The holidays are filled with festivities, treats, and loads of family time. However, the break from school is also a time when kids tend to do little if any academic work. As a result, the shift back to school in January can be a tough one for many students. Help your child have a successful transition back to school with the ideas detailed below.

Re-set routines

Before the holidays, your child may have finally settled on their school routine: each morning they woke up, got dressed, packed their backpack, ate breakfast, then came home from school and completed their schoolwork on a regular basis. Yet during the holidays, routines and schedules often go awry and your child may need some routine re-setting before school starts again. To help them, reset routines gradually. If they went to bed very late during holiday time, start setting their bedtime 15-20 minutes earlier each day for four or five days before school starts. You may want to also create checklists to remind them of their morning and afternoon routines before school begins. For example, a morning chart might include waking up at a certain time, brushing their teeth, eating breakfast, and packing their backpack. An afternoon checklist might include unpacking their backpack, having a snack, completing their homework, putting their finished homework in their backpack or turning it in online, eating dinner, and getting ready for bed. You might want to also try limiting screen time before school starts to help set the stage for a focused, organized return to school.

Academic activities during break

Your child may become accustomed to lazy, school-free days during the holiday break. To help them transition back into school-mode, start to integrate academic activities before school starts. For example, read with your child for 20 minutes each night and discuss the plot, characters, and setting with them. Ask them to create predictions about what they think might happen next or make inferences about certain events in the story to help engage them in the book. Older children can read independently for 20 minutes each night but ask them similar questions about their book even if you aren’t reading it with them, to make sure they fully comprehend the material. You can also do math exercises when cooking or grocery shopping with them, or have them write in a journal about their favorite activities during the holiday break. The more academic activities you can integrate now, the better!

Discuss expectations

Your child may be nervous about returning to school and may face similar jitters that they felt before the new school year started. Talk through these feelings with them. Are they nervous about their workload? Anxious about waking up early again? Worried about friendship issues? Whatever the issue is, be there for them – listen to their worries and help them come up with solutions to help ease these anxieties. You can also discuss any assignments or projects they may have coming up and help them create a plan for competing them in an organized fashion.

Executive functioning strategies

Your child likely wasn’t focusing on executive functioning strategies during the holiday break. They probably didn’t have to worry about organizing their school assignments, planning their after school activity schedule, or organizing their academic work. Help them re-integrate executive functioning strategies before school starts again. Make sure they have a dedicated homework space where they will complete their assignments each day, filled with all necessary supplies. Discuss with them what time they will work on their homework daily after school and keep that time consistent. Help them set up an assignment book, especially if they started using one at the start of the school year but then used it less and less in the fall. If they have lengthy homework assignments to complete, help them break the assignments into steps and put each step into their assignment book. For time management, have them predict how long they think each assignment will take to complete, then compare it to the actual time it takes. The more systematic executive functioning strategies you can integrate, the better, and if your child continues to struggle with these skills, executive functioning coaching can help them tremendously.

The holiday break should be a fun-filled time that all kids enjoy. Yet the transition back to school can be a tough one. Try using these ideas at home with your child to help them start the new year on a positive, organized, and successful note.

The post Help Your Child Transition Back to School After the Holidays appeared first on EBL Coaching.

Organizational System

Many students with executive functioning challenges, including those with ADHD, struggle to stay organized. An executive functioning coach can help your child set up organizational tools and systems. For example, if your child’s backpack is filled with papers and their desk at home is a mess, the coach can help your child set up a 3-tier organizational system. With this system, your child selects a working notebook (tier 1), which can be either a binder or notebook/folder for each class that they take with them to school on a regular basis. They should designate one day per week to be the “clean out my working notebook day” where they remove any papers they don’t need to be carrying with them on a regular basis and file them into an accordion file that they keep at home (tier 2). This accordion file should contain three sections for each class: homework, notes, and tests/quizzes. At the end of the semester, if your child created a great project or assignment that they want to keep for the long run, they should put it in an organized filing drawer (tier 3). An executive functioning coach can also help your child organize their electronic computer files if their school integrates more digital assignments.

