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Jingle Bells, Homework Tales and Projects All the Way

December 7, 2010 By Leave a Comment
adhd and the holidays

I love this time of year. The blinking lights on the front walk, the aroma of freshly baked cookies and spiced cider from the kitchen, and the sounds of our favorite Christmas music playing in the background create an exciting environment. As wonderful as they are, the holidays usher in huge distractions for children. She's trying to muddle through geometry homework while deciding what to wear as a "helping elf" for the special Christmas photos in the community. Or perhaps he's perfecting his Christmas list when you thought he was working on vocabulary words. And both your kids are trying to … [Read more...]

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Your Child’s Best Advocate is You

October 15, 2010 By Leave a Comment
adhd kids don't write down homework

As the parent of an ADHD-Inattentive child, you are the best advocate available. There are times when you have a gut feeling or a simple nagging thought in the back of your mind that something's not right. Sometimes problems are much more obvious, but it's tough to find a mutually agreeable solution. Here's one reader's situation (with names changed to protect privacy): My son has a school-recognized 504 accommodation for ADHD Inattentive Type. Brandon is extremely bright, and the psychologist said he should be getting straight A's just by sitting in class. Unfortunately, he only gets … [Read more...]

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Timing’s Everything for an ADHD Child

September 30, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Red Shirting for ADHD

Kayla may have shared with you about how she almost kept Mike out of kindergarten for a year to let him start a year later. She and I have been discussing this issue lately because many kids (ADHD or not) benefit from maturing a bit before they start their school careers. What Mike ended up doing was taking a gap year after his first year of college. It looks like Kayla’s instincts about holding him back a year were accurate – he just ended up taking the time a little later than anticipated. We have our own timing story. When Lesley was 4, she started kindergarten in Maryland. It … [Read more...]

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Three Tips For Managing Homework Headaches

December 10, 2009 By Leave a Comment

After the post about Ron and his college homework, you're probably ready for some positive hints on homework...and thanks to Alana Morales - here they are: Three Tips For Managing Homework Headaches! In my neck of the woods (or desert, as it is), we are gearing up for the second quarter of school. This semester, I have experienced teacher battles, homework nightmares and medication debacles. All in all, a pretty normal school year for an ADHD family, wouldn't you say? One of the things that I have found myself doing is reevaluating my homework processes and making changes based on the … [Read more...]

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College Homework and ADHD

December 9, 2009 By 2 Comments

Recently, our oldest came home from college for a weekend, homework in tow. I know the child is 23 years old, but I was happy that he was able to find the assignment (okay, so it was online, but still). I was even happier that he had the correct book. Ron's homework was to write a comprehensive summary of three chapters in one of his business textbooks. Talk about boring. He's pretty interested in it, though. He explained enough to show me he had a good grasp of the subject, although for the life of me I can't remember what it was. We had a good discussion about how hard it is for him to … [Read more...]

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A Homework Nightmare

October 21, 2009 By 2 Comments

Last week in the newsletter, I mentioned that all of our kids had come home for the weekend - Ron with college homework in tow. While he was taking a break, I read him an article I wrote back when he was in the tenth grade. Read, it, multiply it by four, and you'll understand why I'm able to write stuff like Waking Up from the Homework Nightmare and Focus Pocus! "Did you wash jeans? My Algebra assignments were in my pocket." Sure enough, crumpled up in the trash was a freshly laundered yellow sticky note, with penciled assignments too faded to read. So he pored through the Algebra II … [Read more...]

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Three Tips for … Surviving Math Homework – by Alana Morales

October 20, 2009 By 1 Comment

Don't let the headline get to you. For some kids, math comes easy to them. Then there are the rest of us. Not to be stereotypical, but math can pose some special difficulties for our ADHD kids. ADHD kids have a tendency to have difficulties with math facts, processing word problems and even following the order of operations. Special skills can help ease these troubles. Here are three tips to help your kids survive and thrive math this year. 1. Make it fun. I know I keep saying this, but make the math fun. Despite common belief, you can make it fun. Let them do math facts online. … [Read more...]

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How to Learn Math

October 2, 2009 By 1 Comment
third grade math adhd

The most important concept my boys learned about math was the fact families. Go here to get a template for making fact family cards - with lots of activity ideas. At some point, our kids have to graduate from the rote memorization of math facts to understanding what the numbers and facts represent. A cool book to foster this understanding is The Grapes of Math. (I love the title!) In it, the author asks riddles that make kids use what they know in new ways. One of my absolute favorite resources is called Fun With Figures. This fascinating book will teach your child - and you - to do mental … [Read more...]

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Spelling Success for Back to School

August 21, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Back to school. Whether you approach this time of year with anticipation or dread, it's about to happen. New teachers and classes, different rules and expectations, leave children and parents overwhelmed with excitement and anxiety. Below are six ways to send your child back to school with success. Supplies - Most schools provide a list of essentials for each child to bring on the first day of class. Make sure your child has exactly what is requested, and save enough cash for those supply needs that crop up the first week of class. Stock up on all types of paper, writing utensils, art … [Read more...]

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Three Tips for … Back to School

August 21, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Thanks to Alana Morales for this great guest post! ----------------- Back to school time is quickly approaching – are you ready? I know I am. My kids need a set routine and unfortunately, as hard as I try, I can’t provide enough structure for them. They are ready to be back around their friends and I am ready for them to burn off some energy during the day. Heading back to school means heading back into the land of homework, morning rituals and killer time management strategies. Here are three tips to help you prepare for the craziness of going back to school. 1. Student … [Read more...]

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