Teaching children with ADHD can sometimes be a challenge. Their short attention span and difficulty to organize their tasks make them fail completing them. Their constant fidgeting or running about can be disruptive in class.
Most children are always busy moving around, swiveling in their chair or fiddling with pencils and toys. But they can sit quietly and stay focused as well, like when watching a favorite TV show.
Children with ADHD on the other hand never seem to be able to relax. Their constant wriggling can drive parents crazy. Teachers often try to make them sit still because they believe they will be more concentrated on the task at hand.
Recent studies show that this constant movement is actually helping kids with attention-deficit/hyperactivity-disorder to stay focused. They seem to be able to learn better when they are not forced to settle down.
ADHD kids have a problem with their short-term memory where information is temporarily stored. This is also called working memory because it is used for carrying out immediate tasks and the information is lost soon after.
Some chemicals stimulate the brain to help you pay attention. The caffeine in a cup of coffe is a great help for adults. An often prescribed ADHD drug is Ritalin.
Constant movement appears to be doing the same thing for a child with ADHD. So it makes no sense to force them to sit still while being in class or doing their homework.
The way their brain works is usually not well understood by teachers. It would help them a lot if tasks and instructions were presented in a way their mind can process them.
If a kid cannot keep its attention for more than a few seconds then it does not make sense to give it complicated instructions. “ Take your math book, go to the chapter on fractions, read the instructions and answer the question 1 to 5 ”, may be too much and leave it wondering what to do after getting to the end of the text.
It would be much better to break the task down in short and simple instructions and when one has been completed move on to the next one. This way their difficulty with short term memory is bypassed.
If you find these ideas helpful feel free to leave a comment or share some experiences of your own. Thanks!