of strategies you can use to help your child or teen succeed at school if they have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
How To Set Your Child Up For Success In School
ADHD or ADD children can find the classroom environment challenging. Students are required to sit still, listen quietly, and concentrate all day long on exactly the tasks they find most challenging. One of the most frustrating aspects of these children is that they wish to learn and behave like their peers who are unaffected. A child with attention deficit disorder cannot learn in a traditional way because of neurological deficits, not unwillingness.
As a parent, you can assist your child in coping with these deficits and overcoming the challenges that come with school. Using practical learning strategies inside and outside the classroom and communicating with teachers about how the child learns best will help you support your child’s learning. Your child can experience success at school and in life if you support them consistently with the following strategies.
The Best Ways To Work With Teachers
You should keep in mind that your child’s teacher has a full plate: besides managing a group of students with different personalities, she can also expect to have at least one student with ADHD. In addition to teachers doing their best to assist your child with attention deficit disorder in learning, parental involvement in the education process can have a profound effect on your child’s academic performance.
It is up to you to support the steps taken in the classroom to make sure your child has the best chance for success. You can directly influence your child’s school experience if you work with and support your child’s teacher.
Maintaining your child’s academic success at school can be done in many ways by working with teachers. By working together, you can help your child overcome the challenges of the school day and find their feet in the classroom. Your role as a parent is to advocate for your child. It is crucial that you communicate your child’s needs to the adults at school in order for them to succeed in the classroom. Similarly, you should listen to the opinions of your teachers and other school officials.
Making sure your child’s school communicates effectively is important. Remember your common goal: helping the child succeed in school. Make an effort to be calm, specific, and most importantly, positive when communicating with the school, whether over the phone, by email, or in person.
Plans in Advance. Consider having a sit down with the school before the school year begins. Once the school year has begun, schedule at least one monthly meeting with the teacher or counselor.
Meet on time. Pick a time that is convenient for you and the teacher, and stick to it. To better understand your child’s learning environment, meet in their classroom if it is convenient for you.
Work together to set goals. Think about how you want your child to succeed in school. Identify specific and realistic goals for your child and discuss ways to help him or her achieve them.
Pay close attention. Your child’s teacher wants her or him to succeed at school as much as you do. Listen carefully to what they say, even if it’s hard to hear. To find solutions that work, you must understand your child’s challenges at school.
Inform each other. With both you and your child’s teacher knowing your child’s history, you can gain a better understanding of their struggles. Be open to sharing your observations with your child’s teachers, and encourage them to do the same.
Give a complete picture and ask the hard questions. If your child is taking any medications or receiving any other treatments, be sure to list them and explain them. Talk to the teacher about the tactics that work at home for your child – and those that don’t. You should ask your child if he or she is having any difficulties at school or on the playground. See if any special services are available to assist them in learning.
Planned Behavior Development and Implementation
It is possible for children with ADD/ADHD to behave appropriately and manage their symptoms in class as long as they are given structure and clear expectations. Parents can help their children by developing a behavior plan and implementing it consistently. Make sure your child and their teacher are involved in the development of any behavior plan you decide to implement.
Positive reinforcement with specified goals, as well as worthwhile rewards, are the best ways to motivate kids with ADHD. Your child may need a carrot on a stick if you want him to behave better in class. Ensure small victories are rewarded with small rewards, and bigger victories are rewarded with larger rewards.
Tips For Dealing With ADHD Symptoms in School
As ADHD affects each child’s brain differently, the classroom presentation varies from case to case. Symptoms of ADHD range from bouncing off walls to constantly daydreaming to just not following the rules for some kids.
You can guide your child towards reducing any or all of the behaviors as a parent. You can choose the most effective strategies for dealing with attention deficit disorder by understanding how it affects different children’s behavior. In order to help your child succeed in school, you and the teacher can take a variety of fairly straightforward approaches.