Develop Time Management Skills

Children with executive functioning difficulties often struggle with time management. They may think a task will take more or less time than it actually does and may consistently turn in their homework assignments late. An executive functioning coach can help your child develop stronger time management skills. One strategy they may use is the Estimated Time (ET) verses Actual Time (AT) technique. With this strategy, the student predicts how long they think a task may take to complete. For example, they may think it will take 20 minutes to complete a math worksheet. They should write down that predicted time (ET). Then they should compare it to how long it actually took to complete the task (AT). When students with executive functioning challenges start using this strategy, there is usually a big discrepancy between the ET and AT. However, the more they use this strategy, the more realistic they become with their time, and the more those times typically start to merge.

Chunk Tasks

Students with executive functioning difficulties often become overwhelmed with long, multi-step assignments or projects. Executive functioning coaching can help them chunk tasks into smaller, more manageable steps. For example, if as student is asked to create a report about tornados, including what they are, how they are formed, how they are measured, and unique facts about tornadoes, their inclination may be to wait until the night before this project is due to work on it. However, an executive functioning coach can help them break this project into steps and put each step into their physical or electronic planner with specific deadlines for completing each step. In doing so, the project will become less overwhelming and more manageable, and the student will improve their homework completion, time management, and planning skills.

Note taking

Executive functioning coaching can also help your child learn how to take effective notes. For example, they may learn the column-style note taking method. With this technique, students learn to divide their page into two columns and write the topic of what they are reading at the top, the main ideas in the left column, and the important details that correspond to each main idea in the right column. They can even use highlighters to color-code the topic in one color, main ideas in a second color, and important details in a third color. This style of note taking can also be applied to in-class lectures.

Many students, both with and without ADHD, struggle with executive functioning skills. Executive functioning coaching can help your child build these important skills and thrive in school.

The post Can Executive Functioning Coaching Help My Child? appeared first on EBL Coaching.

For some children, the transition back to school is seamless. They look forward to the excitement of reconnecting with friends, meeting their teachers, and starting new after school activities. Yet for other students, especially those who are neurodivergent, the transition back to school can be challenging. Help your neurodivergent child start the new school year strong with the ideas detailed below.

Routines

For many children, summer is filled with free play, outdoor activities, and unstructured days. When the school year begins, however, routines become paramount. Rather than springing this transition on your child, start to integrate elements of their fall routine now, before the school year begins. You can discuss wake-up times and bedtimes with your child, both for school days and weekends. If they have been waking up closer to 9am in the summer but need to wake up at 7am during the week once the school year starts, have them set an alarm progressively earlier in the summer until they reach 7am right before the school year begins. The same applies to bedtime; if they have been going to bed later in the summer, have them start to go to sleep a little earlier each night. You can also create morning and afternoon checklists for tasks they’ll need to do once the school year begins. For example, their morning checklist might include getting dressed, brushing their teeth, eating breakfast, and preparing their backpack for school. You may want to come up with a list of menu items for breakfast and have them decide what they will eat for breakfast each day at the start of a given week, so you can prepare accordingly.  Their afternoon checklist might include having a snack when they get home, completing their schoolwork, turning in or putting away their homework in their backpack, eating dinner, and going to bed. The more structure you can integrate into your child’s day now, before the school year begins, the better!

Get organized!

Having strong organizational skills is a key component to school success, especially for neurodivergent children who may struggle with executive functioning skills. Shop for school supplies with your child as early as you can so you have plenty of time to organize them. You may want to color code items by subject. For example, you may select green for science, blue for math, yellow for social studies, and so on. For each subject, there should be a folder and a notebook in the color that corresponds to that class. Encourage your child to write down their homework daily in an assignment book when they are at school, and perhaps highlight the assignment for each subject in its corresponding color. You may want to designate one day per week as a “clean out my backpack and folders day” where your child cleans out any items or papers from their backpack that they no longer need to be carrying with them.

Distraction-free workspace

Neurodivergent students often become easily distracted when trying to complete their homework. Before the school year starts, set up a distraction-free work zone where your child will do their homework every day. This could be a desk in their room or a spot in a communal area, like a kitchen or dining room table. Make sure they have all the supplies they need for completing their homework, like pens, pencils, paper, a calculator, scissors, and highlighters. When the supplies run low, refill them right away to avoid having your child wander around in the middle of a homework session looking for more supplies. If they plan to work in a communal area, they can carry a portable supplies bin from their bedroom to their homework spot and back when they’re done, containing all the supplies they will need to complete their homework.

