How To Homeschool ADHD Students: Learning In 2021

Can a working mom, learn how to homeschool ADHD students and promote learning in 2021?

How can a working mom homeschool ADHD students and successfully promote learning in 2021?

The definition of Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, well known as ADHD, is an ongoing pattern of inattention, hyperactive and impulsive actions that interferes with normal functioning or development (nimh.nih.gov).

The definition of a working mom, who homeschool’s ADHD students is exhausted, over-extended, and needs a Calgon bath to take her away.

A word of caution from a Christian mother and grandmother standpoint. As the parent you probably do not understand all of the lingo connected to psychological diagnosis and certifications. Nonetheless, I strongly suggest that you discuss any negative connotations connected to diagnosis and certifications with your spouse or a close friend.

Remember that every time you say my child is ___ (you fill in the blank) you are speaking to their future, and declaring a life label. In an effort to keep your mindset in a growth direction, try saying my “child is challenged with” or “my child struggles with” this mental redirection will help both of you grow.

As a homeschooling parent, working mom, and busy wife, discovering the practical options that best suit you will help you keep your sanity. The most popular from the mom’s I interviewed is the use of a schedule and a calendar. You want to keep your calendar in a place that is easily accessible to every member of the family.

As the mom, do not forget that you are the queen of your castle and that you create the tone of the atmosphere. As a Christian mom, allow the Holy Spirit to help you pray for yourself, your husband and your children. Also, remember that praying in the spirit for direction in your home, is a form of intercessory prayer.

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Your greatest victory revolves around your ability to define time management in your household. As you put together your schedule you want to include the following:

The amount of time you need to complete your work duties at a quality level.
Your ability to fund additional educational costs for a student with ADHD.
You want to decide what is “an absolute must have” and what is not really necessary especially with household duties (cooking, cleaning, washing).
How much quality talk-time can you invest into your child(ren) when school is not in session.
How you will wind down at the end of the day and be able to rest, so that you don’t burn out.

The goal of this article is to offer working mom and family’s practical solutions for virtual, online or homeschool educational situations.

practical interventions for homeschooling and working moms of ADHD students

Student Behavior	Practical Intervention	ADHD Symptom
Often forgets homework	*Parents review, sign and date all homework, then have student snapshot and email to the teacher and parent	Inattention
Has difficulty staying focused, and is disorganized	Teach and model how to organize classwork and materials, (putting one assignment away before taking out another) Use a calendar and journal to track assignments and events *Teach students to write their name, and the date on all assignment label all personal property	Inattention
Difficulty staying focused on simple task like spelling practice, multiplication tables, other rote memory practice	Allow your student to take a short break 3-5 minutes Allow your student to complete tasks in small chunks (3 to 10 problems at a time depending on their functional ability. Have the student drink a little water to rehydrate* and increase blood flow to their brain, boost concentration and balance their mood and emotions.	Inattention
Demands attention by talking out of turn or moving around the room	*Explain rules raise hands, wait until you are called-on. Make eye-contact, use polite gestures (ie., finger over lip).	Impulsivity
Trouble interacting with other kids	Schedule a group activity at least once per week until your student is successful at engaging with peers. Schedule a family game night or family meeting night weekly to discuss behaviors, concerns, and share successes	Impulsivity
Does not stay on-task for required time	Reward student for concentrating on the assignment for the required time and allow short breaks when overwhelmed. Set starting and stopping points on classwork, determine minimum requirements *Allow students to define the strategy for achieving daily/weekly work completion goal.	Impulsivity
Often lack fine motor control	Practice Prewrites of letters, numbers, and short sentences or paragraphs for their ADHD student to trace on lined paper Require the student to proofread and correct written assignments *Use fine motor exercises with clay, play dough, sand for 5 minutes 3 to 5x week	Hyperactivity

practical homeschool proprioception exercises that increase learning

Scientists discovered that the brain growth in students with ADHD and with learning disabilities through proprioception exercises. Reports state that professionals have noticed a variety of positive changes in their students.

Even though these fields are non-academic, they can often have an amazing effect on academics due to their ability to develop proprioception. These specific exercises are Kung Fu, ballet, horseback riding, Tai Chi / Chi-Gung and yoga.

