Homework time is an ongoing challenge when parenting children with ADHD. After sitting in school all day, it can sometimes be impossible for them to sit still again at home to work again. The following are five tips for helping families make it through homework time:
1) Use motivational charts or games to help keep children interested. Give your child a reason to want to complete their homework. Children with ADHD often have a hard time connecting future events to completing a task today. For example, receiving a good grade on their report card, maybe a few months away or doing well on a test that may not take place for one to two weeks is not a realistic reason for completing homework tonight. Instead of trying to create a need to complete homework based on intangible rewards such as these, create immediate rewards at home. For example, use car and a paper racetrack (with five places). For each day the child completes their homework, and has it back in the binder or folder to take to class the next day, their car will move up one space. At the end of the week, if they made it to the finish line, they win a “prize.” For more ideas, see Games to Motivate Your Child
2) Make a homework supply box. Children with ADHD sometimes have a hard time sitting still. To combat this, they may get up continuously, looking for items they need to complete their homework, such as pencils, rulers, papers, etc. This however, can become distracting for them, making it harder for them to settle down to complete the homework. To solve this problem, create a homework supplies box. You can use a plastic storage bin or simply a cardboard box. Use the box to hold all the supplies they may need at hand to complete their homework. Add pencils, pens, lined paper, construction paper, colored pencils, pencil sharpener, rulers, erasers, glue, markers and whatever else they may need. The box can come out only during homework time and then be put back away to avoid the supplies being scattered around the house. This should eliminate many of the needs of getting up, allowing your child to concentrate on completing homework with minimum distractions.
