adhd homeschooling Archives - Look! We're Learning!

10 of The Best ADHD Homeschooling Tips Around

November 8, 2016 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

We’ve been writing about homeschooling with ADHD for a while. Which makes sense because we’re homeschooling kids with ADHD in our own family. 🙂

If you picture ADHD as a condition that involves constant motion, you’d be right…and wrong. Some kids are physically hyperactive, while others are mentally hyperactive, and still others are both and/or emotionally intense. ADHD looks different in different kids.

And that means that homeschooling a child with ADHD calls for some serious adaptation on the part of the homeschooling parent. Over the years, we’ve learned a lot about what works and what doesn’t, so I’ve rounded up 10 of the best ADHD homeschooling tips around. Read through these and try them with your kids!

Image c/o: Yaruta / depositphotos

10 of the Best ADHD Homeschooling Tips

1. Read as much about ADHD and ADD as possible to find out how this disorder can affect children. Then be willing to incorporate as many learning strategies as you can. Here’s a list of my must-read books for ADHD homeschooling parents.

2. Stop trying to create the “ideal” homeschooling life. You know that mental picture of the parent smilingly teaching several children at the kitchen table? Yeah, forget that. Here’s why.

3. Spend some time watching your child to find out which type of ADHD he or she has. Learning how the disorder affects them personally can give you valuable insights into how to teach them. Brush up on the different types of ADHD for more.

4. Create a daily routine for your child that is ADHD-friendly. Bear in mind: This will NOT be a timed schedule, but a daily framework he or she can come to expect. Learn more about how to develop an ADHD daily routine that works for you.

5. Help your child set realistic learning goals that are tailored to his or her abilities. Then encourage them to meet those goals. Read more about how to help kids with ADHD meet their learning goals.

6. Consider making lifestyle changes to help your kids with ADHD sleep better at night. It’s a fact that kids learn better when they’re well rested. (Don’t we all?) Find out how to help your child with ADHD improve his or her sleep habits.

7. Adapt your teaching methods to suit your child’s attention span. While we want to help our kids learn to concentrate, they simply won’t if we teach them in the traditional manner. Here are a few ways to change up your teaching methods for kids with ADHD.

8. Use hands-on math activities. Math is often a headache for kids who have ADHD and/or attention issues. Executive functioning problems can make it difficult for children to follow a math problem through to the end and execute the required steps to solve it. Get some ideas from this list of math activities for ADHD students!

9. Limit the use of screens in your child’s day. Kids with ADHD who have a lot of screen time each day often struggle with attention span more than those who don’t, which can make homeschooling tougher. Take a look at how you can set screen time limits for your kids with ADHD.

10. Use a flexible homeschooling schedule and always, always, always be willing to change it. Try this list of 15 homeschool ADHD schedule ideas!

Want more ADHD homeschooling tips? Don’t miss these posts!

$Math Activities for ADHD Students$

And for more support, grab a copy of my ebook “Homeschooling with ADHD”!

Follow my ADHD Tips board on Pinterest for more ideas!

15 Homeschool ADHD Schedule Ideas

September 26, 2016 by Selena Robinson 3 Comments

Homeschool planning season is typically an exciting time of year for parents. We get to get out our planners, write up lesson plans, and schedule our days to make sure we cover all of the objectives for the year.

But if you’re homeschooling children with ADHD, it’s not that simple. I still feel the excitement of the new school year, but it’s tempered a bit by the knowledge that, no matter how I plan our day, my kids are simply not going to get everything done. (Which is one reason why I’m not using a homeschool planner this year.)

Over the years, I’ve tried so many different homeschooling schedules I’ve lost track of them all. None of them worked. Not one. So I’ve learned a few ways to tweak our school day so that my kids can keep up, stay interested, and enjoy what they learn. Here are 15 different homeschool ADHD schedule ideas that have worked for us and may work for you too!

