Mommy ADD

Three Tips For...End of Semester Review

If you have a child in middle or high school, the end of the semester can be a stressful time for you both. Before we get the feedback of final grades, our ADHD kiddos need to make it through final exams.

Final exams pose a special problem for our kids. It asks them to recall information from the entire course of the semester, organize study materials and time efficiently and then do well on timed tests. Here are three tips to help your child through final exams.

1. Look at those accommodations. If your child is already on a 504 or IEP plan, look at what accommodations you have in place for testing. Even if your child hasn't needed them throughout the semester, you may want to consider making them take advantage of them during testing time.

If your student isn't already on an accommodation plan, talk with the individual teacher(s). Many will be more than willing to make adaptations to help your child, especially if you have been in contact with them and working with them all semester.

Some possible modifications are: smaller testing group, extended time, or a reader for test questions. Modifications can be as simple as a fidget toy or chewing gum during the exam.

If you ask for an accommodation to be made, please make sure you are being reasonable. The purpose of an accommodation is to level the playing field, not give your child an advantage.

2. Begin reviewing early. Once you know when finals are, sit down with your student to come up with a review plan, then help them to implement it. Make sure you pay attention to the subjects that need more time and review and plan accordingly.

Another way to help your child is to review with them. You can test them, either by asking them questions or helping them actively review. Help them make charts diagrams, graphs - anything that will help them conceptualize the concepts and ideas they need to remember.

3. Talk with the teacher. Once you have a game plan, make sure you have all the materials your child needs to review. If you are missing anything (or suspect you are) contact the teacher asap. Don't wait until the day before the final to ask about a concept your child is having trouble grasping - ask early.

If you are finding that your child needs extra help, email the teacher about tutoring. Many teachers hand out a review packet as well - make sure your child has one and if they are prone to losing things, ask the teacher for an extra. This will save a huge headache when it's the day before a final and your child can't find their review packet.

Finals is a stressful, but necessary time in every student's educational career. Work hard to help your student develop the skills they will need to make it through this time successfully. It will take a bit of work, but it will pay off in the long run.

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Alana Morales is the author of Domestically Challenged: A Working Mom’s Survival Guide to Becoming a Stay at Home Mom. You can learn more about her at www.AlanaMorales.com. You can also follow her on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/alanamorales for mom and ADHD tips. Do you have an ADHD/ADD educational issue you would like to see addressed? If so, please email me at info@mommyadd.com and I will try to feature it in a new column or on my blog at www.MommyADD.com.

Three Tips for … Surviving Math Homework

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. Download a math game. In fact, you can even buy a math game for the Nintendo DS.

Several websites that may help are www.aplusmath.com, www.funbrain.com, and www.bigbrainz.com (which has a GREAT multiplication game that is free and downloadable).

2.Do what works. Math can be troubling because you have to keep track of all those darn numbers. Here's two ways to keep them in check. One unorthodox method is to take the notebook paper and turn it sideways. Then, when your student writes their numbers, they can keep them all in a row.

If you need a stronger way to keep track of the problems, have your student do their math homework on graph paper. If there isn't enough room, let them write in two boxes per number. Since going to this method, I can actually read my son's homework!

Another tip is to highlight the different operations in different colors. You could make addition green, subtraction yellow, multiplication blue and division pink. This will help remind our kiddos what operation they should be doing.

3. Practice, practice, practice. Unfortunately, the school day just keeps getting more and more busy. This means that there is less and less time for practicing basic math skills. Try to practice math facts 5 minutes a day or 10 minutes every other day. To make it easier, make a game of it. You can play bingo, have a scavenger hunt, play on the computer – whatever it takes.

Make sure they have samples of the exact type of problem they are working on. Modeling is very important with ADHD kids, especially since so many are visual learners.

Math can be fun...or at the worst, much less painful. Math is a necessary skill and all kids need to learn how to work problems effectively. Help take some of the stress out of math homework and become the math hero of your house today!

Do you have an ADHD/ADD educational issue you would like to see addressed? If so, please email me at info@mommyadd.com and I will try to feature it in a new column or on my blog at www.MommyADD.com.

Three Tips For Structuring Homework Time

Here's my latest column, hope you enjoy!!

In many places school is in full swing. I had the pleasure of learning that a mere days after taking my son off his 504 plan and his meds almost concurrently, he began to bomb rapidly in school. He had missing assignments, worse than ever handwriting and an almost maxed out frustration level.

Along with working harder to find a med that will work, I also took the time to restructure our homework time. I'm only about a week into the process, but so far it really seems to be helping.

