How to help a child with adhd at home
5 tips to manage ADHD in children
Speaking of Health
Topics in this Post
- Family Medicine
- Pediatric Medicine
- Children's Health (Pediatrics)
- Child Development
Does your child have difficulty focusing on an activity or seem impulsive in behavior? When symptoms are severe enough and cause ongoing problems in more than one area of your child's life, it could be a sign of a neurobehavioral disorder, such as ADHD.
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a chronic condition that affects millions of children and often continues into adulthood. ADHD includes a combination of persistent problems, such as difficulty sustaining attention, hyperactivity and impulsive behavior.
Children with ADHD also may struggle with low self-esteem, school anxiety, troubled relationships and poor performance in school. Symptoms sometimes lessen with age. However, some people never completely outgrow their ADHD symptoms. However, they can learn strategies to be successful.
ADHD subtypes
- Inattentive ADHD
Formerly referred to as ADD, people with inattentive ADHD display symptoms of inattention, but do not possess symptoms of hyperactivity or impulsivity. - Hyperactive/Impulsive ADHD
This subset of ADHD display symptoms of impulsivity or hyperactivity, but do not display symptoms of inattention. - Combined
People with combined ADHD display symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity. The is the most common subset of ADHD.
Learn more about the three different types of ADHD.
Gender differences with ADHD
ADHD is more commonly diagnosed in boys than girls, but research into ADHD in adulthood suggests an almost equal balance between men and women. A lower diagnosis rate among females in childhood can result because girls with ADHD are more likely than boys to have the inattentive form of ADHD and less likely to show obvious problems.
More than half of children who experience ADHD in childhood continue to have symptoms as adults. Some women only recognize their ADHD after a child has been diagnosed and the woman begins to see similar behavior in herself. Other women seek treatment because their lives spin out of control, financially, at work or at home.
ADHD treatment
While treatment won't cure ADHD, it can help a great deal with symptoms. Treatment typically involves medications and behavioral interventions. Early diagnosis and treatment can make a big difference in outcome.
It's also important to work with a therapist who specializes in ADHD to learn coping mechanisms that are nonpharmacological to help with ADHD symptoms and behaviors. A therapist can enhance the effectiveness of the medication and give tools to empower those with ADHD using treatments that may involve behavioral, psychological, social, educational and lifestyle interventions.
Behavioral strategies
Here are 5 behavioral strategies to help manage your child's ADHD:
1.
Give praise and rewards when rules are followed.Children with ADHD often receive and expect criticism more so than other children. This can really impact self-esteem. Some days, you might have to really look for the good behavior, but you should praise good behavior at least five times more often than you criticize bad behavior.
2. Give clear, effective directions or commands.
Make eye contact or gently touch on arm or shoulder to get his or her attention. Give brief, simple steps and short commands that get to the point rather than multiple directions or wordy statements and questions.
3. Establish healthy habits.
If your child is on a medication, it should be taken as prescribed. Contact your child's health care provider if problems arise. Make sure your child is getting enough sleep, eating a well-balanced diet consisting of three meals, a snack and adequate fluids daily, and has an outlet for some form of daily exercise. These healthy habits will help your child to feel his or her best and help minimize ADHD symptoms.
4. Develop routines around homework and chores.
Work together to make a checklist of what needs to be done surrounding daily chores, getting ready for bed and school for your child to refer to when he or she gets off task. Encourage your child to use a daily planner so he or she is aware of all homework assignments. Have an established time and location for homework, and use a timer to remind your child to show you how the homework is going two to four times per hour. Factor in brain breaks if your child needs them and movement between tasks or use of an appropriate fidget.
5. Help your child build relationships, strong social skills and maintain friendships.
Be a good role model of behavior you want your child to use. Factor in some special time three to five days a week with your child that is conflict-free and does not involve a screen to help maintain a strong parent-child relationship. Help your child develop at least one close friendship. With younger children, parents may need to take the lead to arrange and host play dates or get kids involved in activities where there are kids the same age.
Get tips for helping your child develop social skills.
Amanda Logan is a nurse practitioner in Family Medicine in Janesville, Minnesota.
For the safety of our patients, staff and visitors, Mayo Clinic has strict masking policies in place. Anyone shown without a mask was either recorded prior to COVID-19 or recorded in a non-patient care area where social distancing and other safety protocols were followed.