Image c/o: photousvp77 / depositphotos

15 Homeschool ADHD Schedule Ideas

1. Alternate sit down subjects with moving subjects.

2. Incorporate brain breaks every 20 minutes.

3. Use video liberally – teach for 10 minutes, then show a short video about the concept.

4. Add games into each subject: flashcards, drawing, balance games, call-and-response games, etc.

5. Do the subject your child hates first.

6. Or do the subject your child hates last.

7. Separate your kids for complex subjects and rotate them.

8. Have school in different areas of the house during the day.

9. Use the car for roadschooling.

10.Have a school lesson outdoors.

11. Ask your child which subject they’d like to do first.

12. Alternate weeks for certain subjects.

13. Drop an elective your child hates.

14. Use the library for a different subject each week.

15. Observe your child’s maximum attention span and time lessons to match it.

The Ultimate Guide to Brain Breaks eBook

What’s Working for Us This Year:

I’ve used all of these at one time or another. This year, we’ve been using a combination of Numbers 1, 3, 6, 7, 9, and 12.

Alternate sit down subjects with moving subjects. – I usually begin the day with reading. We sit down with books and listen to someone reading to us. Then we get up and do a project or a craft – anything that lets them move.
Use video liberally. – I rebelled against using video in my schooling for a long time. I think I’m just old-fashioned. But it makes such a big difference in helping the kids retain what they learn. I try to introduce the topic and give them questions to look for the answers to in the video, then we discuss it.
Do the subject your child hates last. – My oldest daughter hates math. I tried doing it first with her, but that didn’t work. She’d delay so much that we’d never get to the other subjects. Now we do it last and that seems to work better.
Separate your kids for complex subjects and rotate them. – When it’s time for my oldest to do math, she needs complete concentration. So I send my younger ones off to play in their rooms. In the morning, when they’re doing math, she’s in her room working on writing.
Use the car for roadschooling. – I have just recently discovered the wonder of audiobooks and they are a lifesaver. If I have to leave the house for a while, I have the kids bring their books and they listen as we ride. Then we discuss what they’ve read.
Alternate weeks for certain subjects. – I no longer try to cover every single subject every single week. I typically do history one week, geography the next, and the science the week after that. While I make sure the three R’s are done regularly, I take a break on the others. It’s less overwhelming for the kids and for me.

How have you adjusted your homeschooling schedule for your kids with ADHD? Do you have any tried and true homeschool ADHD schedule ideas to share? Let me know in the comments!

Get more ideas for homeschooling kids with ADHD!

$Math Activities for ADHD Students$

And learn even more in our ebook: Homeschooling with ADHD!

Follow my ADHD Tips board on Pinterest for more tips and suggestions!

This post is part of the 8th Annual Back to Homeschool Blog Hop from iHomeschool Network! Click on over to read more homeschool posts from my fellow bloggers!

Using Bouncy Bands for Kids with ADHD

August 24, 2016 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

Can we talk about wiggle worms for a minute? As I’ve mentioned extensively on the blog, we’re homeschooling multiple children with ADHD, which means that wiggly kids are an everyday occurrence around here.

Using a simple fidget is a proven way to help kids with ADHD improve attention span and executive functioning. And, since attention span is important for successful homeschooling, fidgets are pretty much a necessity in our family.

But, a lot of fidgets are rather…distracting. They go around the finger or the hand and are designed to be moved with the other hand. Which means that my other kids are staring at my fidgety kid fidgeting with his or her fidget. Not ideal. 🙂

So I was thrilled to try Bouncy Bands! These inconspicuous fidgets are awesome for keeping kids attentive without attracting too much attention. Read on to learn more about this great product!

Disclosure: I received this product in exchange for this post and I was compensated for my time. All opinions are my own and I was not required to post a positive review.

What are Bouncy Bands?

Bouncy Bands are simple resistance band fidgets for kids’ feet. They’re designed to go around the legs of a desk or chair, so that kids can rest their feet on them and move them whenever they feel like it.

Here’s a look at the chair model.

And the desk model – which is particularly good for older kids who might have longer legs.

When you buy a set of Bouncy Bands, you can expect to receive a box like this.

Inside are the band, the support pipes (which come in blue or black), and a simple instruction sheet.

Assembly couldn’t be easier. Just wrap the band’s left and right holes around the tops of the support pipes. Done!

