Students with ADHD often struggle with study and organizational skills. They may lose their belongings, forget to turn in assignments, or wait until the last minute begin working on their homework. Study skills play an increasingly important role as students progress through school. Help your child with ADHD develop stronger study skills with the ideas detailed below.

Set up a study space

Help your child set up a well-organized study space for completing their school work. This might be a desk in their room or even a spot on the kitchen or dining room table. It’s important that your child uses this same space on a regular basis for completing their school work and doesn’t wander around your home during study time, landing on different spot each day. It’s also important that this space is always fully stocked with the supplies your child needs for completing their homework, like pens, pencils, paper, highlighters, and so on. Make sure you or your child refills the supplies when they run low so they don’t lose focus when studying, searching around for more supplies. If your child studies in a communal spot, create a portable supplies bucket, which contains all the supplies they need to complete their school work and, again, be sure to refill it as the supplies run low. The key is maintaining a consistent study spot with fully stocked supplies at all times.

Build in breaks

Many students with ADHD struggle to stay focused for long stretches of time in order to complete their homework. They may be easily distracted by background noises or think about other tasks they could be doing while trying to work on their school assignments. Help your child effectively complete their school work using structured breaks with an approach like the Pomodoro Technique. To use this strategy, your child should identify which assignments they need to complete, then set a timer for 25 minutes. They should focus strictly on their school work for that 25 minute period, then take a 5 minute break. After completing that cycle three times (25 minutes of work followed by a 5 minute break per cycle), they should take a longer break, around 30 minutes. By building in these structured breaks, your child will learn to focus on the task at hand while avoiding distractions, knowing that a break will soon be coming. Feel free to adjust the time increments based on your child’s needs – some may need a 7 minute break instead of 5 minutes, for instance – but maintaining a structured approach to study time and break time is key.

Regular study time

Just like your child should have a consistent study space, they should also set a regular time for studying. Some students with ADHD like doing their school work right after school, while others prefer a snack break or some physical activity after school before beginning their work. Others like to do most of their work later in the day. Any of these options can work; the key is identifying the time that works best for your child and sticking with it. This designated time may change on certain days based on sports games or other obligations, but if that is the case, you should look at the calendar with your child before the school week begins, identify any days when they may not be able to complete their school work at their “usual” time, and help them come up with an alternate study time for those days.

Active reading strategies

For many students with ADHD, staying focused on a passage, especially a longer one, while reading, can be challenging. As a result, their comprehension of the material may be compromised. To build your child’s ability to focus on passages when reading, help them become an active, rather than a passive reader. For younger children with ADHD, when you read a book out loud to them, stop along the way and ask them questions about the plot, setting, and characters, like, “Why do you think that boy was sad?”, “Why do you think she forgot to bring her lunch to school?” or “What do you think may happen next in the story?”

Older students may benefit from a tri-colored highlighting strategy to help them become active, rather than passive readers. Teach them that when they read, there are three elements they should look for: the first is the topic, which is one, two, or three words describing the passage (like rainforests or the Civil War). They should highlight the topic in blue. Next, they should look for the main idea, which is what the author is saying about the topic. For instance, if the topic is “rainforests”, the main idea might be “rainforests are found in many places”. They should highlight the main idea in green. Finally, they should look for important details describing the main idea found throughout the passage and highlight them in yellow. Learning to engage with the text and becoming a more active reader will help your child stay focused on the passage they are reading and ultimately improve their comprehension of the material.

ADHD Tutoring

If your child continues to struggle with their study skills or has difficulty with time management, planning, organization, task initiation, or related skills, they may benefit from ADHD tutoring. This specialized tutoring can be individualized to your child’s needs and teach them concrete strategies to help them build these key skills.

As students move through school, the workload and studying demands increase quickly. Teach your child with ADHD these study skills strategies and you can help them improve their overall school performance.

The post Study Skills Strategies for Your Child With ADHD appeared first on EBL Coaching.

Interviewing Dr. Levy, an educational expert, business owner, public speaker and author that specialized learning needs in grades Pre-K to 12, you will sure be inspired by this short interview.