Topics in this Post
- Family Medicine
- Pediatric Medicine
- Children's Health (Pediatrics)
- Child Development
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ADHD Parenting Tips - HelpGuide.org
adhd
Does your child have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder? Learn what you can do to manage their behavior and deal with common ADHD challenges.
How to help your child with ADHD
Life with a child or teen with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD or ADD) can be frustrating, even overwhelming. But as a parent you can help your child overcome daily challenges, channel their energy into positive arenas, and bring greater calm to your family. And the earlier and more consistently you address your child’s problems, the greater chance they have for success in life.
Children with ADHD generally have deficits in executive function: the ability to think and plan ahead, organize, control impulses, and complete tasks. That means you need to take over as the executive, providing extra guidance while your child gradually acquires executive skills of their own.
Although the symptoms of ADHD can be nothing short of exasperating, it’s important to remember that the child who is ignoring, annoying, or embarrassing you is not acting willfully. Kids with ADHD want to sit quietly; they want to make their rooms tidy and organized; they want to do everything their parent says to do—but they don’t know how to make these things happen.
If you keep in mind that having ADHD is just as frustrating for your child, it will be a lot easier to respond in positive, supportive ways. With patience, compassion, and plenty of support, you can manage childhood ADHD while enjoying a stable, happy home.
ADHD and your family
Before you can successfully parent a child with ADHD, it's essential to understand the impact of your child's symptoms on the family as a whole. Children with ADHD exhibit a slew of behaviors that can disrupt family life. They often don't “hear” parental instructions, so they don't obey them. They're disorganized and easily distracted, keeping other family members waiting. Or they start projects and forget to finish them—let alone clean up after them. Children with impulsivity issues often interrupt conversations, demand attention at inappropriate times, and speak before they think, saying tactless or embarrassing things. It's often difficult to get them to bed and to sleep. Hyperactive children may tear around the house or even put themselves in physical danger.
Because of these behaviors, siblings of children with ADHD face a number of challenges. Their needs often get less attention than those of the child with ADHD. They may be rebuked more sharply when they err, and their successes may be less celebrated or taken for granted. They may be enlisted as assistant parents—and blamed if the sibling with ADHD misbehaves under their supervision. As a result, siblings may find their love for a brother or sister with ADHD mixed with jealousy and resentment.
The demands of monitoring a child with ADHD can be physically and mentally exhausting. Your child's inability to “listen” can lead to frustration and that frustration to anger—followed by guilt about being angry at your child. Your child's behavior can make you anxious and stressed. If there's a basic difference between your personality and that of your child with ADHD, their behavior can be especially difficult to accept.
In order to meet the challenges of raising a child with ADHD, you must to be able to master a combination of compassion and consistency.
Living in a home that provides both love and structure is the best thing for a child or teenager who is learning to manage ADHD.
ADHD parenting tip 1: Stay positive and healthy yourself
As a parent, you set the stage for your child's emotional and physical health. You have control over many of the factors that can positively influence the symptoms of your child's disorder.
Maintain a positive attitude. Your best assets for helping your child meet the challenges of ADHD are your positive attitude and common sense. When you are calm and focused, you are more likely to be able to connect with your child, helping him or her to be calm and focused as well.
Keep things in perspective. Remember that your child's behavior is related to a disorder. Most of the time it is not intentional. Hold on to your sense of humor. What's embarrassing today may be a funny family story ten years from now.
Don't sweat the small stuff and be willing to make some compromises.
One chore left undone isn't a big deal when your child has completed two others plus the day's homework. If you are a perfectionist, you will not only be constantly dissatisfied but also create impossible expectations for your child with ADHD.
Believe in your child. Think about or make a written list of everything that is positive, valuable, and unique about your child. Trust that your child can learn, change, mature, and succeed. Reaffirm this trust on a daily basis as you brush your teeth or make your coffee.
Self-care
As your child's role model and most important source of strength, it is vital that you live a healthy life. If you are overtired or have simply run out of patience, you risk losing sight of the structure and support you have so carefully set up for your child with ADHD.
Seek support. One of the most important things to remember in rearing a child with ADHD is that you don't have to do it alone. Talk to your child's doctors, therapists, and teachers.
Join an organized support group for parents of children with ADHD. These groups offer a forum for giving and receiving advice, and provide a safe place to vent feelings and share experiences.