However, here is the issue we faced: The band’s pipes wouldn’t fit around our dining room table legs. And the dining room is where we homeschool.

So I bought a simple stackable school chair. But then I discovered that the support pipes STILL wouldn’t fit around the legs. (The legs of this chair are kind of oblong-shaped.)

Eureka! I just removed the support pipes and the band fit just fine.

BTW, if you want to get a chair that these pipes are sure to work with, try this model. If you want to try the desk version, this school desk should do the trick.

Using Bouncy Bands for Kids with ADHD

Our seven-year-old is, by far, the most active of our kids. He’s basically in constant motion. So he was the best tester in our family for Bouncy Bands.

I had him sit in a chair and read a book while using the band as a fidget. Guess what?

It worked!

I thought he would bounce his legs like a maniac and get even more worked up. But he didn’t. He just bounced them occasionally – very gently – and kept his eyes on his book. I was thoroughly impressed.

Want to see Bouncy Bands in action? Check out my video review from my YouTube channel!

To learn more about Bouncy Bands, visit the product website for details about assembly and to read more reviews! Plus, keep up with Bouncy Bands on Twitter, Pinterest, and Facebook for more!

Need more tips for homeschooling kids with ADHD? Follow my ADHD Tips board on Pinterest!

Don’t miss my Homeschooling with ADHD ebook! It’s packed with tips and suggestions to make this special homeschooling journey a success!

Integrated Listening Systems Music Therapy for ADHD

June 7, 2016 by Selena Robinson 1 Comment

Three of our kids are living with ADHD and, needless to say, it makes life interesting! But it also makes our days rather challenging, especially because we are dealing with sensory processing issues with two of them as well.

Back in April, we received the iLs Total Home Focus program to try out for several weeks. And now we’re ready to share our results with you all!

If you’ve ever considered music therapy for ADHD, learn about how our experience with Integrated Listening Systems worked out!

Disclosure: I received access to this product in exchange for this post and I was compensated for my time. All opinions are my own and I was not required to post a positive review.

What is Music Therapy for ADHD?

To get the full details about music therapy for ADHD and how it works, visit the Integrated Listening Systems website for information. iLs has been used at some of the top clinics in the world that provide treatment for learning problems and the company also offers in-home therapy programs, including the Total Home Focus program. Since we’re trying to avoid medication (for now), the program, which uses movement and activity, was a wonderful option for us.

The Total Home Focus Program comes with everything you see above. For more about what each item is, see our initial post about getting started with iLS. But to summarize: It’s a therapy program that includes classical and ambient music for kids (and adults) to listen to as they relax or do guided motor skills exercises.

The real secret sauce is the bone conduction headphones that let you actually feel the music in your body. It’s a great immersive experience and it helps to focus attention on the music, rather than being distracted by everything else (which often happens to people with ADHD).

Since Pooh has had long-standing sleep issues related to ADHD, iLs graciously allowed us to try out the Dreampad as well. It’s a special pillow that uses bone conduction to relax and ease you into sleep while playing ambient music.

Once I hook it up, he’s usually out like a light. This is the same boy that typically awakens with enormous bags under his eyes in the morning. He asks to use the Dreampad every night.

How Music Therapy Helped Our Family

Many families have been helped by using the iLs Total Home Focus Program. Here’s our experience:

Week 1: I focused on starting Roo with the program first. He’s our six-year-old and his ADHD is the most severe. He has extreme trouble sitting still for any length of time. He has serious mood swings and he can be a big sensory seeker, crashing and bumping into things on purpose.

I learned that he hating simply sitting still and listening to music, so I tried to give him a simple and quiet activity to do while he listened: drawing.

Week 2: Roo still wasn’t a huge fan of the program. When I’d tell him to get the headset, he’d give me the “Aw, Mom!” routine. During week 2, I changed up his activity, letting him play with Unifix cubes instead of drawing. He seemed to do better with those.

Week 3: During Week 3, I introduced Pooh to the program. His temperament is very different from Roo. He’s content to sit quietly and read while listening. Interestingly, he said that his playlist made him feel sad, so I changed up the tracks a bit.

