ADD Student

Posts Tagged ‘reinforce learning’

Group projects are often used in school and the workplace because they have a lot of potential in terms of learning and accomplishment.

ADD Students, however, may not do so well in group project situations.

A group project’s dynamics include a social atmosphere; its members need to learn to communicate and work with one another effectively in order to get the job done. Also, group projects tend to be fairly large projects that require many small tasks to be completed and melded into the whole.

Kids with ADHD (adults too) often have poor social skills. They don’t pick up on subtle signals that others take for granted. They may interrupt, contribute to the conversation in seemingly irrelevant ways, or stop paying attention.

Unlike teachers, your child’s peers have no tools to help them understand and deal with ADHD. When an ADD child is put into a group project situation, it can often turn into a frustrating experience for everyone involved.

The groups members may not feel as though the ADD student is pulling his or her weight, become frustrated with forgetfulness and missed deadlines. Often the answer the group comes up with is to exclude the ADD student from the actual work.

In that case, no one really wins.

As a parent, there are some things that you can do to make group projects a positive learning experience for your ADD student.

Talk to the teacher at the beginning of the year, or as soon as the project is announced. Get as much information as you can about the project so that you will be better informed and more able to help your child with their part of the assignment.

Think about your child’s strengths. What are some of the things that they do well and enjoy doing? Can you utilize those skills in the group project?

For instance, maybe your child is fantastic at researching things online. Give them a subject and they will track down all kinds of resources online. Maybe that could be a big part of their contribution to the project.

Talk to your child, giving them an idea of what to expect in a group situation and how they are expected to behave. Knowing what to expect ahead of time helps those of us with ADHD know how to act.

Offer your home as a gathering place for the group to get together. This way you can observe group dynamics and step in to help work things out if needed.

Group projects, whether you like them or not, are an established way of doing business these days. Helping your child learn to navigate their way will serve them for the rest of their lives.

When I first decided to become an ADD Coach, it was to help kids who have ADHD do better in school. I did it for several years and found it both frustrating and rewarding.

My life circumstances have changed and I no longer do coaching, but I thought I would give you a little information about it in case you have considered it.

Coaching can be a very effective way to help students with ADHD be more successful in school but it can also be a very long and slow process.

Most coaches who work with ADHD do not specialize in students and learning and most of them work over the phone.

I personally have found that it is more difficult to engage a teen or adolescent over the phone. In addition, one of the most important keys to successful ADHD coaching is motivation to change. I find that in many cases, the parents are motivated but the child is not.

When you are looking for help for your ADD Student, the best place to start is to get an idea of where the problem actually is.

Are their grades poor in math because they don’t understand it or is it because they have so many missing assignments? Are they getting good grades on their tests but not in the class overall? Is it a problem regardless of the class or is it just one or two classes?

Talk to your child and their teachers to get a better idea of what’s going on so that you can begin to formulate a solution.

If the problem is academic – they don’t understand math – then a tutor may help. You might want to find one that is knowledgeable about ADHD; that could be a huge help.

If the problem is losing assignments or managing time, you might want to consider a personal organizer. Again, knowledge of ADHD is helpful.

If they are doing well on assignments but not tests, it may be test anxiety. You can work with them to teach them some skills to help, or you could see a professional.

Psychologists and social workers are often good people to seek out to help with behavioral changes, and may be covered by your health insurance too.

When you think of school or doing homework, you think of sitting at a desk.

ADD Students don’t always do well sitting at a desk, especially for long periods of time. (Note: an ADDer’s definition of a “long period of time” may be quite different from yours.)

Unless you have an extremely understanding and flexible teacher (who has the ability to do so), there isn’t much you can do about having to sit at a desk in the classroom.

But once your ADD Student comes home from school and is ready to do homework, you can work outside the lines.

What does that mean?

For one thing, it means ditching the desk, at least part of the time.

So how do you get homework done without a desk?

Well it depends on what kind of homework you’re doing.

Any kind of homework that requires writing might mean a desk, but it might not need a chair. Or maybe it needs a desk and a chair, but not necessarily your child sitting there.

For instance, my son Andy had a lot of trouble writing papers when he was younger. (He does just fine now.)

So, Andy would pace the room and talk. I would sit at the computer and type exactly what he said. It’s not as hard as you think – even talking out loud requires time to think and gives you time to type. When he was done, we would print out the paper and then edit from there.

When he had to do math, Andy was on his own. He still needed a table to write on, but again, he preferred to pace the room and stop by the table to do a problem or two. Pacing helped him think better. It works that way for me, too, especially if I have a speech to make or a class to teach.

If homework involved memorizing something or repeating information over and over, we would sometimes print out main ideas in big letters and tape them to the basement wall. Andy had a spot down there where he would shoot pucks. There was a “net” painted on the wall and he would practice his slap shots there. Add in a few things he needs to learn and it’s almost painless!

Learn to work with your child’s nature and outside the lines when it comes to school and homework. It’s worth the effort.