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Children with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) are notoriously disorganized; they need systems and routines in place for everything, and often need extra coaching in organizational skills. This can prove challenging when it comes to dealing with schoolwork. Younger children will need more coaching and parental follow up. For older children, encourage them to stick to the established systems and routines on their own with your supervision.
As a mother of two boys with ADHD, I have discovered some great ways for getting children with ADHD organized at home, managing paper flow, and setting them up for success for the school year. Here are my 5 tips toward better success at school:
- Establish an organizational system to manage paper flow. Newsletters, permission slips and homework sheets are easily misplaced or crumpled up in the bottom of a school bag. Provide your child with an organizational binder or a folder system for “Homework To Do”, “Homework Completed” and “Notes”. Encourage your child to put loose sheets in the appropriate folder right away, and check folders nightly.
- Be hands-on. Don’t rely on your child to “find” all her homework in her bag or pass on important notes; instead, check backpacks, agendas, and homework packages every day when your child comes home. Do a quick inventory and follow up on homework assignments, notes from the teacher and other paperwork. Even if your child is at an age where you think they “should” be able to do this themselves, they may in fact need continued supervision or assistance.
- Get the teacher on board. Make sure your child’s teacher is aware of any organizational challenges, and ask them to provide extra copies of important papers - by email if possible - and to follow up if they don’t receive something back from you.
- Set up a homework station. Keep a case in one place at home, with all the homework supplies your child might need (pencils, pens, erasers, scissors, glue stick and other supplies). This enables your child can sit down and get to work right away. A three-hole punch and some plastic page protectors for his binder will ensure that important papers can be immediately put away. Restock frequently.
- Empty, purge and re-organize. On top of being disorganized with forms and paperwork, children with ADHD are often “collectors”. At the end of the day or week (depending on the volume of paperwork), take everything out of their school bag, throw out garbage, put away anything that doesn’t belong and reorder their backpack.
Bonus Tip: If you have multiple children with ADHD in school, assign each child a colour. Buy school bags, lunch kits, water bottles, hats, mitts, and any other supplies in each child’s own signature colour. This makes it easy to tell at a glance which items belong to which person, making organizing a snap. My children also have a laundry basket in their colour on the closet floor to make it easy to separate bags, hats, etc. We have been using this system for years and it works beautifully for us.
It's that time of year again! Fall is just around the corner, the days are getting a little shorter, and our darling children are headed back to school! But for some of us back to school means back to homeschool. It's a growing form of education and every year there are more and more families making the decision to home educate their child(ren).
Have you ever entertained the idea of homeschooling? Usually the big question is how do I homeschool! And the good news is the answer is not as complicated as one might think.
Here are 8 steps to get your started on how to homeschool:
- Decide to homeschool! Sounds simple, right? Talk it over with your spouse or partner and decide if homeschooling is right for your family. Find a good book (website, magazine, forum, etc.) on how to homeschool and homeschooling and do some research before you dive in.
- Connect with other homeschoolers. When trying to figure out how to homeschool, those who are already homeschooling are a wealth of knowledge and encouragement. If you don't already have friends or family that are homeschooling (and even if you do) seek out a local support group. You may be able to find homeschoolers through your public school board. Also, Homeschooling Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) can help you find support and they are located in both Canada and the United States.
- Determine homeschool requirements. Find out the requirements on how o homeschool in your district/province/state. It is legal to homeschool but some areas have other requirements. Contact HSLDA (Canada or US) to find out the specific law in your area.
- Choose a homeschool curriculum. This one's a biggie and it is usually the most challeging part for any family trying to determine how to homeschool. Curriculum options and homeschooling techniques are so varied that it can be overwhelming. You can do full curriculum packages, online courses/programs, mix and match subjects from different curriculum providers, or even put together your own curriculum. And there's no right or wrong choice here! What's right for one family or child is not necessarily right for the other. Talk to other homeschoolers to get suggestions and ideas but don't feel just because one mom likes a certain curriculum it will be right for you. The best advice is to not buy too much at once (I'm guilty of this) and don't be afraid to switch a curriculum if it's not working for your family/children. As you journey along the path of how to homeschool, you will discover what works for your children and the curriculum choices that suit your family best.
- Get the house ready for homeschooling! No, you don't need to go out and get little tables and chairs, hang a blackboard on the wall, or place an apple on your desk when figuring out how to homeschool (but if that works for you, go for it). Getting your home ready to homeschool can be as easy or as complicated as you want it to be. Most homeschoolers end up around a kitchen or dining room table. All you will probably need is a bookcase or two and maybe some storage containers. Some families have a dedicated homeschooling room, some have a corner of the dining room, and for some homeschooling has taken over the whole house!
- Set up a homeschool schedule. Again, determining a schedule when figuring out how to homeschool is a varied and personal thing; what works for one family might not work for another. It's going to depend on the ages of the kids and how many kids you have, whether the parent still holds a job or has other responsibilities, and even the curriculum choices. Some homeschoolers do use planners (and there are homeschool specific ones out there) to keep themselves on track. However, homeschooling doesn't need to be a full day affair. Homeschooling parents can accomplish much more in a shorter amount of time because of the one-on-one nature of homeschooling. Parents can choose to homeschool just in the mornings (afternoons, evenings, etc.) or take a day off a week for extra curricular activities (field trips, family days, etc.). The choice is yours! And just like curriculum, the best advice when determining homeschool schedule is to be flexible and don't be afraid to make adjustments if something is not working for you.