Week 4: Our home coach recommended that we hold off on the exercises until the kids were more accustomed to the program, so we started with them gradually in week 4. I gave Roo the balance board to practice Balance Board Sitting – an exercise from the Early Developmental Program. He actually liked it! Plus, it kept him still for 5 minutes straight!

Week 5: Tigger, who’s 11, doesn’t really care for doing an activity as she listens to the music. She’d rather just lie back on her bed and listen quietly. Since she has struggled with coordination issues for some time, I’m really anxious for her to start with the exercises, but our home coach told me not to push the exercises with the kids, so I’m not. I think she’ll want to try them on her own in time.

Week 6: In Week 6, I found that the kids have got to be separated when one is doing therapy. Otherwise, they start to talk and chatter over the music and the whole point of the therapy is lost. Since all three are using the program, they take turns going to their rooms or to the dining room table ALONE to listen and work. Live and learn.

Week 7: Roo was ready to try some of the other exercises in his program, so we added a few that used the enclosed beanbags.

What happens when you hand a sensory seeker a beanbag? He immediately squeezes it to his face, proclaiming how much he loves how it feels. 🙂

One of the exercises we tried this week was called “Drop, Catch, and Under Leg”. It works on coordination, especially with crossing the midline. Roo is ambidextrous, so he’ll just switch hands when he has to cross his midsection. This exercise helped him work on using both hands on both sides. He liked it because it reminded him of dribbling a basketball.

We also tried the “Dog Walk”. Roo crawled from one end of the room to the other while attempting to keep a beanbag on his back. We added difficulty by having him close his eyes, based on the exercise suggestions. When he did that, he instantly started crawling crooked. We will definitely keep practicing this exercise for a while.

Week 8: This week is week 8 and Roo has adjusted well to using the program regularly. He even asks if he can do his music therapy in the morning! I cannot tell you how much that helps me, because he wakes up first and he often becomes restless and noisy, which disturbs his siblings. Now, he gets up quietly, asks for his headphones, and goes to the table to listen and do a quiet activity. It’s a big change.

Why We Loved the iLS Total Home Focus Program:

It’s customizable. You can adapt the program to what is best for your child. After we filled out our initial assessment, our home coach suggested a program for each child to follow based on his or her needs. Then I adjusted as I saw fit. Roo couldn’t handle more than 30 minutes per session. Tigger, though, could do a full hour at a time.
There is plenty of support. Our personal home coach Sharon was wonderfully helpful. She was very attentive to us, checking via phone and email regularly. And she welcomed all of my questions and concerns, listening to our situation and offering helpful suggestions.
It’s not a magic cure. iLs never advertises itself as a magic cure for ADHD and SPD, and it’s not. Instead, the program is designed to be used continuously over several weeks, gradually helping clients improve focus, attention span, and self-control. I like that it’s part of an overall lifestyle change – one that we’ve really benefited from making.

Be sure to contact Integrated Listening Systems to learn about how the iLs Total Home Focus program can help your family! And learn more about music therapy for ADHD by following Integrated Listening Systems on social media:

The Ultimate Guide to Homeschooling ADHD Students

April 25, 2016 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

We’re parenting three children who have ADHD/ADD in our family. (The jury’s still out on the toddler, so far.) To add to our unique situation, both my husband and I also have ADD. Fun!

Naturally, we have to make use of a LOT of creative tips and ideas for homeschooling ADHD students. We’ve shared lots of posts on this topic over the years and I’ve gotten some great suggestions from other websites as well.

So – without further ado – here is the Ultimate Guide to Homeschooling ADHD Students! I hope that these resources are just as helpful to you as they’ve been to us!