Here are three tips to structure your homework time as effectively as possible:

1. Time it appropriately. Start homework too late and the kids will already be tired. Start too early and they won't have enough time to wind down after being at school all day. My kids go to an after school program, so when we get home, they have already had time to run around and play. On days where they don't get that play time, I try to get them to burn off some energy before we try to buckle down and get to business.

2. Make sure you have everything you need. And by everything, I mean everything. I always make sure to get an extra textbook for home, but of course, my son is working out of a different textbook. This was an issue when we had to try and get caught up last week.

Make sure you have enough school supplies. I know at Target where I live, most of the school supply extras are on clearance, so I will go and buy a ton of paper and other necessities for the rest of the year.

3. Make it fun, keep it fun. Homework is not usually fun, but when you are working with someone who has the attention span of a gnat, it's important to try and make it as least painful as possible. We do Nerd homework at least once a week. Basically, we take a small (and by small I mean as minuscule as possible) candy and put it next to each homework problem. Then, after each problem, they get a candy. Talk about immediate gratification!

We also do a daily homework check in the agenda, again with the immediate gratification of either a piece of gum, or if we have the time, video game time.

This can easily be modified. Give a treat for breaking down a science project into smaller bits, for reading for a certain chunk of time or any other task.

Another way to make homework fun is to be different. This week, I let my daughter, who is in first grade, write her spelling words in red pen and then type them on the computer. She ended up practicing them 5 times and she loved it because she got to do things she normally doesn't get to.

Homework can be the bane of our existence as ADHD parents, but there are ways to make it less painful. The key is constant diligence and thinking outside the box.

Do you have an ADHD/ADD educational issue you would like to see addressed? If so, please email me at info@mommyadd.com and I will try to feature it in a new column or on my blog at www.MommyADD.com.

Three Tips for Back to School

Here is my latest column (ok, technically, it's from at least a week ago, but still...). You can read more at Who Put the Ketchup in the Medicine Cabinet?

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 readiness.

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Column: Three Tips...Improving Reading

Here's my latest column that first appeared on An Ounce of Ketchup at Go Ask Mom...Enjoy!

ADHD kids can be notorious for lots of different things (one of mine happens to be notorious for a famous toothpaste incident, but I digress) but when it come to school, many are reluctant readers. Being a reluctant reader isn't a term I particularly like - what it really boils down to is finding what your child is into. I am a firm believer that every kid can be a happy reader, its a matter of figuring out what subject they are passionate about.

This may be more difficult for the parents than you think. It will require you to relax your standards on what you think is appropriate for your child to read. Forget the classics (even if it's only for a little while) and follow these three steps to help them find their niche.

1. Start with what they like. If they are into skateboarding, find them some biographies of famous skaters or let them read about how skateboards are made or how the sport developed. it may be difficult for you to let go of your preconceived notions about what your child should be reading, but what is more important - them reading what you want them to or them reading willingly? Be willing to give them some freedom to find what they like. Kids are notorious for being into many different topics, which means that our ADD'ers might be interested in pirates one day, medieval torture another and then the origin of the shoelace by the end of the week.

Be willing to go with the flow and run with it. You may have to be patient, but again, the goal is to get them to read.

2. Take your time. It may take some time to find what they like. Become friends with your local librarian. their help will be invaluable with your search for the perfect book, author and subject. Once you befriend them, they will keep on the lookout for books that match your criteria. They can also tell you about similar authors and topics, put books on hold for you and even tell you about local author events, which can be a great way to get kids excited about reading.

3. Once you find "it", run with it. Once you find whatever "it" is that makes your child want to read, find as many ways as you can to foster that interest. Remember to think outside the box. Once you find a topic, look for biographies, magazine articles and any other genre of writing related to the topic. Again, your local and school librarians can be a big help with this. Other places to look are Barnes and Noble, Amazon and even Google. Look for websites specifically geared towards kids and the subject and you may even be able to find newsletters that you can subscribe kids to. Don't forget other, less traditional methods of delivery. Reading a comic book, newspaper or even magazine is still reading.

Remember - the goal is to show your child that reading can be fun. Loosen up and have fun finding topics together and they will appreciate knowing you care enough to take the time to help them and maybe you can even read with them. Enjoy!

Have a question about your child's education? Email me at add@alanamorales.com to have your question answered.

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Column: Three Tips for...

This week's column was Three Tips for Finishing Out the School Year over at the Who Put the Ketchup in the Medicine Cabinet? blog.

Here's a preview:

Ending the school year can be a joyous time. A time to look forward to a few months of no homework, a time to work on building skills (and not just video game skills) and a time for siblings to drive each other crazy on a much bigger scope. It's also a time to remain diligent about studies...

Finish Reading