It’s 7:30p.m., and what should be a 20-minute homework assignment has stretched into a two-hour emotional rollercoaster. Your child is frustrated, you’re exhausted, and the math worksheet still isn’t done. Sound familiar? Students with ADHD can have many difficulties when it comes to executive functioning and homework. These students often struggle with focus, time management skills, studying, and other executive functioning skills. In this article I’ll help you with homework tips for ADHD students and ADHD student routines to help them develop skills to tackle their homework!
What Makes Students with ADHD Unique with Homework?
ADHD students tend to have common traits such as: inattention, hyperactivity, impulsivity, time blindness, and more. While not every ADHD student will experience all of these characteristics, it is common for them to have one or more. These traits can manifest and work against the student when it comes to homework time. For this reason, many ADHD students who do not have effective executive functioning skills, will struggle with their homework load. For this reason, it’s essential for the student to have structure and predictability when approaching homework, as well as accommodations that the teacher knows about. These accommodations can include: extra time for assignments, orally read assignments, etc.
Identifying Common Homework Patterns
1. Procrastination and Avoidance
Many students struggle with procrastination when it comes to homework, but students with ADHD can have a particularly difficult time. When a student has avoidance for an assignment, this can stem from a fear of failure, overwhelmed by size of assignment, or difficulty with initiation (common executive functioning issue). These problems can lead to late assignments, last-minute stress, incomplete assignments, and overall lower quality work.
2. Time Mismanagement
It’s common for students with ADHD to focus too much of their time on one assignment. Doing so neglects their other assignment responsibilities which can lead to added stress and lower grades. It’s common for students to underestimate how long an assignment will take to finish too. Time Blindness is a common trait for students with ADHD. Time blindness is the inability to perceive the passage of time when doing something. Time mismanagement can lead to inconsistent performance on assignments, staying up too late finishing assignments, etc.
3. Inconsistent Focus
One of the most common traits in ADHD students is inconsistent focus. This means the student has difficulty focusing on any one assignment when doing homework. The student may feel the need to jump around to different assignments and take frequent breaks. Breaks overall are extremely important, but it should be noted that they can quickly become a distraction if too many are taken. This can present itself with signs of decreased efficiency, errors in work, and incomplete assignments.
The Role of the Learning Environment
The learning environment at home can have intense affects on a student with ADHD. Distractions can come in various forms, so it’s important for a student with ADHD to have a separate, quiet place to do homework. In addition, having a standard routine can also help a student with ADHD overcome their time blindness, and can help keep them on track. Helping your student by setting up a calendar for them with clear time blocks for different homework assignments is a great idea too.
As a parent, playing a supportive role is important to ensuring your student can become the best they can be. You can do this by helping them setup a dedicated learning environment that’s free of distractions. It’s essential that you remain in a supportive role, you don’t want to do too much for your student as it can actually hinder their executive functioning skills.
When to Seek Additional Support
Additional support can be a great option for many families of students with ADHD. This additional support can come in the form of tutoring and executive functioning coaches. When considering a tutor, it’s a good idea to get a tutor that has experience as a teacher. These tutors often have direct experience with working for students with ADHD. A step further would be considering an executive functioning coach. These coaches specialize in helping students develop their executive functioning skills regardless of what grade they are in.
I highly recommend checking out our full list of tutors if either of these options are right for you. All of our tutors are experienced one-to-one teachers at our in-person private school: The Tenney School! This means that your student is getting the best quality tutor possible!