Attention Deficit Disorder/Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is not considered a learning disability according to the Learning Disabilities Association of America. But the reality is that many students who have ADD/ADHD have other associated issues that hinder their ability to learn according to the traditional education plan present in most public schools. Even without additional learning disabilities, students with ADD/ADHD and their teachers often need adaptive strategies to make learning less difficult.
Teachers, and this includes homeschooling parents/teachers, have to deal with three issues students with ADD/ADHD:
Distraction. Students with ADHD have difficulty concentrating on a single subject for long periods of time. One way parents/teachers can deal with this is to keep the lessons short. Help the student to break down large tasks into a series of smaller tasks. Math is one of those big tasks that lends itself to breaking down into more manageable pieces. Rather than instructing the student to "do their math", both the teacher and the student will have a short-term goal of completing the instructional portion of the math assignment and then taking a break. After a short break, allow the student to focus again and complete some math problems.In a homeschooling environment it is possible for the student to control the environment. There are no other 30 students who contribute to the distraction. Noise in the house can be controlled. Additionally, homeschooling is very flexible and allows homeschooled ADHD students to spend more or less time on a subject depending on their needs.
Hyperactivity. ADHD students sometimes feel like they are "motivated" to be in constant motion. This can be difficult to deal with in a traditional classroom setting. It's easier for the home teacher because the student's pace doesn't bother anyone else. If the student has to jump around the room on one leg while reading the multiplication table, allow her. Sometimes the act of walking and learning at the same time can be a very useful tool because it allows the student to burn off excess energy and remember things.
There are a number of techniques that can be used to help your ADHD student drain off excess energy. One family allowed their student to use an exercise ball as a seat instead of a chair. The student was allowed to gently pounce on the ball or rock back and forth on it. Even sitting relatively still requires the student to make minor adjustments to balance and this allows him to use up some of the extra energy.
Another task is to keep the student's hands busy. Conventional wisdom says that the student is not paying attention if she is doodling or using modeling clay but the reality is that ADHD students are capable of doing more than one thing at a time, and even That being allowed to do more than one thing also has benefits. talk at a time.
easily disappointed. ADHD students tend to get frustrated easily. They don't like repetitive text, reading text, or text that requires a lot of writing. Remember that ADHD is not considered a specific learning disability. However, ADHD students learn differently. Their brain processes things very quickly and hence the repetitive lessons seem like a waste of time. Reading requires doing only one thing at a time (reading) and comprehension decreases if the student is distracted. As far as the ADHD student does not like writing, many ADHD students have poor handwriting and are frustrated with the speed at which the ideas in their mind can be translated onto paper.
Part of the way to overcome this frustration is to allow the student to use adaptive techniques, and these can be easily adjusted to the homeschool environment. Allow the student to listen to an audio book instead of actually reading a book. This allows the student to focus on the story with their ears while doing something else with their hands, or jumping up and down. Teach keyboarding skills early because it is easier for a student to get ideas out of their mind and onto paper if they can process that information at typing speed rather than writing.
As far as repetitive lessons like spelling are concerned, instead of having the student practice spelling words all week and take a test at the end of the week, why not let the student take the test first? Then ask the student to work only on the words he was unable to write. This makes for less repetition, and allows the student to process lessons in short bursts.
Finally, let students work at a pace best suited to their learning abilities rather than trying to adapt them to traditional lesson plans. Use technology where possible. Online courses allow the student to have some control over the rate at which information is presented. Homeschooling ADHD students works well because it allows the ADHD student to learn on their own terms rather than trying to adapt to an education model that is a poor fit for them.Linda is an ADHD child author and homeschooling parent. They use an online core curriculum, Time4Learning, listen to lots of audio books, and use educational games in Learning Games for Kids to improve keyboarding skills.
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