Take breaks. Friends and family can be wonderful about offering to babysit, but you may feel guilty about leaving your child, or leaving the volunteer with a child with ADHD. Next time, accept their offer and discuss honestly how best to handle your child.
Take care of yourself. Eat right, exercise, and find ways to reduce stress, whether it means taking a nightly bath or practicing morning meditation. If you do get sick, acknowledge it and get help.
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Tip 2: Establish structure and stick to it
Children with ADHD are more likely to succeed in completing tasks when the tasks occur in predictable patterns and in predictable places.
Your job is to create and sustain structure in your home, so that your child knows what to expect and what they are expected to do.
Tips for helping your child with ADHD stay focused and organized:
Follow a routine. It is important to set a time and a place for everything to help the child with ADHD understand and meet expectations. Establish simple and predictable rituals for meals, homework, play, and bed. Have your child lay out clothes for the next morning before going to bed, and make sure whatever he or she needs to take to school is in a special place, ready to grab.
Use clocks and timers. Consider placing clocks throughout the house, with a big one in your child's bedroom. Allow enough time for what your child needs to do, such as homework or getting ready in the morning. Use a timer for homework or transitional times, such as between finishing up play and getting ready for bed.
Simplify your child's schedule. It is good to avoid idle time, but a child with ADHD may become more distracted and “wound up” if there are many after-school activities.
You may need to make adjustments to the child's after-school commitments based on the individual child's abilities and the demands of particular activities.
Create a quiet place. Make sure your child has a quiet, private space of their own. A porch or a bedroom work well, as long as it's not the same place as the child goes for a time-out.
Do your best to be neat and organized. Set up your home in an organized way. Make sure your child knows that everything has its place. Lead by example with neatness and organization as much as possible.
Tip 3: Encourage movement and sleep
Children with ADHD often have energy to burn. Organized sports and other physical activities can help them get their energy out in healthy ways and focus their attention on specific movements and skills. The benefits of physical activity are endless: it improves concentration, decreases depression and anxiety, and promotes brain growth. Most importantly for children with attention deficits, however, is the fact that exercise leads to better sleep, which in turn can also reduce the symptoms of ADHD.
Find a sport that your child will enjoy and that suits their strengths. For example, sports such as softball that involve a lot of “down time” are not the best fit for children with attention problems. Individual or team sports like basketball and hockey that require constant motion are better options. Children with ADHD may also benefit from training in martial arts (such as tae kwon do) or yoga, which enhance mental control as they work out the body.
ADHD and sleep
Insufficient sleep can make anyone less attentive, but it can be highly detrimental for children with ADHD. Kids with ADHD need at least as much sleep as their unaffected peers, but tend not to get what they need. Their attention problems can lead to overstimulation and trouble falling asleep. A consistent, early bedtime is the most helpful strategy to combat this problem, but it may not completely solve it.
Help your child get better rest by trying out one or more of the following strategies:
Decrease television time and increase your child's activities and exercise levels during the day.
Eliminate caffeine from your child's diet.
Create a buffer time to lower down the activity level for an hour or so before bedtime. Find quieter activities such as coloring, reading or playing quietly.
Spend ten minutes cuddling with your child. This will build a sense of love and security as well as provide a time to calm down.
Use lavender or other aromas in your child's room. The scent may help to calm your child.
Use relaxation tapes as background noise for your child when falling asleep. There are many varieties available including nature sounds and calming music. Children with ADHD often find “white noise” to be calming. You can create white noise by putting a radio on static or running an electric fan.
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Tip 4: Set clear expectations and rules
Children with ADHD need consistent rules that they can understand and follow. Make the rules of behavior for the family simple and clear.
Write down the rules and hang them up in a place where your child can easily read them.
Children with ADHD respond particularly well to organized systems of rewards and consequences. It's important to explain what will happen when the rules are obeyed and when they are broken. Finally, stick to your system: follow through each and every time with a reward or a consequence.
As you establish these consistent structures, keep in mind that children with ADHD often receive criticism. Be on the lookout for good behavior—and praise it. Praise is especially important for children who have ADHD because they typically get so little of it. These children receive correction, remediation, and complaints about their behavior—but little positive reinforcement.
A smile, positive comment, or other reward from you can improve the attention, concentration and impulse control of your child with ADHD. Do your best to focus on giving positive praise for appropriate behavior and task completion, while giving as few negative responses as possible to inappropriate behavior or poor task performance.
Reward your child for small achievements that you might take for granted in another child.
