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Children (and adults) with ADHD can be a lot of fun! They have lots of energy and have the “superpower” of hyperfocus which can lead to some pretty amazing projects and discoveries. My children have such different personalities! All of them have their own strengths and weaknesses. It is a joy to watch them learn and grow.
There are three types of ADHD: Inattentive, hyperactive-impulsive and a combination of both.
The key to educating these kids is to BE FLEXIBLE. Some days will be better than others for sitting and getting bookwork done and that is okay. There is no “behind” when you are homeschooling. You set the goals and then do your best to be as flexible as your children need. Some days your child may be a little worn out or particularly cuddly, take advantage! Sit down, read great books, and get ahead on some lessons as long as they aren’t sick. The biggest and most important goal in my homeschool is to not only preserve but to fan the flames of my children’s love of learning and to encourage them to be lifelong learners.
It is always so exciting for me when my kids start reading fluently. Many ADHD kids are big readers! I try to keep my home pretty uncluttered (as much as a home with 4 kiddos can be!) but one thing that I really don’t purge is my books. It is so important to me to have my home filled with great books, from cloth books, to board books, to chapter books and beyond. We have found some wonderful stories in the JourneyForth catalog. One my daughter and I particularly loved was Captive Treasure by Milly Howard.
My son has always learned a lot from watching educational shows. He would play and watch these shows and then report back to us all of the fascinating facts he had learned. We decided to try BJU Press Homeschool Distance Learning Online. It has been a lifesaver for me as a mom of 4. It has allowed me to be a facilitator and to see the bigger picture of what is going on with all of my children at once. My son does really well and has some favorite teachers and classes. What is really awesome is that we have even met some teachers at homeschool conferences and interacted with them online.
My daughter seems to struggle with both hyperactivity and inattentiveness. She has thrived with an easy going pace of parent-led BJU Press Homeschool materials. We decided to give her the gift of time because she really needed to take time to master some routines that would help her succeed later in life and she needed to mature a little, too. She was really unhappy doing any lessons at all so we just stopped. We played, went to the library, explored new crafts and art projects, we cooked, oh yeah, and learned a ton of ASL… That is why we love homeschooling. She only needed 6 months and is right back on track. She is excited to move on the the next grade level and is really starting to love reading and math. She has requested to do school like her brother so we are going to give distance learning a shot with her, too. I know that if need be I can step in and share teaching duties with her teachers since I’ll have easy access to all of her teacher’s editions.
If you only take one thing away from this little post, please take this: These kids are amazing. They are brilliant and just need the right environment to shine. My son is excelling, my daughter is excelling and yet I know if either had been in a classroom setting they would be struggling and probably in trouble a lot for squirming, getting out of their seats and talking (ask me how I know).
Enjoy the ride mama! It’s worth every minute!
