AEG Blog

With the return of school comes the return of homework.  Homework should be a valuable part of a student's overall education.  But for students who learn differently, homework can sometimes become a point of stress that can impact the entire family. 

LD Online offers a multitude of excellent tips for homework in Being an Efficient Homework Helper: Turning a Chore into a Challenge.  Regina G. Richards writes:

To begin, we must keep in mind the characteristics of our own children, because each child has his or her unique strengths, weaknesses, and needs.

When embarking on any project, there are first some questions we need to ask ourselves. These apply whether the project is a page of math facts or a full report.

* We need to make sure we understand the project: what are we trying to do?
* We need to assemble our tools: what materials will we need for this project?

Working successfully with our children on schoolwork requires respect, and respect begins with understanding.

Richards provides an extensive list of ideas and insights for making homework time productive and positive.  She offers detailed suggestions for the parent tool kit including setting up an effective work area, basic strategies, encouragement, motivation, and learning from mistakes. 

But the underlying theme in all of Richards' suggestions is the idea that it is important to study your child and know what makes homework time work well for him according to his own particular needs and expectations. By making some basic adjustments, it is possible to greatly improve homework time each day and make it the valuable academic tool it is meant to be.


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Students today utilize technology throughout their day without even giving it a second thought. It is such a part of their world that it is easy for the adults around them to assume that they are proficient and savvy with its use.  However, there is a significant difference between utilizing technology and the skillful manipulation of it and the information it provides.

In Information Literacy on Edutopia, Andrew Marcinek addresses the need to have students do more than simply search for information by typing some words into Google.  Students need to be taught how to effectively do research and make the most of the online tools. Marcinek describes his desire to teach his students how to make the most of the resources available:

I wanted my students to use Google, however, I wanted them to use it effectively and efficiently. I could have demonstrated another lesson in developing precise search criteria, however, I decided to delve deeper into the world of Google search options.

This idea came from one of my favorite librarians, Dr. Joyce Valenza. I cannot even utter the phrase "Information Literacy" without evoking her name and her expertise. She was presenting Google Search options at edcamp Philly this past May and suggested many different ways in which teachers and students could work together and make Google more effective for all involved. Her fundamental message was that students need to filter down beyond a typical Google search results and find quality information efficiently.

Marcinek explains how he introduced his students to Google Timeline during a lesson on the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan.  Using Google Timeline, the students were able to interact with primary sources from that particular historical time period which created a higher level of engagement with the research project.  Marcinek knew he had been successful when he made the following observations:

After this lesson, I found my students using Google Timeline in other classes and they were able to hear questions outside of my class and apply a skill, a search tool to that question. This is learning. This is information literacy. It is our responsibility as educators to educate students not only on the content but how to filter the content and get to the heart of the question. When we teach students how to seek information correctly and efficiently, we create learning opportunities for life.

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When the school year ends, everyone breathes a sigh of relief.  Weeks on end of no homework, practices and general juggling of schedules. But even though school is out, it doesn't mean learning should be shelved until the fall.  Many studies have shown that children lose a great deal of academic progress if they take a complete break from learning during the summer months.  Even small activities each day will keep students sharp and ready to hit the ground running when school starts again.

In LD Online's Summertime and the learning is easy, Ann Dolin explains the importance of summertime learning:

According to the foundation Reading is Fundamental, children who do not read over the summer experience a loss of reading fluency and comprehension skills. Students who engage in summertime reading actually gain skills. Research also shows that students who have not engaged in summer learning score lower on standardized tests at the end of summer break than they do on the exact same test at the end of the previous school year. In math, students lose approximately 2.6 years of grade level equivalency over the summer if they are not stimulated.

Given the importance of retaining a student's hard-earned progress, Dolin suggests a variety of activities that will help parents make the most of the summer in an easy-going yet valuable way.  Her ideas fall into three general categories: make reading a priority, don't forget writing, and incorporate math and science.  Dolin suggests ideas such as creating a summer journal or scrapbook, board games that naturally develop math skills as part of playing the game, and utilizing free online games that build reading and math skills. 

Dolin also suggests setting measurable goals with your child and tie them in with rewards.  Keep track of the goals and rewards as a means of motivation.