- Explain homeschooling to the kids. If your kids have already been in public/private school, homeschool can be an adjustment. Tell your children why they're going to be homeschooled, focus on the positive, and answer their questions. Give the kids some choice during the day (it's one of the perks of homeschooling) and even get their imput where appropriate.
- Relax and have fun! Homeschooling is more than just ABCs and 123s. You're building character and teaching them to be the best they can be. Enjoy the time you spend together whether it's around the kitchen table or curled up on the sofa reading books. And don't forget to give yourself a break every now and then. Let your spouse or partner, the grandparents, another homeschooling parent, etc. take over for the day. The kids will enjoy some "fresh" material and you'll get your battery recharged! :)
Welcome back to HOMEschool!
During summer, our children’s learning spaces expand well beyond the confines of school walls. A “summer classroom” can be as massive as the ocean or as tiny as a sliver of seashell… and the summer learning that takes place here is powerful stuff!
Want to add a splash of summer learning to your next trip? Use these fun ideas to stretch your child’s thinking and take advantage of the world's sandiest classroom...
Sand Play
Not sure what to do? You’re sitting on it! Children love exploring sand, digging, stacking, burying, sifting, and sprinkling. Challenging themselves to build the tallest structure or collaborating on a construction project introduces physics concepts and helps kids practice communicating and cooperating.
Water, Water Everywhere!
Children love to experiment with water, and you’ve got an ocean full of it! Filling, spilling, and pouring lets kids explore volume and capacity while honing coordination and fine motor skills. Watch as water seeps into sand and mix concoctions with different ratios of sand/water to compare consistency. Which formula makes the best sandcastle? Bring summer learning home and study evaporation by boiling water until only the sea salt remains.
Leave a Trail
Take a walk and experiment with different kinds of movement. How is moving in sand different from water, the boardwalk, the parking lot? Have fun with footprints and notice when you return whether your trail is intact or whether new feet have traveled the same path! Can you spot other trails? Tires, bicycles, bird tracks...? Use a stick to create a new trail, inventing wacky new footprints or movement patterns in sand.
Autograph the Beach
Fingers, forks, rakes, shells, and sticks make great writing tools! Practicing writing in the sand is a fun way to show off letter skills on a large canvas. Pre-writers develop control and coordination by drawing sand pictures with sticks, while older writers can sign their names or scrawl other messages across the beach, or play hangman to hone reasoning skills.
Search for Treasure
Bring a bucket and comb the beach for treasure! With your haul, practice sorting and categorizing skills by organizing your collection in different ways (color, shape, texture, size, type…). Make a list of natural and man-made items you could find on the beach and set off on a scavenger hunt!
Get Crafty
A day at the beach can inspire endless works of art! Search for bits or coral, driftwood, shells, and smooth stones, and bring home sand in jars. These materials can be used to make sand art, a bedroom mobile, a mosaic mirror, or strung into necklaces. The finished masterpiece will be an everyday reminder of family time together. [Editor's note: checkout our Beach Crafts for additional ideas.]
Become One with Nature
Take time to watch birds or study fish. Count the different kinds and discuss what they look like and how they move. Put critters in a jar to observe – make a sketch or a silly rhyming poem - and free them when you leave! Bring binoculars, a bird identification guide, and a camera to observe and identify species of sandpipers, plovers and seagulls.
Go Fly a Kite
Conduct a wind experiment with a kite. This offers opportunities for trial-and-error learning with older kids and is perfect for developing a preschooler's coordination and prediction skills!
Make a Fish Face
Have fun with dramatic play by pretending to become the beachy things around you. Can you make your face look like a fish? Walk like a gull? Move like a crashing wave? Encouraging movement play on the beach will stimulate imagination and develop observation skills. Don't forget to join in!
Jump In
Challenge your young swimmer to a floating contest. What is the easiest way to stay afloat? Experiment with swimming strokes to figure out the easiest way to move around. Jump waves in knee-deep water. How do you know when to jump? Can you count the time between wave crests? Can you figure out which way the tide is moving?
Follow Up
After a day at the beach, take time to research to questions that arose. Identify shells you brought home, find out more about waves, look up images of an interesting bird you spotted… exploring deeper builds respect for nature and encourages meaningful inquiry-based learning!
Have a great beach-related learning activity? Please share!
Starting school can be exciting and scary for kids, especially if this is their first foray into a classroom. Our Back to School section is full of great articles on getting ready for the return to school, including 8 Tips on Preparing Your Child for Kindergarten.
