In this post, you will learn how to help a child with ADHD with their homework.
You can read about why children with ADHD struggle with schoolwork and learning and what to do to support them.
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It’s not unheard of for children with ADHD to struggle with schoolwork, learning and homework.
It is common for them to be distracted easily, overwhelmed and unwilling to sit down and do school tasks like their peers.
They often struggle in school and are behind their peers in their academic achievements.
They constantly fidget, move, distract themselves and cannot sit still, making their learning tricky.
In this post, I will discuss why it is difficult for your child with ADHD to concentrate and what you can do about it.
You can learn what helps your child with ADHD do their homework and engage more in learning tasks.
I will give you some tips I used when working with children with ADHD in school.
To help your child with ADHD with homework, first, find out all you can about ADHD
What is ADHD?
ADHD is Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, and it is a developmental condition.
Your child’s brain develops differently from others, and that may cause them to face some difficulties.
Your little one might find it challenging to sit still in class, follow instructions, start a task independently and stay on it.
It is all “normal” for a kid with ADHD.
Remember that it is not their fault, and they are not lazy or naughty.
Rather than that, It is their brain developing differently.
The way the neurons communicate in the brain is not the same as someone without ADHD.
I wrote about it in a post here so you can read more about it.
Why a child with ADHD struggles with schoolwork and homework?
These changes in the brain affect your child’s executive functions.
In this post, I wrote extensively about what they are and how you can help your child develop them.
A child with ADHD will have a problem with inhibition control (self-control), task-switching and working memory.
It is why they struggle with their learning and schoolwork or homework.
Now, the good thing is that knowing all about it, you can not only understand that it is not your child’s fault but also how to help them.
Is ADHD a disability?
It is worth remembering that ADHD does not affect your child’s IQ (intelligence).
ADHD is not a Learning Disability (called Intellectual Disability in the US) but can be accompanied by it.
ADHD may come with many other conditions; you can read it in my post here.
And if you are confused about the difference between a learning disability and a learning difficulty, read my post here.
Your child with ADHD may have learning difficulties like dyslexia or dyscalculia.
If they do, learning about them will help you understand your child more and better help them.
Additionally, children with ADHD may struggle with low self-esteem and lack motivation.
When they think that everything always goes wrong for them and they are never good enough, they might not be motivated enough to try to work hard.
They might think, “Why make an effort if I always fail?”
Why do children with ADHD fall behind in their learning?
Teachers and practitioners working in schools can tell you that children with ADHD fall behind their peers when it comes to academic achievement.
This observation is echoed by research showing that these kids don’t perform as well as their neurotypical peers.
Many studies show that cognitive skills are affected in children with ADHD.
Their attention, hyperactivity, and impulsiveness difficulties at an early age are associated with future reading, maths and other school-related problems.
Why is that? Think about a little child in a classroom full of children constantly being distracted, unable to help themselves and unable to focus.
If this kid does not pay attention when the teacher explains the basics of reading and maths- they will miss it and find it more and more complicated all the time.
My experience working with children with ADHD
I once worked with a ten-year-old boy with ADHD who could not read.
When he was in Nursery, other children sang nursery rhymes and developed their phonological awareness this way.
During his time there, he was often excluded for extended periods because of his behaviour.
He was too hyper and too impulsive for the staff to handle.
Other children developed their phonological awareness through playing and singing, which helped them distinguish sounds, blend, and segment phonics, eventually enabling them to learn to read.
This boy missed it. From then on, it was just a snowball effect.
Every new skill his peers learned was based on previously learned ones he didn’t have a chance to develop.
It is how he was unable to read when I first met him.
How you can help a child with ADHD with their homework
To help a child with ADHD with their homework, first, learn about ADHD!
If I were to offer you only one piece of advice and one tip, it would be to learn as much as possible about ADHD.
Read what it is and what are the characteristics, symptoms and issues.
There is no point in finding specific advice if you don’t know how ADHD works.
And the more you know about it, the more it will open your eyes, and you will be able to come up with solutions yourself!