Although some children might initially be reluctant to do "school work" during the summer, it is possible to make the learning fun.  And when the school year begins in the fall and your student is ready to jump in without any loss of progress, the time spent doing the little extras over the summer will definitely be worth it!

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All children need to learn responsibility and one important way to do so is by contributing to the needs of the family.  By having specific chores or jobs to do around the house, children gain valuable experience that prepares them for life.  For ADD children, it also serves as an important way to learn self-discipline.

ADDitude magazine online provides some helpful insights in Better ADHD Behavior Through Chores. As to the importance of participating around the house, the article states:

Household tasks help the ADHD child feel like an important member of the family. Because he may experience more disappointments, failures, and frustrations than the average child, it is imperative that he knows he is needed at home. Choose chores that you know he can complete successfully. This will build self-esteem.

The article offers sensible, easy to implement suggestions. These suggestions include considering the child's age and abilities, demonstrating how to do the chores correctly, and establishing deadlines.

Although ADD children may struggle with organizational skills, they can be helpful and contributing members of the family.  By planning ahead and focusing on success, children can learn new skills and feel good about their role in the family.

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The lure of the television, video games, and online activities means that children today are spending less and less time outside.  Recently labeled Nature Deficit Disorder, there is growing concern that children today are completely disconnected from any meaningful interaction with nature.

Education.com offers a list of The Ten Actions Parents Can Take to Prevent Nature Deficit Disorder.  Among the ten are:

• Plant a garden
• Plan a weekly or monthly surprise outdoor adventure
• Take a daily or weekly walk together as a family after dinner

The article provides other ideas for getting children involved with the great outdoors including a list of links to organizations with helpful suggestions for making the most of a child's time in nature.

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After school and evenings are packed with activities for the average family.  Homework, sports, meals, more homework and trying to spend at least a little time together as a family means that every minute counts.  If there is a child with ADHD in the mix, then the evenings can become even more overwhelming.

ADDitude magazine has a list of suggestions for families seeking to better manage the after school and evening routine. ADHD Organization Help: 9 Strategies for Stress-Free Evenings at Home takes a look at some of the biggest challenges facing parents and children and offers practical solutions.

Their suggestions include:

• Focus on nutrition
• Consider early evening meds
• Be realistic
• Watch your words
• Run. Jump. Kick.

Their nine tips offer helpful and practical ideas for approaching the evening routine.  ADHD children and their parents may likely benefit from implementing one or more of these tested strategies.

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Parents across America rushed out to purchase classical CDs when the Mozart effect was first reported in the early 1990's.  The promise of boosting a child's IQ even while in the womb simply by listening to music by composers such as Mozart, Vivaldi and Hadyn was too great to ignore.

Almost twenty years later, most experts are calling the hype and excessive promises false.  Even the author who wrote the study so often cited has said that the information was misapplied and over-exaggerated.

But while the promise of a virtuoso might have been over-hyped, subsequent research has shown that there is a different kind of Mozart effect.  And it is not based on listening, but on learning to actually make music.

From the Los Angeles Times article: The Mozart effect: Studies of music's affect on children:

In a 2004 study, he and his colleagues randomly assigned 144 6-year-olds to receive instruction in keyboard, voice, drama or nothing. After a year, kids who got keyboard or voice lessons showed a 3-point IQ boost on average over the kids taking drama or no lessons at all.

It's a modest improvement but one that may build on itself since, for all its faults, IQ is a reliable predictor of a child's performance in school. Better performance in school typically leads to more and better schooling — which, in turn, further increases IQ.

So how does learning to make music make a difference?

For those receiving musical instruction, "there is evidence that music changes the brain in positive and permanent ways," says Laurel Trainor, professor of psychology, neuroscience and behavior, and director of the auditory development lab of McMaster University in Toronto. Yet like a medication that powerfully treats an illness, but in mysterious ways, the means by which music might enhance cognitive powers has eluded scientists so far.

And does starting earlier make a difference?

Years ago, Schlaug found a glaring and suggestive difference between the brains of 30 professional musicians and 30 non-musician adults of matched age and gender.

In the musicians, the bundle of connective fibers that carry messages between the brain's right and left hemispheres — a structure called the corpus callosum — was larger and denser on average than that of their non-musical peers. The brawnier bridge was particularly notable toward the rear of the brain, at the crossing that links areas responsible for sensory perception and voluntary movement.

