How to Help a Child With ADD Learn at School

Attention deficit disorder (ADD) results in a child having great difficulty focusing on a task. Educating a child who has a high level of inattention due to ADD requires parents, teachers and administrators to all work together. There are several specific strategies that you can use in the classroom to ensure that the child learns at school.

Instructions

1

Communicate frequently with the child's parents. Working together with the child's parents will ensure that the child's educational needs are met. You should know whether a child takes medication, what homework assignments are too long or difficult for the child and whether something is going on at home that will disrupt his learning at school. Likewise, inform the parents about the child's behavior in class and any upcoming assignments or tests.

2

Seat the child near the front of the classroom. Students with ADD are highly distracted and need to be seated at the front of the room so that the rest of the class is behind the student and less likely to be a distraction. It is also important to seat the child away from any doors or windows.

3

Divide long assignments into short pieces. Divide up assignments that take several steps to prevent overwhelming the student. For example, you might assign a book review in smaller pieces: read the book, answer some basic questions about the book such as identify the main idea, write a rough draft, edit and write the final draft. The child with ADD will be able to complete the assignment much easier in these smaller steps.

4

Assign a peer to help the child with ADD. Pairing two students together will ensure that homework assignments go home and notes get written down properly.

5

Tell the students that a question is coming before you ask the question to allow all students a chance to focus their attention on you. This provides a chance for the child with ADD to answer the question even if he was previously distracted by something else.

6

Have students repeat directions. When giving directions, ask the student with ADD to tell you what she is to do. This will help to ensure she will complete the task successfully.

7

Stand near the student with ADD while you teach. This provides opportunity to redirect the child's attention when he becomes distracted by touching his shoulder, tapping the desk or pointing to the correct place on the page.