What things do you do to help your DC with writing skills (ADHD)?
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Anonymous
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Our DC was recently diagnosed with ADHD and has a lot of difficulty starting and completing writing assignments (3rd grade) and I'm trying to find ways to help at home. It is starting to affect his grades - gets a D, for example, due to incomplete work.
Should I be asking for a chance for my DC to complete it at home (as part of a 504)? And/or, should I come up with assignments to do at home so that I can coach him? I hate to add to his homework (although he currently has zero language arts homework), but when I did some make-up work with him at home recently, it was clear that the individual attention and coaching helped him a lot. (There is no way a teacher can provide that with so many students in the class.) |
Anonymous
| My son’s tutor and her husband just launched an iPad app that might help - it’s designed to structure essay writing process for kids with ADHD and/or dyslexia. It’s called Essay Launcher. My kid is the one thanked in the intro, so I am not unbiased! I know this is hard, OP. In 3rd-5th grade we did a lot of having my kid dictate to us while we scribed and asked questions to draw out more information - that’s what the app mimics. |
Anonymous
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You should ask for a full evaluation for special education at school. Schools have resources for this sort of thing.
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Anonymous
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Also in the meantime ask for informal supports at school because the IEP process takes a while. Graphic organizers may help him get started.
We also saw great improvement in writing after ADHD meds. |
Anonymous
| My son has IEP but not ADHD diagnosis. We had private evaluation that said his hanwroiting is behind for his age. He is in k. Based on that I requested school do their evaluation, since handwriting is not part of his IEP. Based in their evaluation, they added OT hand writing goal and I'm seeing improvements already. |
Anonymous
So, the school is helping with handwriting? What county? |
Anonymous
Going to get this for my daughter! Thanks!!! |
Anonymous
| Graphic organizers helped my DC. You can google them and there are tons available that match most types of writing assignments. |
Anonymous
We had our DC's dictate to us until their handwriting or keyboarding caught up. |
Anonymous
This looks fabulous, and just what my middle schooler needs! Do you know if it's possible to get it on a chrome book, which is what she uses for academic writing? |
Anonymous
I’m so glad it looks helpful! It isn’t on Chromebook yet - just Apple. But if she can do her work at home you can download the app on a phone or iPad, and then have her do her first draft on that. Then you can send the text to the Chromebook on email or a shared drive and finish the essay in her usual software. |
Anonymous
| Write letters to relatives about news in your life. Teach keyboard skills. |
Anonymous
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Nanny/Tutor here.
Kids with ADHD and/or EF have so many different ways of getting help with writing. The biggest issues are usually starting with a “boring” topic, getting materials home, and being overwhelmed. 1. One page of Handwriting Without Tears per day should take 5 minutes or less. If your child is taking longer than that, it can work well to set a timer to do 5 minutes and then put it away. The books are roughly ten dollars each, and they can be purchased through the company or on Amazon. It’s the best program I’ve seen for kids with fine motor control issues, and it’s great at mnemonics to help kids remember where to start and what the steps are. From talking with several OTs, they are also using it in combination with other techniques. Because it makes it easier for a teacher to read and grade, I emphasize this when there are significant issues with legibility. 2. Part of what I do is teach kids to effectively use their planners/agendas. It doesn’t help to know you have a writing assignment due Friday if there are no details. So, there’s a checklist I teach them to use: Class/subject Due date Assigned date Topic Length Special instructions Graphic required/type I teach the kids to break it up into bite-size chunks based on length and time allotted, and we write each part into the daily homework. Because they learn to view big projects as a group of smaller things, it’s less overwhelming. Just in case, the last day is always lighter, so the child can catch up if progress was slower than expected. 3. Sometimes the issue is getting the materials home. Having a laminated (blank) checklist, a dry erase marker and a cloth to erase in their class can be helpful. I teach kids to write out the projects’s description first, then write out the chunks in their planner/agenda, and finally make the list of what they need to take home for that day’s piece. Because projects differ so much and most in elementary school have 2-4 days to do the work, it’s really something they have to learn to do at school. The first several times, a tutor or parent can help them break it up and write the list the first night, but it limits their work time, so they need independence or support at school asap. 4. Many kids with ADHD can brainstorm and write a quick story or essay if the topic interests them. If they think the topic is boring or irrelevant to theim, they can struggle to stay focused enough to even start. If a child struggles with this issue, I dedicate 5 minutes each session to taking a random prompt and starting to brainstorm. By practicing that starting process, they’re not left floundering when it happens unexpectedly in school. 5. Graphic organizers are great visual ways to help kids put essays and stories together. Story blocks are best for visual/creative learners, while webs are best for vocal/auditory/visual learners (provided that they are talking it out as they brainstorm). I like to have kids cut the papers up and move the pieces around, that way they can easily change the flow without getting lost. I always give kids extra copies of graphic organizers to take home and to school, because sometimes the teacher isn’t prepared with enough choices, and sometimes a child needs to think about a topic in a different way. 6. I have a laminated checklist that kids can take home and use for every writing assignment. C(apitalization), O(rganization), R(un-ons), P(unctuation), A(greement), S(pelling) 7. There’s also a checklist for 5 paragraph essays: Attention, main idea (convince or inform), list Topic 1, example 1, example 2, restate and lead in Topic 2, example 1, example 2, restate and lead in Topic 3, example 1, example 2, restate and lead in Restate main idea, convince or inform check, new information, things to consider 8. For kids learning to proofread and reorganize writing, it can be overwhelming or frustrating to do it with their own writing. I create short pieces targeted at a child’s level with the types of mistakes they make. With a list of proofreading marks and the number of each mistake for the child to find, we turn it into a treasure hunt. I’m less concerned about whether they know how to correct the issues initially; the biggest hurdle is finding the mistakes, especially in organization. |
Anonymous
| Consider having an OT evaluation done. ADD is often accompanied by motor issues, and handwriting is physically difficult. |
Anonymous
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I hit submit too soon!
9. I teach kids to use voice recorders. It helps slower writers to brainstorm aloud, then write 1-3 words at a time. Losing the train of thought in the middle of brainstorming an essay, only to realize nothing was written down... its demoralizing for kids. I try to stay away from dictation to an adult for several reasons. Most kids won’t have supports at school so that they can dictate. It teaches them dependence on adults, rather than fostering self-reliance, especially if an adult corrects usage or continuously prompts to finish a thought. My biggest pet peeve is that kids who dictate usually don’t have the opportunity to learn to catch and correct their spelling, grammar and punctuation mistakes before middle school. There are certainly circumstances where it’s warranted, but I’ve found that a voice recorder is almost always a better option long-term, and there a so many free options. |