Connect with your child’s teachers

Most neurodivergent children have very unique needs. Before the school year begins or right after it starts, set up a meeting with your child’s teacher and their other service providers if relevant. Tell them about your child, including which techniques have and haven’t worked for them in the past, and set up a line of communication going forward. Perhaps you will check in with them once per month via email or set up regular phone calls to discuss your child’s progress. Additionally, you should consistently advocate for your child; while they may be doing well in school at one point in time, that could change quickly and their academic performance could take a downturn. Don’t wait for your child to struggle. Be proactive in helping them succeed and seeking additional support for them if needed. If the school year progresses and your child continues to struggle academically despite these interventions, you may want to consider private tutoring, which can be custom-tailored to your child’s needs and help them thrive in school.

The transition to the new school year can be challenging, especially for neurodivergent children. These strategies can help your child get excited for the new year and start school on a positive note.

The post Help Your Neurodivergent Child Prepare for the New School Year appeared first on EBL Coaching.

Summer is a great time to work on helping your child with ADHD build stronger study skills. There are fewer school and extracurricular obligations and there’s usually more time to work on setting up systems and strategies.  Help your child with ADHD develop their time management, organization, planning, prioritizing, and other key study skills over the summer with the ideas detailed below.

Set up a summer homework schedule

Most students receive some schoolwork to do over the summer, including reading books, writing reports, and completing math packets. Make sure your child with ADHD doesn’t wait until the very end of summer to start this work, as many kids may have the tendency to do. Help your child find a consistent schedule for working on their school assignments; this could be after camp one weekday, on Sunday mornings after they wake up, or just about any consistent time that suits them best. If you set a time after camp for schoolwork but your child ends up being too tired after camp to work on their assignments, change it to a day/time that suits them better. The key is finding a consistent schedule that works for your child and sticking with it.

Designated homework space

Summer is a great time to set up a designated homework space for your child, both for working on their summer assignments and for completing their schoolwork once the new school year begins. Discuss with your child what kind of space would work best for them. For most children with ADHD, working at a desk in their room, in an area free of noise and distractions, works best. However, if your child shares a room or a private desk isn’t available, carve out space on your kitchen or dining room table for your child to work consistently and try to minimize distractions when they work. Also make sure they have all the necessary supplies for completing their assignments in their designated homework space. At their desk, they should have supplies such as sharpened pencils, pens, paper, scissors, highlighters, and any other tools they may need for completing their schoolwork. If their spot is in a communal space, create a homework supplies bin that contains all the necessary supplies and have them transport this bin to their designated space for work time, then back to their room when they are done.

Time management

Time management is a key skill for school success and summer is a great time to work on it. Try the Pomodoro Method with your ADHD child. Tell them to set a timer for 25 minutes and spend those 25 minutes working straight, without taking any breaks or focusing on anything but their work. Once the 25 minutes are up, they can take a five-minute break, then work for another 25 minutes followed by another five-minute break, and so on. After four of these Pomodoro cycles of 30 minutes total, they can take a longer break of 15-30 minutes or so, where they can move around, make a call, play a quick game, or just relax until it’s time to work again. Creating these structured work increments will help your child build their focusing and time management skills, and the Pomodoro Method is a great approach to practice during the summer, before the school year begins.

Active reading strategies

Since your child will likely have summer reading to do, take advantage of this time to teach them active reading strategies. Before they begin their book, encourage them to look at the front and back covers, read any headings or chapter titles, and think of questions they may have before starting the book. As they read, have them use sticky notes to write 1-2 line summaries of what they read after every 3-4 pages and stick the notes inside their book. At the end of each chapter, they can write a short chapter summary summarizing the plot in a separate notebook. Encourage them to predict what they think may happen next at the end of each chapter and even create character maps describing the qualities of each new character as they are introduced.

Color code

Towards the end of the summer, you may begin shopping for supplies with your child for the new school year. When doing so, aim to color-code items by subject to help your child develop stronger organizational skills. For instance, you may designate blue for math, green for science, yellow for social studies, and so on. Then purchase blue folders and binders for math and corresponding colors for each class. When your child writes down their assignments in an assignment book (which you should encourage them to do!), have them to highlight the assignments in the subject’s designated color. Try setting up these color-coded supplies before the school year begins to help your child with ADHD start the year well-organized. If your child still struggles with their organizational skills, ADHD tutoring can help them tremendously.

