ADHD of the Christian Kind
ADHD of the Christian Kind


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Homeschooling the ADHD Child

Homeschooling an ADHD child can be a real challenge. Here are some of the issues we deal with regularly in our home:

Bored boy
  • Distractibility - cannot keep on task when given an assignment
  • Frustration - low frustration levels when given an assignment that is confusing or repetitious
  • Boredom - easily bored with repetitive tasks like spelling and handwriting, or math facts
  • Clueless - unless you are working with a gifted child, you will reach times where the information just isn't understood
  • Careless - sloppy work and careless mistakes
  • Endless school days - unaware of the concept of time and prove this by taking 3 hours to complete 5 math problems
  • Insanity - can drive even the sanest parent to question their sanity
  • Noise - 3 or more children chattering away at the same time, tapping pencils, rolling desk chairs across the floor; child 2 distracts child 1 while child 3 has disappeared to who knows where
  • Grace - God's grace is sufficient, for His power is made perfect in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9 NIV)

Homeschooling an ADHD child will present you with a unique set of challenges. Because of the existence of learning disabilities in a large percentage of ADHD children, the parent's teaching style must match learning styles of these children as much as possible. Most ADHD children are just not good classroom learners, so attempting to recreate a classroom at home will not benefit the child, or you as the homeschooling parent.

Allowing your child to read standing on his head or in the frog position might work better than sitting at a desk or kitchen table. Some children do better reciting math facts while jumping on a mini-trampoline or hopping around the room. Allow your child to try different learning environments. The biggest challenge for parents who were classroom learners themselves is giving up the classroom paradigm.

Unit Studies and Hands-On Activities are a great choice for at least one or two of the child's subjects. We choose a topic, such as Inventors, and create a study based on this topic with activities in History, Science, Creative Writing, Vocabulary, Spelling, and sometimes Math.

It is possible that your ADD/ADHD child is a Kinesthetic Learner or Gifted Some children, especially the gifted ADD/ADHD child, may learn best with a modified form of unschooling.

Not all ADD/ADHD children are kinesthetic learners, however. Be sure to look into the many different learning styles and determine which best fits your child. Then gear your choice of teaching styles and materials based on your child's learning style.

In 2003, we began middle school and began to incorporate Christian Classical Education ideas into our homeschool. As expected, some ideas worked well and others did not. My children unanimously love Latin. The reading and summarizing did not work well for several of my children. I did used Writing Strands and Writing Trails (from LOGOS) with success with two of my children. We did a lot of work orally, discussed most of the reading, and definitely did much less written work than most Classical homeschoolers would do. We learned to make accommodations for each child's challenges: presenting work orally, using a computer instead of hand writing out exercises, computer curriculum such as Switched on Schoolhouse.

After the Christmas holidays, I realized that I was not going to make it as things were going. I was tired, had little focus and could not direct my children successfully. On the ADD Homeschool List, another creative list member shared what they were doing this year while she regrouped: Learning at Home, a modified child-directed method. I decided at the beginning of February 2004 that we were going to use this system for at least 4 weeks while I recover from the mental and physical exhaustion that has overcome me. Learning how to take a break from the routine can bring refreshing not only to the homeschooling parent, but to the children as well.

Here are some additional links for homeschooling the ADD/ADHD child:

Support Groups:

  • ADD Hope Email List - Online support group for parents of ADHD children, ADDults and their spouses, grandparents, caregivers, homeschoolers, teachers and anyone who wants to learn more about ADHD. Great place to learn about the latest medical treatments for ADD, co-existing conditions, discipline and training methods, and more. All are welcome!
  • Christian ADHD Homeschoolers List is an e-mail support group for Christian parents of ADD/ADHD children who homeschool their children. We can provide each other with support that no other homeschool group can. Each of us know the difficulties associated with ADD/ADHD. Working together we just might be able to get through this.
  • Christian ADHD List - As Christians, we face special challenges. We desire to remain true to the Word of God, yet find that traditional methods of child training often do not yield the fruit normally expected. Members of this loop pray for and encourage one another daily.
  • Christian ADHD Alternative Treatment List - For Christian parents who do not feel comfortable using pharmaceuticals in the treatment of their child's ADHD.
ADHD of the Christian Kind
Organization, scheduling, and child training resources for Parents of ADHD children. Flying by the seat of your pants might work if you are single, but not as a parent!

Reading logs for keeping your children reading. Doesn't have to be summer to have a reading challenge. Offer rewards, privileges or prizes for meeting their reading goals.

Teach your children to set the table, clear the table, load the dishwasher and more. Free Task Lists and Kitchen Duty Charts for download.

Christian Kind