Coming from a family of educators, she finds her calling at her young age and started her teaching journey since 1993 as a speaker of an event hosted by Ministry of Education.

We journey with her on her 31 years of teaching journey to become the founder of her own education business in 2004 helping kid and young teens learn better using research based multi-sensory techniques, and here is her story.

The post Dr. Emily Levy: Founder of EBL Coaching & Expert in Student Success appeared first on EBL Coaching.

EBL Coaching Offers Specialized ADHD Tutoring To Help!

Does your child with ADHD have difficulties at school? Do they struggle with time management, organization, task initiation, note taking, or planning? If so, your child may benefit from specialized ADHD tutoring to help build these critical skills. ADHD tutoring can help your child thrive with the strategies detailed below.

Time Management

Students with ADHD often struggle to effectively manage their time. They may over or under estimate how long they think a task may take to complete. They might start working on their homework later in the day, only to find that they aren’t able to finish it or must stay up very late in order to do so. They may be tardy in turning in their homework assignments or might forget to turn them in entirely. ADHD tutoring can help your child build stronger time management skills. One strategy that may help them is the ET/AT strategy, where students are taught to predict how long they think a task might take to complete (and write down the ET, or estimated time), then compare it to the actual time it takes to complete (and write down the AT, or actual time). Students who struggle with time management typically find that there is a big discrepancy between these times when they start using this strategy but the more they practice this strategy during ADHD tutoring sessions and on their own, the more these times will start to merge.

Create a Study Space 

Students with ADHD often lose their belongings and can’t always find the supplies they need in order to complete their homework. They might sit down to start an assignment, only to find that they don’t have the necessary materials at hand and spend ample time wondering around looking for pens, pencils, paper, or highlighters. ADHD tutoring can help your child create a study space that has all of the supplies they may need to complete their homework. This space should include their computer, writing tools, paper, scissors, and so on. If you notice your child’s supplies are running low, encourage them to refill the supplies or help them do so, so they always have the supplies they need in their study space.

Prioritization 

Prioritizing tasks can be a challenge for students with ADHD. They may start a less important assignment only to find that they run out of time and aren’t able to complete a more important assignment or study for a critical upcoming test. ADHD tutoring can help your child evaluate all upcoming assignments and tests and come up with a plan for completing them, prioritizing the more important tasks first, followed by the less important ones. ADHD tutoring can also integrate the ET/AT strategy for deciding which tasks to prioritize, building time management skills along with prioritization.

Note Taking

Students with ADHD often have trouble taking effective notes. They may lose focus during a lesson and miss key elements that they needed to take down, or they might scribble down disorganized notes that they may not be able to read or understand later. ADHD tutoring can help your child develop more effective note taking skills. One strategy they may learn from ADHD tutoring is the column style method, where students learn to write the topic of the lesson on the top of their page (like “World War 1”), then divide their page into two columns: one for main ideas on the left side and one for notes on the right side. In school, they should only take notes on the right side of their page, in the notes section. Then when they get home and look at their notes, they should categorize their notes into  main ideas and write those main ideas in the left column, like “Causes of World War 1”, “Battles of World War 1”, and so on. Students can learn to effectively use this strategy with ADHD tutoring to help them become more effective note takers. 

Hire a tutor

ADHD tutoring can help your child tremendously with developing these key skills. Building stronger time management, studying, note taking, and prioritization skills with ADHD tutoring can help your child excel in school.

The post Can Tutoring Help Your Child with ADHD? appeared first on EBL Coaching.

ADHD tutors can teach your child strategies to develop these executive functioning skills and show them how to apply the strategies to their relevant schoolwork. Let’s look at some of these strategies:

How Do ADHD Tutors Teach Time Management Skills?