Image c/o: Rawpixel via depositphotos

The Ultimate Guide to Homeschooling ADHD Students

How to Deal with a Homeschooling Dawdler

Homeschooling with ADD and ADHD

Managing Expectations for ADHD Students

How We Homeschooled My Kiddo with ADHD

Adapting as a Teacher to ADHD Kids

When Traditional School Fails: Homeschooling May Be a Better Option

Preparing Kids with ADHD to Learn

Homeschooling Kids with ADHD

Making Lifestyle Changes to Homeschool Kids with ADHD

Why Special Needs Kids Thrive in a Homeschool Environment

How to Consider Other Kids When ADHD Homeschooling

How to Work with ADHD in Your Homeschool

Homeschooling as a Mom with ADHD

Small Muscle Handwriting Practice for Kids with ADHD

Our ADHD-Friendly Homeschool Room

How We Did Spelling In Our ADHD Homeschool

3 Tips for Raising Boys with ADHD

Pages: 1 2 3 4

Managing ADHD Math Problems with Mr. D. Math

April 21, 2016 by Selena Robinson 1 Comment

It’s no secret that lots of kids struggle with math. And kids with ADHD who tend to have attention issues may have a harder time than most.

In our family, Tigger (our oldest daughter) has been a lifelong math-hater. She just loses all interest and tries to get through it, instead of trying to grasp the concepts. But, as I’ve tried to tell her, we don’t get to just “opt out” of things we don’t like in life. Thanks to homeschooling, though, we do get to try different ways to understand them and improve.

So I was excited to try the Pre-Algebra program from Mr. D. Math! I’d heard such great things about the program and my daughter was happy about having someone to walk her through pre-algebra and get her ready for middle school math.

See how using Mr. D. Math is helping us to manage common ADHD math problems!

Disclosure: I received this product in exchange for this post and I was compensated for my time. All opinions are my own and I was not required to post a positive review.

$Tips for Managing ADHD Math Problems$

Managing ADHD Math Problems with Mr. D Math

Let me just start by saying that I completely sympathize with Tigger. If I could have gotten through life without math, I would happily have done so. But as I got older, I found that I’m actually good at math…when I try. And the same is true of Tigger. It’s just taking some time for her to realize that.

$Program for ADHD Math Problems$

I mean, look at that face. That is a beautiful young woman who should never feel inadequate about doing anything, including algebra. (Sorry, I had a Mama moment.)

Common ADHD Math Problems

What are some of the common ADHD math problems kids deal with? Well, since kids (and adults) with ADHD often have issues with executive function, they may have trouble with the following areas:

organizing their thoughts into a process
executing that process
persisting when they’ve made mistakes

Pretty much everything you need to do in order to grasp a math concept, right? You need to learn the steps, perform them IN ORDER, and take the time to check for errors. So, for kids with ADHD, a math lesson can be a recipe for disaster.

This is not to say that all kids with ADHD struggle with math. My youngest boy, who is the most hyper of all of my kids, actually does better with math than language arts. But a child who has ADHD and struggles with math lessons may find that even the simplest concept is almost impossible to learn.

How Mr. D. Math Works

Which is why I found Mr. D. Math to be such a great program for my daughter with ADHD! Here’s a look at how the Mr. D. Math Pre-Algebra program works:

The lessons are organized very clearly by topic and chapter. As your child works through each lesson, it appears with a checkmark.

Every section begins with a video lesson. In the lessons, Mr. D. himself introduces a concept, demonstrates how it works, and asks a few questions.

Here’s a look at one of the video demonstrations. This one was on Order of Operations.

After the lesson is complete, students take an online quiz on what they learned.

Afterwards, they submit their grades.

At the end of each chapter, students take a test. And, as you can see, the solutions to the chapter tests are provided. Those are great for checking work and finding areas that need to be strengthened.

How Mr. D. Math is Helping My ADHD Daughter with Pre-Algebra

The Mr. D. Math Pre-Algebra program is a super introduction to algebraic concepts. What I loved about the program was that it begins with a nice introduction to exactly how math works. So your child doesn’t need previous experience with pre-algebra to begin it. As long as he or she can add, subtract, multiply, and divide, they’re good to go!

$Computer Program for ADHD Math Problems$

Right from the beginning, Mr. D. won Tigger over. As he explained, math is a language. It has its own symbols that have a unique meaning. And you have to understand the language to understand what each expression says. Since Tigger is a bookworm and interested in writing, that analogy made perfect sense to her.