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Tip 5: Help your child eat right
Diet is not a direct cause of attention deficit disorder, but food can and does affect your child's mental state, which in turn seems to affect behavior. Monitoring and modifying what, when, and how much your child eats can help decrease the symptoms of ADHD.
All children benefit from fresh foods, regular meal times, and staying away from junk food. These tenets are especially true for children with ADHD, whose impulsiveness and distractedness can lead to missed meals, disordered eating, and overeating.
Children with ADHD are notorious for not eating regularly. Without parental guidance, these children might not eat for hours and then binge on whatever is around. The result of this pattern can be devastating to the child's physical and emotional health.
Prevent unhealthy eating habits by scheduling regular nutritious meals or snacks for your child no more than three hours apart. Physically, a child with ADHD needs a regular intake of healthy food; mentally, meal times are a necessary break and a scheduled rhythm to the day.
- Get rid of the junk foods in your home.
- Put fatty and sugary foods off-limits when eating out.
- Turn off television shows riddled with junk-food ads.
- Give your child a daily vitamin-and-mineral supplement.
Tip 6: Teach your child how to make friends
Children with ADHD often have difficulty with simple social interactions. They may struggle with reading social cues, talk too much, interrupt frequently, or come off as aggressive or “too intense.” Their relative emotional immaturity can make them stand out among children their own age, and make them targets for unfriendly teasing.
Don't forget, though, that many kids with ADHD are exceptionally intelligent and creative and will eventually figure out for themselves how to get along with others and spot people who aren't appropriate as friends.
Moreover, personality traits that might exasperate parents and teachers may come across to peers as funny and charming.
Helping a child with ADHD improve social skills
It's hard for children with ADHD to learn social skills and social rules. You can help your child with ADHD become a better listener, learn to read people's faces and body language, and interact more smoothly in groups.
- Speak gently but honestly with your child about their challenges and how to make changes.
- Role-play various social scenarios with your child. Trade roles often and try to make it fun.
- Be careful to select playmates for your child with similar language and physical skills.
- Invite only one or two friends at a time at first. Watch them closely while they play and have a zero-tolerance policy for hitting, pushing and yelling.
- Make time and space for your child to play, and reward good play behaviors often.
Authors: Melinda Smith, M.A. and Jeanne Segal, Ph.
D.
- References
Neurodevelopmental Disorders. (2013). In Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. American Psychiatric Association. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.books.9780890425787.x01_Neurodevelopmental_Disorders
Ciesielski, H. A., Loren, R. E. A., & Tamm, L. (2020). Behavioral Parent Training for ADHD Reduces Situational Severity of Child Noncompliance and Related Parental Stress. Journal of Attention Disorders, 24(5), 758–767. https://doi.org/10.1177/1087054719843181
Harpin, V. A. (2005). The effect of ADHD on the life of an individual, their family, and community from preschool to adult life. Archives of Disease in Childhood, (suppl 1), i2–i7. https://doi.org/10.1136/adc.2004.059006
Parenting a Child with ADHD – Tips and strategies for parents. (KidsHealth)
Parenting a Teen with ADHD – Tips and strategies.
(TeensHealth)
ADHD: Tips for Parents – Includes behavioral modification strategies. (Center for Parent Information & Resources)
Parenting a Child with ADHD (PDF) – Tips and resources. (National Resource Center on ADHD)
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Last updated: October 14, 2022
13 tips for parents and teachers on how to properly teach hyperactive children
The child cannot do the same thing for a long time and is often distracted. Abruptly takes off and starts running around the room or school. These can all be signs of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Panic early! Such children can also be successfully taught if you know how to work with them. Psychologist, psychotherapist GMS Clinic Inna Pasechnik compiled a memo on working with hyperactive children.
The physiological characteristics of children with ADHD are the following manifestations:
1. The child needs to constantly move, it is difficult for him to sit straight during the lessons: such children are distracted, talk in the lessons, "spin", sway, sit with their legs under the buttocks, when tired, their motor activity increases.
This is due to the peculiarities of the brain in children with ADHD, they need a constant supply of nutrients to the brain, which is possible only when moving. If a child with ADHD is persuaded to sit quietly, it will be more difficult for him to think.
In this regard, it is recommended to allow a certain level of motor activity to the child during the lesson. If the child gets tired, then allow him (find a legitimate reason) to walk around the class or do some active exercises (wipe off the board, distribute notebooks, go for water).