Distractibility Management
Students with ADHD are more likely to become distracted by noise, passersby, and their own thoughts, thereby missing crucial classroom information. Focusing on tasks requiring sustained mental effort is difficult for these children. Even though they seem to be listening to you, they aren’t able to retain the information.
The best way to help kids who distract easily is to place them in a physical location, get them to move more, and break long work stretches into shorter ones.
- If the child has ADHD, keep him or her away from doors and windows. During the student’s work time, pets should be put in a different room or corner.
- Try alternating seated activities with those which require the child to move around. Physical activity should be incorporated into lessons whenever possible.
- Ensure that important information is written down so the child can readily read and refer to it. Make sure the student knows where the information can be found.
- Children should be allowed frequent breaks between large assignments.
Keeping Interruptions to a Minimum
Children with attention deficit disorder often speak out of turn as a result of their inability to control their impulses. At home or in class, they call out or make comments while others are speaking. As a result, they might be perceived as aggressive or even rude, resulting in social problems. Often, children with ADHD have fragile self-esteem, so bringing this up in class or in front of family members won’t help and may even exacerbate the problem.
When correcting interruptions in children with ADHD, it is essential to maintain the child’s self-esteem, especially in public. Get to know the child with ADHD by developing a “secret language. The child can be told they are interrupting by using discrete gestures or words. Praise them for not interrupting.
Impulsivity Management
It is common for children with ADHD to act before they think, resulting in difficult social situations as well as classroom problems. When kids lack impulse control, they may appear aggressive or unruly. There is no doubt that this is one of the most disruptive symptoms of ADHD, especially at school.
Children with ADHD can be given a sense of control over their lives by developing behavior plans, immediately disciplining them for infractions, and providing a plan for managing their impulsivity.
Ensure that a written behavior plan is available near the student. This can even be taped to the child’s desk or the wall.
Follow up on misbehavior immediately. Make sure the child understands how the behavior was inappropriate.
Make a point of acknowledging good behavior. If you praise your child, make sure they know exactly what they did well.
The schedule can be written on a piece of paper or the board. As items are completed, cross them out. When children with impulse problems know what to expect, they may feel calmer and gain a sense of control.
Hyperactivity And Fidgeting: How To Manage Them
There is often constant physical movement among ADHD students. These children may appear to have difficulty staying in their seats. The physical movements of children with ADD/ADHD may make it difficult for teachers to teach them.
For children with ADHD, hyperactivity management entails finding creative ways to allow them to move appropriately at the appropriate times. When a child releases energy in this way, their body may remain calm during work hours.
You can ask your child with ADHD to run an errand, even if it is simply sharpening pencils or putting dishes away.
Children with ADHD should be encouraged to play sports – or at the very least runaround – and should never miss recess or physical education.
Give the child a stress ball or another small toy to squeeze or play with discretely at his or her seat.
Screen time should be limited to promote movement.
How To Deal With Difficulty Following Directions
It is common for children with ADHD to have trouble following directions. Despite appearing to understand and even writing down directions, these kids aren’t following them correctly. It is not uncommon for these students to miss steps and turn in incomplete work or to misunderstand a task completely and end up doing something completely different altogether.
You can help your ADHD child by providing directions, breaking them down, reinforcing the steps, and redirecting them when necessary. Allow the child to complete one step before coming to the next, keeping your instructions very brief.
Be calm and firm when redirecting the child if they get off track. Use a bold marker or colored chalk to write directions on blackboards whenever possible.
Learning Tips That Make It Fun
Children will learn more if they are engaged in a fun learning experience. It may be possible for your child to enjoy learning and even reduce his or her ADHD symptoms when you use physical motion, relate dry facts to interesting trivia, or come up with songs to keep the details fresh in his or her mind.
Making Math Fun For Children With ADHD
A child with attention deficit disorder tends to think in a more concrete manner. It is common for them to want to hold, touch, or participate actively during a new experience. The use of games and objects can be an effective way to demonstrate mathematical concepts to your child.