$Explaining Math as a Language$

His initial comparison was to compare learning math to talking to a dog. The dog only understands select words that have meaning to him, so the rest of your sentence would be “blah blah blah”. And that’s how math is! Block out the parts that have no meaning and focus on what matters. Brilliant!

$Managing ADHD Math Problems with Mr D Math$

What I also liked was that Mr. D. paused during the lesson to ask a few questions.

$Notetaking to Manage ADHD Math Problems$

Knowing Tigger’s tendency to let her mind drift away, I asked her to write her answers down. And lo and behold! Neatly written notes! That’s how I knew she was paying attention and actually interested in the material.

$Learning Order of Operations with Mr. D Math$

After introducing a new way to look at math, Mr. D. reviews basic arithmetic operations with students (addition, subtraction, etc.). But, as the chapter progresses, he moves on to new concepts: order of operations, simplifying expressions, and so on.

Remember PEMDAS? He uses that mnemonic device also! While she remembered the phrase “Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally”, she had a little trouble remembering what each word in the phrase actually represented. So she wrote it on the board to help herself remember it.

I will add one note of caution that I observed with Tigger: Kids with ADHD may tend to redo the same things again and again without slowing down to pay attention to why something is incorrect. Since the Pre-Algebra program is self-paced, kids can take quizzes whenever they want.

After Tigger’s first Order of Operations lesson, she took the quiz and missed several of the questions. Naturally, she simply took it again and then again. But since she didn’t slow down to review her notes, ask me for help, or rewatch the video lesson, she kept getting a failing grade. And you can only take each quiz three times. So she had to accept a grade lower than she wanted.

But that was a lesson to her as to why it’s important to slow down, check your work, and get help when necessary. So, if your child with ADHD behaves similarly, keep an eye out when they start taking quizzes and encourage them to take a break or get help with something that seems fuzzy.

If you’re looking for a self-paced Pre-Algebra Math program for your child, Mr. D. Math is definitely worth the investment! And if you’re in a time crunch, you can get a program to get your child ready for Pre-Algebra in just 11 weeks or even six weeks!

To find out more about the program, follow Mr. D. Math on social media!

And if you’d like more ADHD math ideas, check out my list of 10 Math Activities for Kids with ADHD!

$Math Activities for ADHD Students$

10 Math Activities for ADHD Students

April 4, 2016 by Selena Robinson 1 Comment

If you have a child with ADHD, you might find that sitting down to teach math is…a bit of a challenge.

Well, in my family, the word “challenge” isn’t quite strong enough to describe how difficult math lessons can be. Let’s try “cage match to the death”. I think that’s more accurate. 🙂

My wiggly kids resist anything that requires sustained mental effort, due to issues with executive function, so learning math concepts is their least favorite thing to do. As a result, I’ve had to take math off the page and into their hands to make some ideas really stick.

So – if your child with ADHD struggles with math, you might want to try these 10 math activities for ADHD students. They’ve worked wonderfully in our house!

$Math Activities for ADHD Students$

Image c/o: Nadezhda1906 / depositphotos

10 Math Activities for ADHD Students

Use LEGO blocks to construct 3D Bar Graphs.
Make Math Factor Snowflakes and hang them in your window.
Show kids how to cut and paste simple repeating math patterns.
Have children work out tens and ones with Unifix cubes.
Practice math facts while doing a simple exercise or having a Brain Break.
Teach math concepts in a foreign language, such as how to count in Spanish or Sign Language.
Use math lapbooks to help kids visualize math concepts and memorize basic facts.
Combine math with reading by using math storybooks such as Life of Fred.
Drill kids on basic math lessons, including fractions, polygons, and telling time using flashcards.
Create math art, such as coloring grids on graphing paper.

$10 Math Activities for ADHD Students$

Be sure to check out my ebook “Homeschooling with ADHD” for more help to teach your ADHD child at home!

Want even more fun math ideas? Try these book suggestions!

$Fun Math Books for Middle School$

And be sure to follow my Math Mania board on Pinterest!

