Help with Homework

Your child has ADD. You come home from the 5th teacher's conference this year and it's not even Thanksgiving yet. Your child is still not doing his homework. You've fussed, pleaded, punished and you're at your wits end. Don't worry, -help is on the way! Keep reading....

About a month ago, we started home schooling our children. It has been both rewarding and challenging. One thing I've discovered is that my 9-year-old can make a 15-minute math lesson into a 2-hour ordeal. If this sounds familiar, I hope the steps we've taken to help our daughter and ourselves work as well for you.

The first thing we did was make sure she had a place to work without her brother nearby to distract her. He would pick on her and he would be able to complete his work, but she would have to start over and over again to figure out where she left off.

Next, we made sure she was working near me. If I'm working on the computer, then she is upstairs where I can encourage her and help her keep up with her progress. If I'm cleaning the kitchen, she is at the kitchen table. I don't fuss, but simply keep track of what subject she is on and encourage her to stay on track. I do provide a list each morning of what she is to do in each subject. She checks off things on her list as they are completed. This gives her a visual to help her see her accomplishments for the day.

I help my daughter break down large tasks into smaller ones-, especially on the subjects she's not very fond of. She may do her math in 2 or three sessions, for instance. She loves language and reading, so that is not a problem for her, but math is not her favorite so she may do spelling and then do section A in math, then a language worksheet followed by section B in math, etc.

Sometimes we play a game. If there's something she's having some problem concentrating on, I first make sure she understands what she is supposed to do and how she is supposed to do it, and then I tell her I bet she can complete that in 10 minutes (or whatever time frame is appropriate for the task). I try to make the time frame a little longer than I think it will actually take so she gets to feel a sense of accomplishment in her work. She can feel proud that she quickly accomplished a task with which she previously had difficulty.

Go To Page: 1 2

Articles in this Topic    Discussions in this Topic