Practical Strategies for Proprioception Exercise

Exercise on Purpose use the short 5-7 minute exercise break to break the monotony and reconnect the two hemispheres of the brain. This is easily done with yoga, tai chi and other exercises. More about proprioception exercise later. Have the student do stretches that cross the left arm to the right side and the right arm to the left side of the body. Repeat using the legs. Now make it fun by practicing spelling words, multiplication facts or any rote memory skill, while you workout.

practical solutions concerning learning styles for homeschooling moms

Learn and use learning styles strategies for your student’s natural learning style. There are 7 different learning styles. The three basic styles are auditory, visual and kinesthetic. There are numerous learning styles inventories online.

However, my personal favorite is the VARK. The VARK is easy to administer to your homeschool early learner. I suggest this form of the VARK because early learners (before 5th grade) usually have not discovered how they learn.

You should know that your student’s learning style is a combination of at least 2 different learning styles. However, after first and maybe second grade, most teaching is geared toward auditory and visual learners. Being a kinesthetic learner, I understand the struggles that many of them face with learning.

Below I have a list of strategies for young kinesthetic learners from the teacher list/ parent blog. You may find success in some of these practical strategies for your ADHD student.

Kinesthetic learners learn by doing and touching. They may have trouble sitting still while studying, and they are better able to understand information if they are active while studying. These kinesthetic learning strategies are great for homeschool.

Suggested strategies for ADHD learners from the kinesthetic learners list include:

Reading aloud and tracking words on a page with a finger
Writing things down multiple times to commit them to memory
Highlighting and underlining
Playing with a stress ball or toy while studying
Moving around or taking frequent breaks
Doing hands-on activities, such as building models or playing games

Using your child’s learning style to help them learn can reduce homework battles, strengthen parent-child relationships, and create an unimaginable bond of trust. The Parent corner may be a great resource for homeschooling moms. Click here for additional information from the teacher’s list.

homeschooling the excited ADHD learner vS the i hate school ADHD learner

When your student loves being in school, it makes your life easier. However, the reality is that some parents are blessed with a learner who hates the thought of school. You may even be an adult who hated school. Nonetheless, not attending school is not an option, so how can you help your ADHD students change their mindset about school.

Researcher Carol Dweck, stated that in a fixed mindset, people believe their abilities are fixed traits and cannot change. These people believe they are born with intelligence and talents and there is no need to work to change them. They also believe that talent alone leads to success, and effort is not required.

In a growth mindset, people believe that their learning and intelligence can grow over time and with experience. When people believe they can become smarter with more effort and they see the success of others who once failed, they work harder to achievement their goal.

practical homeschool strategies for changing aDHD student mindset

Wabisabi learning teaches that growth begins with teaching a growth language. The first strategy for growth is negative vs positive language. These are some negative statements that you can use in a weekly family meeting to help your ADHD child understand their potential.

I am not smart enough or good enough to do that.
I never do anything right.
I don’t have any good ideas.

As you work to get your ADHD student to accept that they have potential, show them some famous individuals who changed their mindset and accomplished success.

Walt Disney was rejected as a newspaper editor because he lacked imagination and good ideas. Later, opened Disneyland and Disney World, and imagination has become synonymous with his name.
Steven Spielberg was rejected by the California School of Cinematic Arts twice. But he changed his mindset, and still became one of the most famous directors in movie history.
Stephen King wrote the novel Carrie. He was rejected by publishers over thirty times. He changed his mind set after his wife Tabitha, urged him to not give up. Now he is a famous author with over 350 million books sold.

practical homeschool learning strategies for change: ADHD student and family contributions

The next phase of the growth mind increases the feeling of worth in the individual. In this phase students develop a strong sense community by offering something of value that comes from within them.

Giving a compliment to a sibling or you – this is a great idea for family game night
Making “kindness cards” to give out to someone in the military or to elderly individuals
Donating clothes that don’t fit anymore or unwanted toys to someone less fortunate

Wabisabi learning offers numerous other strategies for increasing the growth mindset in students. You can click on “growth mindset” here for additional information offered by Wabisabi learning.

Conclusion

We start with the definition of ADHD, and our opinion about certifications and labels. We move forward to discuss the stresses faced by working mom’s as they juggle the demands of homeschooling, work and home care. We state the importance of prayer and the Holy Spirit to guide you in developing a workable time management schedule. Then we state some practical strategies to use for each of the three symptomatic areas of ADHD.

Next, we discuss how the use of learning styles for teaching and studying can help reduce frustration and increase learning. We also give a list of strategies for kinesthetic learners to use with your ADHD student. Finally, we explore the use of a growth mindset to help change the perspective of your ADHD student and maybe you as the overwhelmed parent.

For additional articles concerning homeschooling read our post Homeschooling 101 Virtual Public Schools.