As a classroom teacher for many years, I saw how difficult it was for the ADD/ADHD child to thrive in a typical class setting. Often disheartened by constant poor grades, these children seem to simply become the class “distraction” and their education begins to take a back seat in just trying to make them behave.
Homeschooling is actually the optimum place for a child with ADD or ADHD. In the homeschool setting they have more freedom to achieve within their own “learning style.” I’ve seen frustrated children blossom within the framework of a homeschool designed to meet their needs. It’s best to spend some time with the child to determine his/her strengths. Then develop your homeschool to play to those strengths.
1) Many homeschool ADD/ADHD students are tactile learners. This means that they like to use all their senses when learning. They typically will learn well when a new concept involves many types of sensory learning. You can accomplish this by doing science experiments, using letter tiles to learn the alphabet, incorporating unifix cubes into your math learning, and even acting out scenes from history.
2)Some ADD/ADHD learners are auditory learners, but this is rather rare. If this is the case listening skills are what they thrive on. Homeschoolers can use audio books, recorded lessons, allowing students to record study facts and then replay, read alouds are great, as well as recitation of different facts.
3)Finally, some ADD/ADHD learners can be visual learners. This means that they love to SEE what they are learning. Infographics are a great way to spell out information that you want to get across to the visual learner. Other methods to help the visual learner include using flashcards, drawings, written instructions, demonstrations, pictures, graphs, charts, videos, puzzles, and games.
