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Homeschooling the ADHD Child
Homeschooling an ADHD child can be a real challenge. Here are some of
the issues we deal with regularly in our home:
- Distractibility - cannot keep on task when given an assignment
- Frustration - low frustration levels when given an assignment that is
confusing or repetitious
- Boredom - easily bored with repetitive tasks like spelling and
handwriting, or math facts
- Clueless - unless you are working with a gifted child, you will reach
times where the information just isn't understood
- Careless - sloppy work and careless mistakes
- Endless school days - unaware of the concept of time and prove this
by taking 3 hours to complete 5 math problems
- Insanity - can drive even the sanest parent to question their sanity
- Noise - 3 or more children chattering away at the same time, tapping
pencils, rolling desk chairs across the floor; child 2 distracts child 1
while child 3 has disappeared to who knows where
- Grace - God's grace is sufficient, for His power is made perfect in
weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9 NIV)
Homeschooling an ADHD child will present you with a unique set of challenges. Because of the existence of learning disabilities in a large percentage of ADHD children, the parent's teaching style must match learning styles of these children as much as possible. Most ADHD children are just not good classroom learners, so attempting to recreate a classroom at home will not benefit the child, or you as the homeschooling parent.
Allowing your child to read standing on his head or in the frog position might work better than sitting at a desk or kitchen table. Some children do better reciting math facts while jumping on a mini-trampoline or hopping around the room. Allow your child to try different learning environments. The biggest challenge for parents who were classroom learners themselves is giving up the classroom paradigm.
Unit Studies
and Hands-On
Activities are a great choice for at least one or two of the child's subjects. We choose a topic, such as Inventors, and create a study
based on this topic with activities in History, Science, Creative Writing,
Vocabulary, Spelling, and sometimes Math.
It is possible that your
ADD/ADHD child is a
Kinesthetic
Learner or
Gifted
Some children, especially the gifted ADD/ADHD child, may learn best with a
modified form of unschooling.
Not all ADD/ADHD children are kinesthetic
learners, however. Be sure to look into the many different
learning
styles and determine which best fits your child. Then gear your
choice of teaching styles and materials based on your child's
learning style.
In 2003, we began middle school and began to incorporate
Christian Classical Education ideas into our homeschool. As expected, some ideas worked well and others did not. My children unanimously love Latin.
The reading and summarizing did not work well for several of my children. I did used Writing Strands and
Writing Trails (from LOGOS) with success with two of my children. We did a lot of work orally,
discussed most of the reading, and definitely did much less written work than most Classical homeschoolers would do. We learned to make accommodations for each child's challenges: presenting work orally, using a computer instead of hand writing out exercises, computer curriculum such as Switched on Schoolhouse.
After the Christmas holidays, I realized that I was not going to make it as things were going. I was
tired, had little focus and could not direct my children successfully. On the ADD Homeschool List, another
creative list member shared what they were doing this year while she regrouped: Learning at Home, a modified child-directed
method. I decided at the beginning of February 2004 that we were going to use this system for at least 4 weeks
while I recover from the mental and physical exhaustion that has overcome me. Learning how to take a break from the routine can bring refreshing not only to the homeschooling parent, but to the children as well.
Here are some additional links for homeschooling
the ADD/ADHD child:
Support Groups:
- ADD Hope Email List - Online support group for parents
of ADHD children, ADDults and their spouses, grandparents, caregivers, homeschoolers, teachers and anyone who wants to learn more about ADHD. Great place to learn about the latest medical
treatments for ADD, co-existing conditions, discipline and training
methods, and more. All are welcome!
- Christian ADHD Homeschoolers List
is an e-mail support group for Christian parents of ADD/ADHD children
who homeschool their children. We can provide each other with support
that no other homeschool group can. Each of us know the difficulties
associated with ADD/ADHD. Working together we just might be able to get
through this.
- Christian ADHD List - As Christians, we face
special challenges. We desire to remain true to the Word of God, yet
find that traditional methods of child training often do not yield the
fruit normally expected. Members of this loop pray for and encourage one
another daily.
- Christian ADHD Alternative Treatment List -
For Christian parents who do not feel comfortable using pharmaceuticals
in the treatment of their child's ADHD.
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