Students with ADHD tend to struggle with time management. They are often late, wait until the last minute to complete tasks, or have an unrealistic sense of how long an assignment will take to complete. To help develop this skill, an ADHD tutor can teach students to differentiate between the ET, or estimated time (how long they think it will take to complete a task) and compare it to the AT, or actual time it takes to complete the task. When students with ADHD first use this strategy, there is often a big gap between the ET and AT since they often over or underestimate how long they think it will take to complete the task. However, the more they practice this strategy, the more realistic they will become with timing and the more the ET and AT times will start to merge. At our NYC and NJ tutoring centers, students can learn concrete strategies to help them build stronger time management skills.

You can read more time management strategies at Time Management Tips For Kids With ADHD – EBL Coaching.

How Can ADHD Tutoring Improve Organization?

Students with ADHD can be very disorganized. Papers are often spread out on their desk, their backpack is a mess, and their notebooks and binders are often stuffed with papers they don’t need to be carrying with them. Their digital files may be completely disorganized as well. To help with these challenges, ADHD tutors can teach students a 3-tier organization system, as follows:

• Tier 1 is a working notebook, or the binder or notebook they carry to school with them on a regular basis. It should only contain materials they absolutely need to be carrying with them, and they should designate one day per week as their “clean out my working notebook day”. On this day, the student should remove papers and materials they don’t absolutely need to be carrying with them and file them into the appropriate section of their accordion file, or tier 2.
• Tier 2 is an accordion file that should be divided into three sections for every class: homework, notes, and tests/quizzes.
• Finally, if the student completed a project or wrote a paper they want to save for the long run, they should put it in a filing drawer, which is tier 3.

Since many students now use computers in lieu of papers, ADHD tutors can also help students organize their online assignments into appropriate digital files and teach them to use calendars and set reminders for upcoming due dates. At our NJ and NYC tutoring centers, students receive individualized organizational skills support tailored to their individual needs.

Learn more about these types of strategies at How to Build Executive Functioning Skills With Homework – EBL Coaching.

How Does ADHD Tutoring Help with Writing?

Students with ADHD often struggle to organize their ideas and express them effectively when writing. They might have interesting, creative ideas, but need help with the writing process. ADHD tutors can help students start the writing process by teaching them to brainstorm their ideas. This might look like a web diagram with the topic in the middle and the details and supporting details ideas branching out of it. It could also be in list form or could be an outline. The key is learning to brainstorm before writing. Then an ADHD tutor can teach the student to translate their brainstorm diagram into an organized, structured writing piece. Finally, an ADHD tutor should teach the student to self-check their writing before completing it as a last step. One checklist they may use is CTOPS, which stands for:

• Capitalization
• Tense
• Organization
• Punctuation
• Spelling.

At our NJ and NYC tutoring locations, students can receive specialized writing tutoring to learn tools for expressing their thoughts effectively when writing.
Students with ADHD are often very bright and have many strengths. However, they can struggle in school due to weak organization and executive functioning skills. An effective ADHD tutoring program can teach students concrete strategies for developing these skills and can help students achieve confidence and success in school. If your child is struggling with their executive functioning skills, contact us at www.eblcoaching.com to see how we can help your child with one-on-one in person or virtual ADHD tutoring.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I know if my child needs ADHD tutoring?
If your child is struggling with their executive functioning skills, including task initiation, organization, planning, note taking, or organizational skills, they will likely benefit from ADHD tutoring. Regardless of whether they have an ADHD diagnosis, they can still benefit tremendously from learning executive functioning strategies through ADHD coaching at our NJ or NYC tutoring locations.

Can ADHD tutoring help even if my child is already on medication?
Yes, absolutely. Many students who receive ADHD coaching are on medication. Medication can be helpful for some students, but most still need to learn strategies to improve their executive functioning skills, including organization, planning, time management, and other related skills.

Does ADHD tutoring improve grades?
Yes, we find that many students with ADHD are bright and capable of excelling academically. However, weak executive functioning skills can negatively affect their ability to obtain strong grades. With ADHD tutoring, however, they can learn concrete executive functioning strategies and how to apply them to their relevant schoolwork, which can ultimately help them improve their grades.