A fun way to help prepare your child is through their love of books. We have found a few that might just help you out:
Everything I Need to Know Before I’m Five (Scholastic Canada) is a colourful book containing some of the basic concepts your child will be learning in school or should know before entering school. (read our full review)
Bailey (Scholastic Canada) takes kids through a typical day at school, as told through the eyes of a not so typical grade schooler. (read our full review)
Eddie Gets Ready for School (Random House) is a fun child’s perspective on the tasks needed to be completed before heading out the door to school. (read our full review)
School for Bandits (Random House) illustrates in a tongue-in-cheek sort of way, the appropriate behaviour for school (or outside of school) and the benefits of good behaviour. (read our full review)
What books do you enjoy reading together to prepare for school?
Downtime in the busy summer months probably consists of the kids playing some sort of game like Smurfs Village or Angry Birds on your smartphone. But did you know there are fantastic educational apps for kids out there as well? 
The apps listed below earn high marks when it comes to combining learning with fun.
Unless noted otherwise, all apps are compatible with iPhone, iPod touch and iPad.
Best Apps for Kids: Best Reading Apps
abc PocketPhonics ($2.99) - This app feels much like a private tutoring session for early readers with emphasis on letter sounds and writing. Lite version available. Preschool-Kindergarten
Cinderella - Magic Ink Books (Free) - Classic fairytale storybook with the "magic ink" twist--swipe over black & white pages to magically reveal the next page in full colour. Preschool-Grade 1
Shake-a-Phrase ($1.99) - Cleverly disguised app that encourages older children to read by way of silly sentences that will help teach vocabulary and parts of speech. Grade 3+
The Cat in the Hat ($3.99) - Beloved Dr. Seuss classic comes to life through skilful narration and picture/word association. Lite version available. Preschool-Grade 1
Toy Story Read-Along (Free; iPad) - Based on the original blockbuster, this is a fun and interactive storybook with activities on each page that will surely keep the kids entertained. Preschool-Grade 1
Best Apps for Kids: Best Math Apps
Jungle Coins ($2.99; iPad) - Teach kids currency at varying levels such as finding coins, counting money, comparing coins and correct change. Currently the only app that includes Canadian currency (in-app purchase). Kindergarten-Grade 4
Jungle Time ($0.99) - With its easy to use interface, varying difficulty levels and built-in lessons (24 hr clock, time zones, etc), this learn to tell time app is high on replay value. iPad version includes double clock problems. Kindergarten-Grade 4
Park Math ($1.99) - Early math concepts are introduced with the help of cute animated animals with plenty of activities to keep kids interested and entertained. Preschool-Grade 1
Rocket Math ($0.99) - Answer math equations to earn money to build a rocket that when launched, will enable varied leveled math missions such as counting, shapes/patterns, fractions, decimals, telling time and U.S. money. Lite version available. Grades 1-5
TallyTots Pocket ($0.99) - With 20 activities, younger children will have fun learning numbers 1-20 in this interactive and fun app. Preschool-Kindergarten
Best Apps for Kids: Best Science Apps
8 Planets (Free) - Young astronomers will enjoy learning about the planets and earning ribbons in games testing their knowledge. Preschool-Grade 1
BrainPOP Featured Movie (Free) - Features a different animated, short film each day on topics such as Science, Social Studies, Technology, Engineering, Health, English, Art & Music and Math. Grade 2+
iLearn with Poko: Seasons ($1.99) - Preschoolers learn about the weather and seasons in this interactive and preschool friendly game. Preschool-Kindergarten
Leafsnap (Free) - An app with huge potential, budding botanists can identify plants by taking a picture of their leaves. All Ages
Best Apps for Kids: Best Art Apps
123 Color: Talking Coloring Book ($0.99) - Kids won't even realize they're learning their ABCs and 123s (available in several languages) in this "colour by number" theme app. Premium version includes all colouring books and 10 world maps. Preschool-Grade 2
Doodle Buddy (Free) - Future Picassos of all ages will enjoy creating their next masterpiece using a variety of tools including, paint, chalk, stencils, stamps, backgrounds and photographs. All Ages
Faces iMake-Lite ($0.99) - Let your imagination go wild by making silly faces using common everyday objects. Premium version includes more than 200 items. All Ages
Toontastic ($0.99; iPad) - Take storytelling to the next level by creating cartoons from start to finish, using your own voice to narrate the story. Kindergarten-Grade 4
Best Apps for Kids: Best Spelling Apps
Licking Letters ($0.99) - Learn to spell 150 words and play mini-games along the way to earn coins to dress Hoppy the Frog. Preschool-Kindergarten
Montessori Crosswords ($2.99) - Based on the Montessori method which includes the phonics-enabled Moveable Alphabet, kids can develop their spelling, reading and writing skills by completing crossword puzzles. Preschool-Grade 2
Sight Words by Little Speller (Free) - On the surface this may appear to be a no frills app, but what makes it unique is that parents can fully customize the list of words, add their own voice and images. Preschool-Grade 1
Word Wagon ($1.99) - With over 100 words in 7 categories, kids learn spelling, letter recognition and phonics by progressing through 4 difficulty levels. Preschool-Kindergarten
Editor's Note: Thinking of getting a tablet for your child? Checkout our article Technology and Kids: Tablets for some things to consider before making a purchase.
