Helping an ADHD Child Remember

I Facebooked back and forth a couple of weeks ago with a mom. She told me a story that is so textbook ADHD-Inattentive, that I asked her if I could share it with you. I had planned to put it all in the newsletter, but changed my mind and have given it an entire webpage. Here's the beginning...

Tonight, I sit here feeling like I am failing as a parent of an ADHD child. My daughter is such a good kid, but her forgetfulness, impulsiveness and disorganization has become an all time high. She has just received her 3rd after school detention for the same thing-not turning in her homework. She is in middle school and they are teaching them about being more responsible to get them ready for high school next year.

They get a check every time it happens and when they reach 4 they get an hour after school. It is wiped clean every 9 weeks so the checks do not carry over. It is also per teacher as well. So now, if she receives another detention before the end of the year, she will get a Saturday detention AND lose going on their field trip to the water park.

I went through her backpack and binder tonight to find a STACK of papers that she didn't need anymore. I haven't done that in a while, thinking that she was getting better being organized. Boy, was I wrong! She has so much potential and is so smart. I don't want her to lose out on any opportunities because of something as stupid as forgetting her homework...

Read the rest of this story here!

---------------------------------------
Visit our website at http://www.goaskmom.com.

Five Hints for Homework

When you're in the middle of a marathon homework session, encourage your child to continue focusing by giving frequent concentration breaks. Say, "You'll need to focus really well for the next 10 minutes, then you'll get a break." (Why does this remind me of Lamaze class?!)

Highlight processing signs (plus, minus, divide, etc.) on your child's math homework so he'll remember to do the correct operation.

In your quest toward homework independence, your child might just need a jump start. When she begins a subject, do the first problem or two with her, or help write that first sentence, or have her read the first paragraph aloud. It's like riding a bike - sometimes you just need a push-off.

If your son has a habit of scribbling down homework assignments onto a piece of paper and losing them, follow the example of the mom who placed a large container right where her son came into the house. As he comes in from school, she has him deposit everything on his body - bookbag, books, pens, pencils, sports equipment. She also makes him empty his pockets, so that the assignments can be located when it's time to begin homework.

Make a study zone for homework - with a file tote which contains assorted supplies (looseleaf paper, pencils, pens, scissors, rulers, markers, etc), as recommended in Homework Without Tears, a great resource.
-----------------------------
Visit our website at http://www.goaskmom.com.

From the Archives...A Homework Nightmare

Welcome to this week's Ounce of Ketchup! I'll be blunt. I hope your week has been better than ours. Without going into the gory details, well…let's just do Thursday night.

After we discovered that two of the boys had projects due Friday involving poster board, my husband volunteered to go buy extra. He came home with three science boards. Thankfully, we had just enough poster board in our supply closet. Somebody remind me to buy more before the next crisis occurs.

Ron had two projects due that he hadn't started (she types with clenched teeth). One was a collage. My husband and I were up after midnight helping him find and print pictures. Ron was still doing the other project on the way to school Friday morning.

For once, thankfully, Joe had a very light night. Although he had a major test Friday, we had already studied because he thought the test was Thursday! So we reviewed a bit, and read a chapter of To Kill a Mockingbird.

Then there was Mike, who rarely asks for help. He was stuck on the principles of electricity. Voltage and amperes and ohms. (Oh my!) After an hour of chapter review, he felt confident enough to do his homework, and I felt confident enough to plug in an appliance.

Finally there was Ash. (The one without ADHD!) He had to reach his Accelerated Reader goal by Friday, which meant had to completely read one book and type a book report on another. PLUS he had not completed a project correctly and the teacher sent it home for him to redo. He got the reading and the report done, but spent three hours in class to next day finishing the project. His teacher has more patience with him than I do - I think I would have given him a zero!

And that was just one night…Weeks like this that made me start "Who Put the Ketchup in the Medicine Cabinet?" Weeks like this make me wonder what business I have giving hints about how to keep kids focused, organized, encouraged, and successful! Nonetheless, below you will find your weekly dose.

Until next week, remember: You're not the only one!

PS If you're looking for ways to Wake Up from the Homework Nightmare - read how we figured it out at http://www.goaskmom.com/homework.

----------------------------------------------
Visit our website at http://www.goaskmom.com.