Summer is a great time to help your child with ADHD build their study skills. Try these strategies, and they will be well on their way to academic success!

The post Help Your Child With ADHD Build Stronger Study Skills Over the Summer appeared first on EBL Coaching.

Many students with ADHD struggle with their executive functioning skills. They may have difficulty with time management, organization, task initiation or staying focused in class, amongst other related skills. Summer is a great time to help students with ADHD develop stronger executive functioning skills and jump-start the school year on a positive note. Try some of the ideas detailed below.

Work on Organization

Summer is a fantastic time to help your child with ADHD set up organizational systems to help kick start the new school year. Having strong organizational skills is a key component to success in school. Help your child set up a color-coded system, where each class is given a specific color. For example, math might be green, science might be blue, English might be purple, and so on. Your child should select a folder and notebook for each class using its given color. Once they begin school and start writing down their assignments in their planner, they can highlight the homework assignment for a subject using its chosen color. If your child takes home papers on a regular basis, help them set up an organizational system where they designate one day per week to be their “clean out my notebooks day.” On this day, your child should clean out all the papers they do not need to be carrying with them on a regular basis and file them into a well-organized accordion file. This accordion file might consist of three sections for each class: one section for notes, one for homework, and one for tests and quizzes. On their designated clean-out day, they should file any papers they don’t need to be carrying with them into the appropriate section of their accordion file. At the end of the school year, if they completed a great project or assignment that they want to save, they can file it into an organized file drawer to keep for the long run.

Close Learning Gaps

During the school year, many children with ADHD miss out on key concepts. They might be daydreaming in class, come to school late, miss excessive days of school, or forget certain skills that they should have learned in class. Summer is an opportune time to review content that was taught the previous school year, fill in content gaps, and preview material that may be introduced in the new school year. You may want to reach out to your child’s teacher from the previous school year to discuss concepts they may need to work on during the summer. Maybe your child didn’t grasp multi-digit subtraction or multiplication; they might need to work on the organization of their writing; or perhaps they need extra practice with reading comprehension. Summer is a great time to work on these skills, with less academic constraints from school.
The shift from summer to school can be a difficult one for children who have ADHD. Help increase your child’s self-confidence and improve their executive functioning skills over the summer with these strategies and they will likely feel well-prepared to start the school year on a strong note.

Build Stronger Focusing Skills

Many students with ADHD struggle to stay focused for extended periods of time. You can take advantage of the summer and build your child’s focusing skills using a systematic method like the Pomodoro Technique. To use this approach, select a task and ask your child to work on it for 25 minutes. This might involve completing a math worksheet, writing in a journal, or cleaning out a file cabinet. After your child works on the task for 25 minutes, they can take a 5-minute break to do anything that’s relaxing for them. Then they work for another 25 minutes followed by a 5-minute break. Once they have completed three segments of 25 minutes plus subsequent 5-minute breaks, they take a longer break of around 30 minutes before starting the cycle again. Work on this strategy with your child during the summer and then show them how to apply it to their relevant homework assignments once the school year starts.

Develop Better Time Management Skills

Children with ADHD often struggle with time management. They may consistently show up late, think a task will take more or less time than it actually does, or plan too many activities for a given day. Summer is a great time to work on developing stronger time management skills. Try teaching your child the ET/AT, or Estimated Time/Actual Time Strategy. To use this strategy, ask your child to complete a task, such as writing an essay or reading a chapter in a book.
Then have your child estimate how long they think it will take to complete the task and ask them to write down the ET, or estimated time.

Then have your child complete the task, eyeing the time it actually takes them to complete it, and write down the AT, or actual time it takes. When your child begins using this strategy, they will likely notice a large difference between the ET and the AT, but the more they practice this technique, the more these times will begin to merge and the more their time management skills will improve.