Homeschooling with ADHD eBook

November 30, 2015 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

We’ve been writing about homeschooling with ADHD here at Look! We’re Learning! for quite a while, but I (in typical ADD fashion) have been procrastinating with this eBook.

I’ve wanted to write it for months, but it seemed overwhelming and just..impossible. I did mention I have ADD, right?

But here it (finally) is! This eBook “Homeschooling with ADHD” is the resource you’ve been looking for! If you’re teaching kids with ADHD at home or if you’re even considering it, this ebook is for you!

And *for a limited time*, I’m giving it away FREE!

Homeschooling with ADHD eBook

This eBook is divided into six chapters beginning with a discussion of what ADHD is and ending with detailed suggestions for how you can continue homeschooling, even when ADHD-related problems arise.

What if you’re a parent with ADHD? You can still homeschool your kids with ADHD! (Trust me, I’m doing it.) There’s a special section in the book just for you – with tips and tricks to make homeschooling something you love, not simply something you endure.

And, because I really want you all to benefit from these tips, I’m giving the ebook away for FREE for 48 hours! It’s normally priced at $5.99, but you can get it for nothing until December 2!

If you decide to download the ebook, please share your thoughts about it with me at selena@lookwerelearning.com. Grab your free eBook from our store using the link or image below!

Homeschooling with ADHD eBook – Look! We’re Learning! Store

How to Help Kids Deal with ADHD and Frustration During Schoolwork

October 24, 2014 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

For kids with ADHD, the inability to concentrate can become frustrating, especially during schoolwork. Personally, as a woman with ADHD, I get irritable when I have to read something two or three times in order to understand it. Multiply that by 10 and you have my kids’ feelings when they can’t understand something.

It’s extremely irritating to feel as if your brain isn’t working well and that’s a common experience for kids and adults with ADHD. Then, if your kids are perfectionists, they’re going to have an even harder time dealing with these frustrations. Our youngest boy is extremely hard on himself, and since he has a hard time focusing, he gets frustrated on a daily basis.

Over time, though, we’ve learned how to help him calm down and refocus. Here are a few suggestions to help your kids with managing ADHD and frustration! If these tips help, be sure to read more about how you can schedule your homeschool for kids with ADHD!

Image: kmiragaya / Dollar Photo Club

Tips for Helping Kids Deal with ADHD and Frustration

Anticipate the meltdown.

Start to recognize your child’s triggers. We talked about identifying our own triggers as parents with ADHD the other day, and we have to do the same thing with our kids.

For Roo, handwriting (which we’ll talk about next week) is a particular issue. He thinks that his letters should look exactly like the ones on the chalkboard. There have been days when he literally erases every single letter at least once. Every. Single. Letter. Now that I know that he feels that way, I reduce his copywork so that he won’t get overwhelmed. If you know which areas of homeschooling tend to give your child problems, try to find ways to make the lesson a bit easier on them.

Try deep breathing.

Deep breathing is one of the suggestions in Dr. Daniel Amen’s book Healing ADD, and for good reason. Breathing deeply is a natural way to release tension that builds up in the body when we’re frustrated or angry.

Whenever Roo gets frustrated during class, I have him stand up. Then I take his hands in mine and we breathe deeply together three or four times. Generally, he calms down right away. If we don’t do deep breathing, he often can’t calm down enough to hear my suggestions or accept my help.

Communicate.

Once your child has calmed down a little, encourage him to talk about his feelings. Why did he get frustrated? Is there a particular concept that’s hard for him to grasp? Would he like some help? Teaching our kids how to express themselves can help them avoid getting frustrated in the future.

With Roo, we ask “Can you tell us why you’re upset?” (This is usually after the deep breathing.) He generally answers with an extremely thorough explanation about what happened, what he didn’t like, and why it bothered him so much. After he explains himself, we can address his concerns and offer help.

Now, I will admit: Sometimes we go through all of these steps and he is still frustrated. That’s our cue to take a break from school and come back to the concept a little later on. Usually after a little time has passed, he grasps the concept better and we can return to our regularly scheduled lessons. 🙂

Do your kids with ADHD get frustrated during schoolwork? How do you help them deal with those feelings? Share your suggestions in the comments!