It suggested not only that musicians might be able to more nimbly react to incoming information but also that their brains might be more resilient and adaptable, allowing right and left hemispheres, which specialize in separate functions, to work better together.

Schlaug and colleagues also found that the musicians who had begun their musical training before the age of 7 showed the most pronounced differences — suggesting an early start might rewire the brain most dramatically.

So while it may not be necessary to stock up on Mozart performances, insisting that Aiden or Olivia try at least a few years of music lessons might be a worthwhile investment of time and money.

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Can reducing ADD symptoms be as simple as spending more time outside surrounded by trees and grass?  A researcher at the University of Illinois says yes.

A recent article on ADDitudemag.com featured an interview with Frances Kuo, Ph.D. In Natural Remedies for ADHD, Kuo explains how spending time not just outdoors but in a green environment greatly increases a person's ability to focus:

Did certain activities improve the children’s ability to concentrate?
The parents told us that their kids’ focus was better following outdoor activities than after indoor activities, and that activities done in green environments, with lots of trees and grass around, lead to the biggest improvements in attention of all the outdoor activities.

Maybe it’s the types of activities typically done outdoors. In other words, could it be that playing baseball promotes concentration better than, say, reading?
I don’t think so. We compared the same activities in all three settings — for instance, you can play basketball indoors, in an asphalt schoolyard, or in a park — and there was a clear advantage to the most natural environment.

We also asked parents where their children typically play—in a windowless basement, in the kitchen with a view of the yard, outside in the street, or in a place with trees and grass. It was the same story. The greener the setting, the better the ability to focus — in other words, the milder the ADD symptoms.

The article also mentions Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder by Richard Louv.  This highly recommended book makes a powerful argument for the critical need for children to be outdoors, learning about and connecting with nature on a regular basis.

Children are naturally messy creatures.  With the exception of those who are genetically wired to organize and clean, children need to be taught how to maintain all of their stuff whether it is papers, toys, clothing or books. 

This can be especially true with ADHD children who can be in a room full of clutter and not even notice it.  According to End Household Clutter: ADHD Organization Help for Kids from ADDitude Magazine:

First, a word about why kids with ADD are so good at creating clutter. It's not that they're inconsiderate. It's not that they are defiant or disrespectful. It's the way they're wired. They get so focused on tasks that they fail to notice the mess they've created. If the mess is pointed out, they may be clueless as to how to clean it up - or may start cleaning up at once, only to stop before finishing.

So if a child doesn't naturally gravitate toward the organizing bins at the neighborhood supercenter, he will need to be taught how to clean up.  And for ADHD kids it will also be important to maximize their chances of success through specific strategies. The ADDitude article suggests four keys:

• Hang it up
• Throw it away
• Pick it up
• Put it away

Read the whole article for specific ways to implement these four suggestions with your child.

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Finding the best treatment for ADHD can be tricky.  It often involves trying different solutions until finding what works best for a particular child.  But there is one kind of treatment that is fairly easy to implement and costs almost nothing to try at home.

Some ADHD children respond very well to changes in diet.  Changes can include adding certain foods and eliminating others as described in Balanced Meals, Better Behaviors: Treating ADHD with Diet:

Faye Berger Mitchell, a registered dietitian from Bethesda, Maryland, has a nine-year-old daughter who was diagnosed with ADHD five years ago. While her daughter takes stimulant medicine to control her ADHD, Mitchell concluded that a pill is not enough.

She finds that when her daughter eats a well-balanced ADD-friendly diet, including vegetables, carbohydrates, fruits, and plenty of protein, her behavior tends to be more consistently under control.

“The biggest challenge is to get my daughter to eat protein,” she says. Protein is key, says Mitchell, because it can prevent surges in blood sugar, which may increase hyperactivity. For Mitchell, something as simple as slipping a little chicken or lean beef into every meal (and even into snacks) has made a difference for her daughter.

Making dietary changes can be an effective way to treat ADHD symptoms.  Like other alternative treatments, it may take some time and adjustments along the way to discover what works best.  But trying diet changes along with treatments suggested by the child's doctor may be a simple but effective way to improve ADHD symptoms.