Set Up a Workspace

Students with ADHD benefit from a quiet, distraction-free workspace that they can use each day for completing their homework. Help your child set up this space during the summer so they will be ready and organized for the new school year. This space could be a desk in their room or even a designated area on a communal table, like in a kitchen or dining room. Make sure your child has all the supplies they will need to complete their schoolwork, such as pencils, lined paper, highlighters, scissors, a ruler, and so on. When their supplies run low, help them refill the items before they begin their homework to make sure they don’t wander around your home in the middle of a homework session searching for more supplies. Also help them set up a consistent homework time, which could be right after school or after a snack or athletic break. The key is consistency.

The post Summer Strategies for Helping Students with ADHD Build Stronger Executive Functioning Skills appeared first on EBL Coaching.

How Can Summer Tutoring Help Your Child With ADHD?

Many students lose critical skills during the summer. Research tells us that students can lose up to 2.6 months of math skills and 2 months of reading skills during their summer break, and this learning loss is likely even more profound for students with ADHD. Because of this learning loss, students may start the new school year behind their peers, struggling to catch up while new material is being introduced. Prevent this summer slide and help your child with ADHD jump-start the school year on a positive note with one-on-one tutoring. ADHD tutoring can help your child in the following ways:

Build stronger focusing skills

Many students with ADHD struggle to stay focused for long stretches of time. Take advantage of the summer time to work on building your child’s focusing skills with one-on-one ADHD tutoring. Your child’s tutor can use a method like the Pomodoro Technique to help them stay focused for longer time periods. To use this strategy, the tutor would select a task and ask your child to work on that task for 25 minutes. This might involve reading several chapters in a book, working on math worksheets, or even doing an organizational task like cleaning out a drawer. After 25 minutes, your child would take a 5 minute break to relax or do anything of their choosing, then work for another 25 minutes followed by a 5 minute break, and so on. Once they have completed three segments of 25 minutes plus 5 minute breaks, they can take a longer break of 30 minutes or so before starting the process again. Your child’s tutor can teach them this strategy and show them how to apply it during the school year when their workload piles up.

Work on time management

Many students with ADHD struggle with time management. Summer is a great time to work on building this skill! Your child’s ADHD tutor can teach them the ET/AT, or Estimated Time/Actual Time Strategy. To use this technique, your child’s tutor would ask them to complete a task, like writing three pages in a journal or completing one sheet of math problems. They will ask your child to estimate how long they think it will take to complete that task and write down the ET, or estimated time. Then your child will complete the task, noting the time it actually takes them to complete it, and write down the AT, or actual time it takes. When your child first starts using this strategy with their ADHD tutor, there will likely be a big discrepancy between the ET and the AT but the more they practice this strategy, the more likely these times will start to merge and the more their time management will improve.

Set up organizational systems

Summer is a great time to set up notebooks and systems to help start the school year off on a strong note. Having solid organizational skills is a large part of being successful in school. Your child’s ADHD tutor can help them set up a color-coded system, where each class is designated with a specific color. For example, math might be blue, science might be green, English may be yellow, and so on. They should designate a folder and notebook for each class in the appropriate color. Once your child starts school and (hopefully) writes down their assignments regularly in their planner, they can highlight the assignment for a particular subject in its designated color. If your child takes home papers on a regular basis, their tutor can help them set up an organizational system where they designate one day per week to be the “clean out my notebooks and backpack day.” On this day, your child would clean out all of the papers they don’t need to be carrying with them on a regular basis and file them into an accordion file or file drawer that they keep at home.

Learn more about these types of executive functioning strategies at https://eblcoaching.com/executive-functioning-strategies-for-your-child/.

Fill in learning gaps

Many students with ADHD miss out on key concepts during the school year. They may be day dreaming in class, show up to school late, or forget certain skills that may have only been briefly been covered by their teacher. Summer is a great time to review content that was conveyed the previous school year, fill in any gaps, and preview material that may be taught in the new school year. You or your child’s tutor can reach out to their teacher from the previous school year to discuss any skills or concepts that might need development over the summer. Perhaps your child didn’t quite grasp multi-digit subtraction or long division; they may need to work on elaborating their writing; or perhaps they need extra practice with finding the main idea when reading and making inferences. Summer is a wonderful time to work on these skills, when there are fewer academic constraints from school, and tutoring can be focused more on remediation.

The transition from summer to school in the fall can be a tough one for students with ADHD. Help boost your child’s self-esteem and improve their organizational skills over the summer with ADHD tutoring. In doing so, your child will likely feel more confident and well-prepared to start the school year on a strong note.

