Finding successful teaching strategies for ADD children is critical to improving their learning. These teaching strategies can help you effectively teach an ADD child at home or at school.
1. ADD Teaching Stragegy Number 1 - Provide a Distraction-Free Environment
Providing a distraction-free environment for learning is the first step in effectively teaching an ADD child at home or school. Because ADD children have difficultly filtering out elements in the environment that others can effectively ignore, it is important to eliminate as many distractions as possible. Naturally, that would mean having no television or music playing. Turn off that all-important cell phone. Organize an efficient study space to ensure your child has everything he needs close at hand at home.
2. ADD Teaching Stragegy Number 2- Break Assignments Into Smaller Sections
An ADD child can become overwhelmed by large tasks and projects containing multiple problems or steps. This can cause the child to delay geting started, fail to complete important parts of the project, or simply shut down and not even try. Breaking the tasks down into smaller, manageable steps can help an ADD child work more effectively.
3. ADD Teaching Stragegy Number 3 - Reduce Assignments
When working on assignments that involve drill and practice such as worksheets with multiple math problems of the same type, consider having an add child complete fewer problems. A good rule of the thumb is that if the child is still working on an assignment a lot longer than other children, consider reducing the number of problems.
4. ADD Teaching Stragegy Number 4 - Work with a Timer
Some children with ADD have difficulty working at a steady pace because their attention drifts off task. Consider using a timer to encourage your ADD child to work steadily toward the goal.
5. ADD Teaching Stragegy Number 5 - Use a Reward System
Motivation is tough for children with ADD. It is important to realize though, that not all of this is under the child's control. It takes extra effort on their part to attend and remain on task like other children. Using a reward system can help increase the add child's motivation and productivity in class or at home.