Engage in gameplay. You can make numbers more enjoyable by using memory cards, dice, or dominoes. You can also add or subtract by tucking or wiggling your fingers and toes.
Create a picture. Illustrations can be helpful to kids when it comes to understanding mathematical concepts, especially when it comes to word problems. If the word problem involves cars, get your child to sketch the right number of cars, starting with the steering wheel and ending with the trunk.
Be creative when it comes to acronyms. Use the first letter of each operation to spell out a song or phrase that helps you remember the order of operations.
Making Reading Fun For Children With ADHD
Despite the fact that reading is a challenging skill for children with ADHD, there are many ways to make it exciting for them. The primary purpose of reading is to share stories and interesting information – something that every child enjoys.
Give children a book to read. Spend quality time reading together.
Keep asking the child what they think is going to happen next. Make predictions or “bets.” For example, “I bet the family is going to be saved by the girl in the story.”
Put the story into action. You can ask the child to pick a character for themselves, and then they can choose a character for you as well. Put on a funny voice and wear a costume to make it come alive.
Which Type Of Learning Style Does Your Child Prefer?
A child’s learning experience is greatly enhanced when information is presented in a way that is easy to understand. Understanding how your ADHD child learns best can help you create engaging lessons that are packed with information.
The best way to learn for auditory learners is to talk and listen. Have them recite facts as a song. Often let them work together, pretending they’re on a radio show.
Reading or observation is the best learning method for visual learners. Using colored flash cards will help them remember what they’ve studied. Let them draw or write their ideas on paper.
The best way to engage tactile learners is by using physical touch or movement during a lesson. You can provide jelly beans as counters and costumes for them to act out literary or historical scenes. Make collages with clay.
How To Master Homework
While kids may dread homework, for a parent of a child with ADHD, it offers a gold mine of learning opportunities. Parents can directly support their children through academic work done outside of the classroom. This is a chance for you to help your child improve and succeed at school from the comfort of your living room.
In addition to math problems or essays, kids with ADHD can practice organizational and study skills during homework time with your support.
How To Help A Child With ADHD Become More Organized
Getting a fresh start can help with organization. Take your child shopping with you to buy school supplies, such as binders, folders, and color-coded dividers, even if it’s not the start of the academic year. This new system will make it easier for the child to organize their papers.
- Organize loose papers into color-coding folders and keep finished homework in another folder. Make sure your child knows how to file properly.
- Your child’s backpacks, folders, and pockets should be organized on a daily basis. Help them do this.
- You might want to keep the second set of textbooks and other study materials at home if possible.
- As your child completes items on a checklist, help them cross them off.
How to Help an ADHD Child Complete Their Homework On Time
It is important to understand concepts and get organized, but homework must also be completed in the evening and turned in on time. Providing consistency in structure will help a child with ADHD succeed.
- Decide on a time and place where homework can be done without clutter, pets, or television.
- Every ten to twenty minutes, allow the child to take a break.
- Make homework more efficient by using an analog clock and timers.
- At school, implement a homework procedure: put homework in a place where it is easy to find and establish a consistent time for the student to hand it in.
Assisting Your Child in Their Homework In Other Ways
Sleep and exercise should be encouraged. Exercise promotes brain development and improves concentration. Moreover, it also contributes to better sleep, which in turn reduces ADHD symptoms in children.
Make sure your child eats a healthy diet. The symptoms of ADHD can be managed by eating nutritious meals and snacks regularly and reducing junk and sugary foods.
Taking care of yourself will make it easier for you to provide for your child. Make sure you take care of yourself. Manage stress by getting enough sleep, eating right, exercising, getting enough sleep, and talking face-to-face to friends and family.
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder isn’t just a childhood issue. Many adults face serious issues in their life, work and relationships as a result of ADHD. However, you can better handle the challenges that come your way if you can take the right steps to understand adult ADHD and its symptoms.
