What To Do When Your Child With ADHD Struggles With Homework

There are many reasons why a child with ADHD may struggle with homework.  These reasons include:

1)  Not understanding the work when it was taught in the classroom.

2)  Feeling overwhelmed by the quantity of work/motivation issues.

3)  Acting out due to unrecognized fatigue or hunger

4)  Learning disabilities outside of ADHD, such as dysgraphia, dyslexia, or dyscalculia.

5)  Coming down off of medication

Each of these issues are addressed in a different way, so it is worth your while to try to understand what the issue is to best help your child.  You will need to know whether the teacher feels there is any particular problems during class, and whether these issues occur mostly in the morning or later in the day.  Also, you will need to have some idea about whether your child is eating well before they come home to do homework.

Not understanding work when it is first taught in the classroom.

Your child's teacher will note poor performance during the school day.  Typically classroom accommodations and medication adjustments should be tried to help your child to understand the work before they get home.  If understanding during the day is still a problem, consider learning disabilities and possibly a tutor.

Feeling overwhelmed by the quantity of work/motivation issues.

Typically this child will do ok in the classroom, but will not want to start, or quickly gives up on homework.  They might complain it is too hard, but do fine once they get started.  For this situation, it helps to help them break the assignment down into chunks and mini goals.  For a difficult math problem, for example, you might walk them through step by step.  For a writing assignment, you might first brainstorm ideas, then organize them, then write a draft, then revise it.

Motivation may be helped by using external rewards.  It is better if these are normal privileges, such as a 5 minute break, going outside to play, getting to choose dinner, or video/TV time.  A timer (either to beat the timer, or to work on an assignment for a certain time before a break) is helpful for some children, but not for others.

A third strategy to help with motivation is to have a strict routine of when you start homework every school day.  This gives your child fewer chances to argue about when they will start.  In general, as soon as possible after finishing school is best, but some children need a snack or a short break before they can start work again.

Unrecognized fatigue or hunger.

A tired child will usually do worse and worse as the day progresses.  You will usually know that your child is not getting enough sleep.  If this is the case, you may want to look into sleep hygiene and possibly schedule an appointment with your child's doctor about a sleep disorder.  Sleep difficulties very commonly occur in patients who have ADHD.

A hungry child often is hungry because they haven't eaten well at school.  This may be a side effect of medication or may be a product of their schedule.   Most children need a snack in the afternoon.  If your child is having difficulty with homework, make sure they get a decent snack before they start working.  If they aren't eating well at school and won't eat a snack either, you may need to address their lack of appetite with their doctor.

Coming down off medication.

Usually a child coming down off medication is on a stimulant.  Even long acting stimulants can have this problem.  Usually the child has other symptoms such as hyperactivity or emotional outbursts during the same period of time every day they take their medication.  This problem can be remedied by doing homework earlier in the day (before they come home from school), or by adjusting the medication by adding a booster dose or changing to a longer acting formulation of the same medication.

Learning disabilities.

Specific learning disabilites will cause problems with certain types of assignments, but not others.  For example a child with dysgraphia will often refuse written work, but will do fine if the work is oral or if an adult is allowed to scribe for them.  A child with dyslexia will have difficulty with reading and writing, but not with math or with assignments that require neither reading nor writing.  An special education specialist can  evaluate your child and give you suggestions for helping with homework.

Everything ADHD Medical Disclaimer
Everything ADHD Privacy Policy