ADD Student

I’ve mentioned before how important I think it is for parents to understand how the ADD brain works.  It not only helps you understand your child better, but allows you to be more effective when offering study help.

One of the examples of how the ADD brain works that I’ve used in the past is in reference to hyperlinks.  You go to a website, and it talks about something on another site, so you click on the link.  At the next site, you find an interesting link to something else, and you click on that.  Eventually, you end up somewhere far removed from where you began, and yet it is related somehow.

Here’s how it works in real life:  You say, “My boss Sally is so mean; she’s making me work late Christmas eve.”  And I say, “I’ve got a great applesauce cake recipe.  You should try it.”  Huh??Here’s what happened in my head: You mentioned your boss Sally and Christmas eve.  That makes me think of my Aunt Sally, who was the best cook ever, and the one who made our Christmas holidays special.   Aunt Sally’s applesauce cake was a holiday tradition in our family, and I remember that you’ve got to bring a dessert for Christmas dinner at your in-laws.  Since you’ll be working late, you need something you can make ahead, like applesauce cake, so I offer you the recipe.

Why am I telling you this?  Well, because in addition to helping you understand the ADD brain, this example can hopefully help you to help your child utilize the unique nature of their brain to be a better student.

For instance, personality traits of a character in a book they are reading might remind them of someone they know, or maybe they’re studying a place or time period in history that has a personal meaning to your family.  My dad is a World War II vet, and both my parents lived through the Great Depression.  My kids had personal stories from their grandparents to relate to what they were learning, and that made it more memorable for them.

If you look hard enough, and practice finding ways to link what you’re learning to what you know, you’ll find it gets easier over tme, and that it’s possible with any subject, even math.

Don’t believe me?  Do you know which operation you do first in this problem: (2 x 3) + 12 – 4 x 10 ?  I do.  You use the Order of Operations: Parentheses, Exponents, Multiplication, Division, Addition, Subtraction – easily remembered as Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally.