3 Tips To Help ADHD Children Complete Homework Quickly

Famous psychiatrist, Edward M. Hallowell quoted in his book Delivered from Distractions, “People with ADHD often have a special ‘feel’ for life, a way of seeing things right into the heart of the matters, while others have to reason their way methodically.”

Though the doctor’s observation about ADHHD students is correct, one can never deny that implementing the special feel of ADHD students in their real life, especially through homework, is extremely difficult. When these ADHD students come from school, their primary objective is to play, have fun and use their boundless physical energy; a few also recognise the need to study and the negative consequences of neglecting homework. However, the attention span of an ADHD child is much lower than that of one without this condition. Hence parents of children with ADHD have a war with their wards to make them sit and complete homework.

1. Watch The Diet For ADHD

It may sound unbelievable, but diet is an important part of ADHD children’s ability to concentrate on tasks and, therefore, on the capacity to do homework. If the brain does not receive the right resources, the body parts will not function accurately. Hence, every household with children with ADHD must prioritise a healthy and nutritious diet since a healthy diet is the root of productive thinking and behaviour.

A lack of a healthy diet can affect a child’s ability to focus on tasks. Poor performance on homework, susceptibility to misbehaviour, cough and cold and other seasonal diseases becomes more prominent in case the regular diet consists primarily of sugar in any form like candies or soft drinks or processed foods and fatty foods. A study suggests that prominent these ingredients in daily food can be detrimental to a child’s overall growth and development of behaviour.

Therefore, parents must ensure that their child’s regular diet includes sufficient traces of minerals like Zinc, Iron, magnesium, and Omega 3 fatty acids. The minerals are available in common food items like spinach, beef, lamb, cashew, almond, walnut, peanut, hazelnut, sesame, lentils, avocado and dairy products.

For parents with ADHD children, avoiding processed foods loaded with artificial colourings and high sugar content should be a top priority, as both ingredients can damage behaviour and health. Similarly, Omega 3 fatty acid is prominent in coldwater fishes, cod liver oil, flax and chia seeds, soybeans and tofu.

2. Create A Homework Schedule

If parents want to make their children better paper writers or homework writers, they must concentrate on creating a homework schedule. It works best for ADHD children. They get to channel their energy into specific tasks, increasing their productivity.

Creating a schedule will help create a mind map for children giving them a direction –”what to do and when to do” as they return home from school. It will not leave homework completion to the imagination of both children and their parents. Rather brings clarity about when which task will be done.

However, it never guarantees that there will not be any argument regarding what is a fair schedule. The problem is that children with ADHD struggle to work on tasks that are not on their preferred list. Hence working on a schedule does not make them deal with homework easily like a miracle, at least on the initial days of creating the schedule.

Does that mean that parents of ADHD children should not create a schedule for their kids? No, not. A lack of schedule means children watch TV, play video games or be busy with their social media profiles instead of focusing on homework. The situation is worse for children with ADHD because their attention deficiency disorders already block their ability to plan and arrange activities of their day.

A study suggests that normal human concentration lasts no more than 20 minutes at a stretch. After that, it is quite difficult for any individual to stay focused on the task. The problem is more prominent for children with ADHD since they have difficulty focusing on the task for a long due to their body build-up. Therefore, giving a break of 5 -10 minutes is important to help the child rejuvenate and focus on the task better.

However, most parents might feel confused about when to schedule the break. Experts suggest that the best way lies in self-detection. Parents must observe their child’s study patterns to determine the exact time interval when they need a break or feel fatigued. Give healthy snacks during the break and encourage them to walk and move around. However, they must ensure their child does not get involved in other activities that distract them from their studies.

3. Keep An Eye On Distractions

Parents must create a homework space for their children. It must be a cool, ventilated and well-lit room away from the noise of their sibling’s games. All necessary things, including the water bottle, must be within the child’s reach. However, it has been noticed that a lack of distractions does not always indicate high productivity. Some ADHD children feel lonely or claustrophobic without any noise. Some who believe in supernatural powers may find the lack of any noise eerie. Hence, a parent may get a call from their child “I need your help to write my paper for me.” Often, the underlying reason lies in requiring the presence of the parent or someone for company. In that case, turning on the TV at a low volume or playing some soft classical music or white noise can comfort the child and help them continue with the homework.

However, in many ADHD children, this comforting noise becomes a source of distraction. They feel so drawn towards what is running on the TV or being played on the stereo that they forget they have homework to do.

To sum up,

Making a child with ADHD do their homework is never easy. Therefore, follow these simple tricks to make the child productive.

Author Bio: David Fernandez is a special education teacher at a reputed school in the UK. He is also associated with a paper writer service based in the country. If you need his assistance, connect with him at MYAssignmenthelp.io.