Stop by to see some of our other ADHD homeschooling tips!

$Math Activities for ADHD Students$

Plus, get more ideas from my ADHD Tips board on Pinterest!

This post is part of the 31 Days of ADHD Homeschooling series! Stop by tomorrow for Day 25: Test Taking Tips for Kids with ADHD!

Using the Charlotte Mason Homeschool Method for ADHD Kids

October 11, 2014 by Selena Robinson 8 Comments

In general, we practice an eclectic homeschooling style in our family. We tend to collect resources from all kinds of teaching styles and use them as we see fit. But – if I had to choose a single approach to follow, it would probably be the Charlotte Mason method. We use more elements of this homeschooling approach for our kids with ADHD than we do of any other style.

One of the reasons I love the Charlotte Mason homeschool method is because it follows some of the basic guidelines for homeschooling kids with ADHD in the first place, including short lessons in language arts, a relaxed approach to science and handwriting, and an emphasis on multi-sensory learning. But we still have to make a few adjustments for our kids.

Here’s a look at how I adapt the Charlotte Mason homeschool method for ADHD kids! And if you enjoy this post, don’t miss my list of ADHD homeschool schedule ideas that may work for you!

How I Adapt the Charlotte Mason Method for ADHD

(This post contains affiliate links for convenience. For more, see our Disclosure Policy.)

Short Lessons

Charlotte Mason believed in keeping subject lessons short. Her belief was that kids should cover multiple subjects in a single day – sometimes 10 or more. Naturally, I don’t try to cover 10 subjects each school day with my kids.

I do stick with the short lessons, however. Mason called for 15-20 minutes in grade school and 30 to 45 minutes in high school. We’ve found that those subject lengths are ideal for our kids. But instead of covering as many academic subjects as she suggests, I replace several of them with brain breaks that we scatter throughout the day.

By the way, if you’re unfamiliar with the Charlotte Mason method, the book “A Charlotte Mason Education: A Homeschooling How To Manual” is an excellent introduction.

Copywork

Rather than teaching spelling, penmanship, and grammar separately, Charlotte Mason combined them into two main disciplines: copywork and living books. Daily copywork has been a lifesaver in our house. We literally begin every school day with it.

Charlotte Mason tended to use literature excerpts or scriptures from the Bible as the basis for her copywork. We copy one scripture or part of a scripture per day. I have all of the kids write the same verse. (Tigger writes it once in print and once in cursive.) I copy the verse on the chalkboard and leave it there until everyone is finished.

Since kids with ADHD tend to rush through their work, I deliberately shorten the assignment so that we can focus on writing neatly, rather than writing for length. Pooh generally has to write his twice, because he still insists on rushing through it, but we’ll get there!

Living Books

Reading “living books” is a cornerstone of the Charlotte Mason method. Mason believed that children should read books that were of high literary quality and stay away from what she called “twaddle”. I don’t hold to that standard as strongly. I think that a little twaddle now and then can give kids a break from concentrating so hard, which is sometimes exactly what the ADHD brain needs.

But we do read literary classics with the kids. To keep their interest, I try to find editions of books such as The Wind and the Willows that have pictures inside. As above, I also keep the reading times short, no more than 15 or 20 minutes for a read-aloud session. They look forward to storytime every afternoon!

Nature Study

I have to admit: I am not a huge fan of the outdoors. I believe strongly in protecting the environment and caring for the earth, but I love my couch and my air conditioning. 🙂 So nature study has always been a struggle for me.

For kids with ADHD, though, spending time outside can be a natural calming agent. When we do nature study, I try to tie it in with an activity such as making journal entries of our observations or taking pictures of what we see. Our kids always enjoy it!

Have you tried the Charlotte Mason homeschool method with your kids? Do you think it’s a good fit for kids with ADHD? Share your thoughts in the comments!

This post is part of our 31 Days of ADHD Homeschooling series! Stop by tomorrow for Day 12: Setting Learning Goals for Children with ADHD!

And check out more ADHD homeschooling inspiration below!

Follow my ADHD Homeschooling Tips board on Pinterest for more suggestions!