Start at the End

Quick hint for today. When your teacher assigns end of the chapter/section questions, make sure your child reads the questions before reading the material. This helps her know what to look for as she reads. If you have a scanner or a copier at your house, copy the questions. He can jot down short answers, or mark multiple choice questions as he goes. We purchased an all in one printer/copier/fax/scanner last year, and it has been one of the best investments we've ever made. I absolutely cannot imagine life without it now.

Visit our website at http://www.goaskmom.com.

Getting An ADHD Child Started

In your quest toward homework independence, your child might just need a jump start. When she begins a subject, do the first problem or two with her, or help write that first sentence, or have her read the first paragraph aloud. It's like riding a bike - sometimes you just need a push-off. Just a little hint to get you started.

Visit our website!

Organizing Homework - For Kids Who Lack The Gift of Organization

Keeping homework organized for school is such a major challenge for kids with ADHD. They lose it, mix it up, remember things that don't exist, ruin it, and are sure they put it "right there"...We've discovered a few top ideas that help even the worst ADHD offenders.

Color Code - At the beginning of the year, each subject gets a color, and the notebook and folder for that subject stay the same throughout. Actually in our house, every year, math is green (for money), science is black (for dead things!), social studies is blue (for the world), and English is red (for frustration?). If you're behind, use your Christmas break and get ahead for 2009. Were we really organized, we would also:

• Write homework in the planner with the appropriately colored marker
  


• Cover books with the subject color
  


• After homework is finished, make a bold colored line to mark notebook paper at the top of the page. This helps with organizing all those papers shoved in the bottom of the bookbag, and might help your child find the right paper to turn in.
  

NOTE: I bought some paper on Clearance that had a colored line already printed at the top. (I can't find it anymore - online or off - it wasn't exactly best-selling.) My non-ADHD child, who has the gift of organization, loves it. He says it has trained him to label his pages uniformly. I've tried this to the other boys to no avail, but it might work with your kid!

Staple - Keep a stapler out at all times, and staple all papers together. I've even stapled papers to the planner, so my son would only have to rip them off when it was time to turn them in the next day.

Back Pack Drawer - We put a huge filing cabinet beside our back door. In it goes everything for the next day - the homework in the homework folder, but also clothes, stockings, back packs, lunch, notes, sports equipment, gym clothes, hats and jackets.

Label things. Put your child's name in BIG letters on homework. This also goes for front and back of notebooks and folders, on the side pages of textbooks (do it in pencil even if you have to pay a fine!), and everything else your child takes out of the house. A silver Sharpie is brilliant for labeling dark items like calculators, water bottles, flash drives and cell phones. Buy one of those Sharpies with a clip on it, and permanently attach it to your keychain or purse so it will always be handy. Don't let your kids out of the car without labeling!

Note that there are great Christmas stocking ideas stuffed into this post: Sharpies, staplers, flash drives go along with the old standby's toothbrushes and razors. These are all great little gifts for all those on your list. Check out more Christmas ideas at E300-Scooter.com for Christmas And don't forget to label that Scooter! : )

"Homework Doesn't Get Any Better..."

An ADHD mom writes..."My daughter is in 8th grade and is doing Algebra! Her homework last night was to solve quadratic equations with variables on each side. Of course, I had to refer to the textbook (which she gets to keep at home thanks to her 504 accommodation!) to help her with it. She used a large (24"x18") white wipe board and colored markers (lime green, bright pink, yellow) to work out the problems. The wipe board makes it easy for me to watch how she is working the problem out because she writes bigger than she could on her binder paper, and it makes it easy for her to erase a mistake quickly (and not get distracted) so she can get back to solving the problem. The colored markers keep it fun--and when she gets bored with one color, she moves on to the next one! Once she has solved the equation, I copy it down onto the binder paper for her (being a secretary for my children has helped them tremendously!). This method has made math homework a creative and fun "game" instead of another rigid activity. We even sit on the living room floor, reclining against the sofa, drinking chocolate milk shakes. Homework doesn't get any better than this!"

Don't miss one of the great hints imbedded in this: the large writing surface, colored markers, reteaching, the parental supervision, "being a secretary", making homework relaxing and fun...What great hints - and what a great mom! I'm afraid that Algebra was never this fun at my house. Maybe we should have tried chocolate milk shakes.