Learn more about study skills strategies for your child with ADHD at https://eblcoaching.com/study-skills-strategies-for-your-child-with-adhd-by-dr-emily-levy/

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

Students with ADHD typically have many strengths. They are often very bright and excel at thinking critically and solving complex problems. However, they tend to struggle significantly with their executive functioning skills, including planning, organization, time management, and task initiation. As students progress through school, these executive functioning skills become increasingly important. Furthermore, weak executive functioning skills can negatively affect one’s self-esteem. Help your child with ADHD develop stronger executive functioning skills with the ideas detailed below.

Time Management Technique

Time management is often a significant area of struggle for students with ADHD. They may underestimate how long a task might take to complete or procrastinate starting their work, thinking they have more time to complete it than they actually do. Help your child develop stronger time management skills with the Estimated Time versus Actual Time strategy. To use this technique, ask your child to predict how long they think it will take to complete a task, such as a math worksheet, and have them write down the ET, or estimated time. Then tell them to keep track of the actual time it takes to complete the assignment and note the AT, or actual time it took. They will likely notice that there is a big discrepancy between the ET and AT when they begin using this strategy, especially if they have weak time management skills, but the more they practice this strategy, the more realistic they will become with their time, and the more their time management skills will improve.

Create an Organized Space

Students with ADHD should set up an organized study space to use consistently for completing their school work. This could be a desk in their bedroom or even a table in a common space, like a kitchen or dining room. Make sure this area is fully stocked with all of the supplies your child may need for completing their work, including pens, pencils, paper, scissors, highlighters, and so on. If the supplies start to run low, make sure you or your child refills them so they don’t wander around your home searching for supplies mid-homework session. If your child works in a common area, you may want to create a portable supplies bucket containing the supplies they need for completing their work and fill it on a regular basis as needed. It is important to create consistency; your child should use this same study space on a daily basis and it should always be organized with the school supplies they need for completing their work.

Set a Study Time

Along with creating an organized study space, your child should also designate a consistent time for completing their school work. This could be right after school, after a snack or physical activity break, or even later in the day. Each student is different and tends to work best at a different time of day. Try to encourage your child to consistently complete their work at this pre-set time as regularly as they can. Of course, there will be some days when they may have after school activities, games, or other obligations that may alter this time, but the more consistent they can be with their study time, the better.

Take Breaks

To strengthen focusing skills and help avoid distractions, your child should build in regular study breaks. They may want to try an approach like the Pomodoro Method, where they set a timer for 25 minutes and focus on their work for that time period without any distractions. At the end of the 25 minutes, they can take a 5 minute break and do any activity they choose. Then they should do that same cycle again three times – 25 minutes of work followed by a 5 minute break. Once they have completed three of these cycles, they can take a longer 30 minute break. Feel free to adjust these times slightly based on what suits your child best.

Create Organizational Systems

Students with ADHD benefit from organizational systems. Try setting up a color-coded system to help your child organize their materials for each class. For instance, they may designate blue for math, green for science, yellow for English, and so on. They should create a folder for each subject in the selected color. They can even highlight assignments in their assignment book (which they should also use regularly!) in the appropriate color for that subject. Additionally, you may want to help your child create checklists for items they need to remember to bring to school and take home from school on a daily basis. The more systematic and organized the approach is, the better.

Executive functioning skills can affect all aspects of school and life. Students with weak executive functioning skills often go on to struggle in the workplace and with personal relationships. The younger students can learn executive functioning strategies, the better off they will be as they move through life. Try these strategies with your child to help them thrive academically as the workload at school and the demands of life continue to increase.

EBL Coaching offers one-on-one in person and virtual tutoring for students in grades pre-K-12 with specialized learning needs. They use research-based, multi-sensory techniques, including the Orton Gillingham method, to develop students’ reading, writing, math, note taking, test taking, and executive functioning skills. Each student is evaluated and then receives an individualized learning plan to address their specific academic needs. Learn more at http://www.eblcoaching.com/. Dr. Emily Levy, Founder & Director, is happy to hear from anyone who is in need of help for their child. You may reach her through her website.

The post How to Improve Your Child’s Executive Functioning Skills 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. 

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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.

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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.