Take some time to read this great article about helping students with Attention Deficit Disorder. Included are seven solid strategies that parents and teachers should start implementing for students with ADD.
As all good teachers know, every student has unique interests, abilities, and learning styles. In a successful classroom, this individuality is respected. In fact, teachers use what they know about each individual to help students learn. This same care and respect can help the growing number of students with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) overcome some of the educational challenges that they face.
Distinguishing ADD from the normal range of childhood activity is difficult and requires the help of a trained professional. There is no cure for ADD. However, you can use strategies like the seven below to help students with ADD find success in your classroom.
Establish a calm, structured classroom
Set up regular routines and clear, consistent rules. While this classroom structure need not come at the expense of creativity or excitement, students with ADD are usually most comfortable in classrooms where procedures, expectations, and limits are explicit.
Provide a “stimuli-reduced study area” in a quiet, low-traffic area of the classroom. Encourage students to use it. To learn more about setting up this study space, go to KidSource Online.
Seat students with ADD away from distractions and close to you. Younger students who have trouble staying in their own spaces can benefit from clear physical boundaries, such as their own table or a box marked on the floor with colored tape.
Always be clear and concise when giving instructions
Repeat yourself! Students with ADD flourish in classrooms where reminders and previews are the norm. Be sure that students know what to expect, and give them frequent updates.
Maintain eye contact when giving verbal instructions and make sure that students understand the instructions before they begin the task. You may want to have students repeat directions back to you.
Simplify complex instructions, and break large tasks into a series of smaller, more manageable parts. Provide older students with written instructions for multistep projects. Review these instructions orally to be sure that students understand.
Use non-verbal cues to communicate with the students; for example, quiet the class by raising your hand or blinking the lights. Give private cues when students are off-task, like sending a signal to re-focus by placing your hand on the shoulder of a chatting or distracted student. If a student is struggling with written instructions, print simple, easy-to-understand icons in the margins of the page in order to draw attention to key points.
Help students to become better organized
Provide students with an easy-to-use assignment log. In this log, clearly list the day’s assignments on a clear, standardized homework schedule. Be sure to include a checklist of all books and supplies that students will need to complete the assignments. If possible, older students should make these homework schedules on their own. Remind all students to consult this notebook at the end of each day and to make sure they understand the assignments.
Take advantage of technology
Encourage students to do writing assignments on computers or word processors that have a spell-checking feature. Students can also use hand-held, computerized spellers. Of course, these aids should not replace good, comprehensive training in these basic skills. However, for projects that emphasize content mastery, technology can be a very valuable tool! Students who can demonstrate their knowledge without worrying about spelling or handwriting can feel pride in their accomplishment and enjoy a great boost in self-esteem.
Give frequent and specific praise
Be sure to tell students how much you value them. Praise all good behavior and outstanding academic performance or improvement in front of classmates or in private. Be specific - tell students exactly what they accomplished!
For example:
“Great job, Leila! You raised your hand before you answered the question!”
“Thank you for washing your paintbrush and putting it back where it belongs, Juan. You really listened to my directions!”
“What a clean desk! You are very organized today, Matt.”
Reward success in the classroom by:
Distributing small prizes, like stickers.
Adding checkmarks or stars to a prominently displayed chart.
Giving successful students firm handshakes and bright smiles.
Telling students that you are proud of them!
Share good news with family members
Tell family members about their children’s accomplishments. Don’t limit home-school communication to difficult periods or crisis situations.
Give younger students a daily home-school “report card.” Encourage them to keep cards in their assignment logs and to share them with their parents. Use this report card to describe students’ achievements and to ask for information or assistance.
There are no easy solutions to ADD, but a classroom environment that is rich in structure, support, and encouragement can nurture success in all students.
Poetry is a timeless art that has lasted throughout the ages. From David in The Bible to Walt Whitman, poems have been written that have stirred people’s hearts and sparked their imaginations. Poems have the ability to capture a moment, much like a painting, and encapsulate that moment forever. The Jubilee Academy believes that poetry is an excellent way for home schooling students to improve their writing and reading skills. Poetry is written in all different levels and in a variety of forms. The Jubilee Academy has found some phenomenal resources that will introduce younger home schoolers to poetry and challenge older home schoolers with more advanced poems. Enjoy!
Pre-Kindergarten Home Schoolers Having Fun with Shel Silverstein: Pre-kindergarten home schoolers can write poems, solves puzzles, and learn all about poetry!!! This website brilliantly introduces poetry to pre-k home schoolers!
Elementary Home Schoolers Giggle Poetry: Elementary home schoolers have always loved poetry and they will love using this website to learn about poetry. Giggle poetry allows elementary home schoolers to write, read, and perform poems with friends, and much more!
Middle School Home Schoolers Famous Poems: Middle school home schoolers have a variety of interests and this extensive list of famous poems will meet their individual interests. The Jubilee Academy feels this website provides an impressive list of poems that middle school home schoolers should read and study.
High School Home Schoolers W.B. Yeats: Yeats is perhaps one of the greatest poets known to man. Yeats was a founder of the Irish Literary Revival that produced many world-famous writers. Yeats’ poems may be difficult to understand at first, but we feel that high school home schoolers will greatly benefit from studying his works.
“Does not wisdom call out? Does not understanding raise her voice? On the heights along the way, where the paths meet, she takes her stand; beside the gates leading into the city, at the entrances, she cries aloud: ‘To you, O men, I call out; I raise my voice to all mankind. You who are simple, gain prudence; you who are foolish, gain understanding. Listen, for I have worthy things to say; I open my lips to speak what is right.’” (Proverbs 8:1-6)
Good morning! Happy Tuesday! I hope everyone is having a terrific week! Tomorrow, America celebrates the Fourth of July. How will you celebrate Independence Day? Do you know what Independence Day is? These sites are dedicated to teaching The Jubilee Academy home schoolers all about America’s most important national holiday.
Pre-Kindergarten Home Schoolers Independence Day Printable Coloring Pages: Pre-k home schoolers can print out 4th of July pictures and color them in! This is the perfect Independence Day activity for pre-k home schoolers!
Elementary Home Schoolers Fourth of July Activity Book: Elementary home schoolers will have a blast solving word puzzles, labeling maps, and reading about important American symbols. This is a great way to reinforce home school curriculum or introduce home school curriculum!
Middle School Home Schoolers Constitutional Puzzles: Middle school home schoolers, do you think you know your American history? The Jubilee Academy is going to put you to the test! Solve each of these word puzzles that focus on a different area of American history. Enjoy!
High School Home Schoolers Save the Bill of Rights: High school home schoolers, have you got what it takes? If you do, then help America save the Bill of Rights in this excellent interactive game. Playing this game is also a cool way to strengthen your home school education!
“Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you. For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.” (Philippians 3:17-21)
