Breaks and Chunking

I can’t even imagine what you must think today’s post is about

In fact, it’s about two ideas that work well together to help your ADHD student study more effectively.

Breaks are a cardinal rule when it comes to Attention Deficit Disorder - and not just when it concerns studying.

Your brain, whether it’s ADHD or not, needs a break about every 15-20 minutes to absorb and store new information. Learning something new without taking a break almost guarantees that your brain will lose some information.

A break doesn’t have to be long; a minute or two is fine. Take a bathroom break, get a drink, stretch - whatever. Just give your brain a little rest.

Chunking is the idea of taking a chunk of information and studying it at once.

Let’s say your child needs to read a chapter in their history book for homework. Sitting down and reading start to finish will accomplish very little and allow your child to retain next to nothing.

Instead, think of each chapter section as one chunk. Take 15 minutes to read just that section and understand it. Look at the pictures, the words that are in bold or otherwise highlighted. Try to get as much meaning as possible from that small chunk of information, then take a break.

The break will allow your brain to take what you’ve just put in and file it correctly so that you can retrieve it later.

These are two simple concepts that, when put into regular practice, can make a big difference in your child’s grades and overall learning.

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