Meanwhile, here are some tips that can help you support your child with their learning, school work and homework.
To help a child with ADHD with their homework, BREAK things DOWN
A child with ADHD won’t be able to focus for long, so break things down.
If they have to write a story, start with one sentence or even one word if it helps.
Maths problem? Break it down into steps or chunks.
Go over each step separately, taking breaks.
Do a little at a time and praise your child each time.
Even the smallest piece of work is better than nothing.
To help a child with ADHD with their homework, use TIMETABLES.
A timetable, plan, schedule or layout will help your child know all the necessary steps to complete their task/s.
It is a good idea to have a visual timetable.
Additionally, you may add some pictures/photos or draw symbols.
Remember not to assign too much at a time for your child because it may overwhelm them.
Your child might come home from school to a timetable with a clear indication of how much time to do maths, how much for reading, etc.
Remember to incorporate breaks into the timetable.
In addition, to help you and your child with time-keeping, use a timer like this.
Children might not be able to tell time yet, so having a visual timer like this hourglass-shaped one will give them a clear idea of when their task or break ends.
You may also want to use the “Now and Next” Boards. I wrote about them here.
They give your child a clear indication of what happens when they finish the task. It keeps them motivated.
To help a child with ADHD with their homework, remember about BREAKS
Frequent and short breaks are crucial for a child with ADHD.
However, you don’t have to be a child with ADHD to know how important it is to have a break when trying to focus for a more extended period.
I start getting fidgety after half an hour of a Zoom meeting!
These breaks can help children “lose their wriggles”.
Have your child move, jump or dance or go outside if possible.
Keep the timer with you as a visual cue of how long the break is.
To help a child with ADHD with their homework, use REWARDS
To keep your child focused and motivated, offer your child rewards.
They don’t have to be big or even physical.
You can have a chart for your child to collect stars or points or a marble jar, for instance.
Set clear instructions as to when and how they get their reward.
For example, you can reward a small task chunk with a star, and ten stars can earn your child 10 minutes of screen time.
To help a child with ADHD with their homework, CLEAR the environment of distractions
To help your child focus and avoid distraction and temptation, keep their work area clean, tidy and minimalistic.
The bare wall your child is facing is better than having them facing a window.
They might get distracted easily by what’s behind a window, a wall poster, or an insect flying by.
Lay out whatever they need to complete the task and make sure these are only the necessary things and equipment.
Leaving the timetable or a timer in your child’s view can help to motivate them and help them stay on task.
Try to make sure there are no noises, music or sounds that can distract your child.
Think ahead about what else might distract them.
Make sure that they are not hungry.
Having a snack and a drink before starting their work will keep them focused.
Make them go to the toilet before they start work.
Trust me, it is the most common excuse to avoid work, so you better be prepared.
To help a child with ADHD with homework, ensure YOU are READY
Make sure you are ready to support your child.
If you are hungry, thirsty, tired or irritated, you won’t have patience for your child, and it won’t go well.
Take care of yourself so you can take care of your child.
And I can almost guarantee that patience will come when you understand more about ADHD.
The more you read and learn about it, the more knowledge you will have, and soon you will realise where all these annoying behaviours come from, which is not their fault.
Help with reading
To help your child with reading, read my post here.
You will learn from it that reading to your child, sharing stories with them and singing nursery rhymes all help develop phonological awareness, which is necessary for reading.
Help with writing
If you want to help your child write, read my post here.
My post will tell you about fine motor skills that are important in learning to write. You can also learn about 50 fun and simple activities that develop and improve fine motor skills from this post.
Help with executive functions
Read this post if you want to help your child develop and improve executive functions.
Remember, children with ADHD often have their executive functions impaired because their brains are different.
In this post, you will see how easy it is to develop and improve executive functions through play.
I hope you found this post helpful and can now be confident in supporting your child with ADHD.
Remember, learn as much about ADHD, be patient, break things down and offer breaks, praise and rewards!
Let me know in the comments what works for your child when doing homework!
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