Other Related Blogs:
Wondering if Your Child Has ADHD? – EBL Coaching
Expert Tips on Managing Remote School for Your Child with ADHD – EBL Coaching

Additional Resources:
ADHD: Building Academic Success | LD OnLineskillsplanningspellingtime
Parenting a Child with ADHD | CHADD.org

The post Does Your Child Need ADHD Tutoring? appeared first on EBL Coaching.

How can ADHD tutoring help with executive functioning?

Students with ADHD often struggle with executive functioning skills such as time management, organization, planning, and task initiation. They might forget to turn in their homework or turn it in late, lose their books and belongings, and have trouble staying organized and on task. Individualized, one-on-one ADHD tutoring can help your child build these key skills, which are essential for success in school.

Time management strategies taught in ADHD tutoring

Specific, concrete time management strategies can be taught during ADHD tutoring sessions. For example, your child may develop stronger time management skills and learn to procrastinate less. With the Estimated Time versus Actual Time strategy, students learn to do the following:

• Estimate how long they think a task might take to complete and write down the ET, or estimated time.
• Note how long the task took to complete and write the AT, or actual time.
• Compare the difference between these times.

When students start using this strategy, especially those with poor time management skills, there is often a big gap between the estimated time and actual time. However, the more students use this strategy through ADHD tutoring sessions, the more these times will start to merge and the better their time management skills will become.

Note taking strategies taught in ADHD tutoring

Another skill your child may develop in ADHD tutoring sessions is stronger note taking strategies. There are several different note taking strategies your child might learn in ADHD tutoring sessions, such as outlining, webbing, or column-style note taking. With column-style note taking, your child will learn the following steps:

• Draw a vertical line through the middle of their page (or do so using a computer).
• Write the title of the lesson at the top of the page and label the left column “main ideas” and the right column “notes”.
• When your child is in class listening to a lecture, they should only take notes on the right side of the page, in the notes column. When they come home from school, they should categorize their notes into various main ideas and write the main idea for that section of notes in the left column.

This note taking technique helps ensure that your child captured the information from the lecture, took effective notes, and understood the material that was covered. These diagrams also serve as great study guides for upcoming tests.

How ADHD tutoring can help with task initiation and prioritization

Many students with ADHD struggle with task initiation and prioritization. They may have several homework assignments to complete and tests to study for, but they don’t know where to start. They might jump in and begin working on an assignment that is less important or not due for several weeks and neglect more urgent assignments that may be due the next day or shortly thereafter. ADHD tutoring can help your child learn to prioritize tasks and designate which ones they should complete first and subsequently thereafter, based on the complexity of the assignment and its due date. As students progress through school, the volume of assignments and tests will increase so learning these strategies now through ADHD tutoring can help them tremendously.

Strategies taught during ADHD tutoring can help your child complete their homework independently and efficiently, improve their time management skills, reduce procrastination, increase their note taking and study skills, and help them feel confident and successful in school.

With effective ADHD tutoring, your child can learn how to manage their time, stay organized, prioritize their tasks, and stay focused for longer periods of time. If you are looking for evidence-based, one-on-one ADHD tutoring, EBL Coaching can help your child! We offer individualized executive functioning tutoring in person and virtually to help your child thrive in school.

Read more about whether your child has ADHD at Wondering if Your Child Has ADHD? – EBL Coaching

Frequently Asked Questions

What does an ADHD tutor teach?

An ADHD tutor will typically teach strategies for executive functioning skills, including planning, time management, organization, prioritization, test taking, note taking, organization, and study skills.

Is ADHD tutoring different from regular tutoring?

Yes! Specialized ADHD tutoring is different than general tutoring. With ADHD tutoring, your child should be taught specific research-based techniques for building their executive functioning skills. The ADHD tutor should teach them strategies and then show them how to apply these strategies to their relevant schoolwork.

Does my child need a formal ADHD diagnosis to benefit from tutoring?

No! If you notice your child struggling with skills like planning, organization, time management, task initiation, or focusing for long stretches of time, they can benefit from ADHD tutoring.

Learn more about ADHD tutoring programs at ADHD Tutoring Programs – EBL Coaching
Read more about ADHD at www.aacap.org.

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