2. The child is very tired of the routine, it becomes unbearably boring for him to do the same type of tasks if he has already figured it out.
In this regard, in the world pedagogical practice, it is customary to reduce the number of tasks of the same type (including homework) for children with ADHD by 30%, not to require them to complete all the examples, if the child has already mastered the topic.
The number of repetitions in children with ADHD does not affect the quality of information assimilation.
In addition, it is acceptable for a child with ADHD to be able to draw in a draft or twist something in his hands during the lesson. They tend to do several things at the same time, which does not affect the quality of perception of information in the lesson. Otherwise, the child begins to distract his neighbors by actively moving and talking to them.
3. A child with ADHD is most often not able to beautifully and neatly arrange his work, he allows corrections, blots, inaccurate design of assignments.
It is recommended to pay attention to the content of the work, and not to the quality of its design, since a regular decrease in the score for an incorrectly designed work will significantly reduce the motivation to study.
4. Children with ADHD are afraid of large volumes.
If a child with ADHD is immediately asked to complete 20 examples, he will be frightened and fall into a stupor or despair, as large amounts of work scare them.
However, if a child is given the same 20 examples on separate cards 5 times 4 examples each, it will noticeably improve his performance. The child will be happy to complete all 20 examples, in addition, this will be a good opportunity to move between receiving the next card. Thus, children with ADHD need to divide large amounts of tasks into several small parts.
5. A child with ADHD may forget everyday things and some items when completing a task according to a plan, they may even forget the ultimate goal of the activity (poor working memory).
Often, children with ADHD get their grades lowered because they forget to do part of the tasks in the exercises. It is recommended to separately concentrate their attention on all the items of the task in the exercise. For example, asking this particular child what you need to remember to complete in the task.
In addition, these children tend to forget their things. Therefore, they can be reminded of them more often or separately encouraged for not forgetting to take everything with them.
It is effective to use "reminders" - small notes, stickers in a pencil case or announcements on the wall, thanks to which the child can remember to take a thing with him, go somewhere or do something.
6. A child with ADHD is often distracted.
It is advisable to seat children with ADHD closer to the teacher so that it is easier for them to concentrate, and in case the child is distracted, lightly touch his hand so that he can concentrate again. It is possible to specifically discuss with the child the ways by which he can not be distracted in the lesson.
7. Children with ADHD have poor time orientation.
It has nothing to do with the intellectual development of the child. However, a child with ADHD often does not notice that more time has passed than he intended. As a result, the children are late, I don’t have time to finish something. In such cases, it is recommended to either remind the time yourself, or teach the child to set a timer, or set a timer or an hourglass so that children can see them and be able to navigate on their own.
8. A child with ADHD can be very interested in something, this is his strength, so if the child is unsuccessful in something, then you can restore his authority in the eyes of classmates by involving him in activities in which he showed interest and showed your awareness.
9. Children with ADHD are impulsive.
It is difficult for a child with ADHD to restrain himself from shouting out in class if he knows the answer, it is difficult for him not to interfere in the activity if something interesting happens to him.
In the lessons, it is possible to introduce special tablets on which children can fix the answer to the teacher's question so that they do not have to endure if another student answers. It is also possible to introduce a special encouragement for the child, if he did not cry out, showed patience. For example, if the child refrained from impulsive action, allow him to distribute notebooks.
10. Children with ADHD are emotional.
In this regard, they can be very offended if something does not work out for them or classmates do not communicate with them (children with ADHD are very sociable: they like to talk, chat with everyone). In this case, the child needs support or help in building relationships with classmates, you can intervene in the children's play and assign roles, showing the child how he can participate in the game. Otherwise, conflicts may arise between a child with ADHD and other children.
11. A child with ADHD can be taught to do those things that are difficult for him for physiological reasons, but for this he needs to create external motivation.
For this, an incentive system (bonus system) is used. It can be used in conjunction with parents. For example, several rules (3 rules) are introduced that the child must follow at school, for the fulfillment of which the child receives “pluses” from the teacher in a special diary (the child prepares such a diary himself at home, beautifully arranging it).
Rules should be short and specific. For example, “wait for the teacher to ask you, do not shout out”, “do all the tasks in the class”, “write all the examples in a notebook”, etc. At the same time, for the implementation of the rules at each lesson, the child receives plus signs, a plus sign is put every time when the child follows the rule. Next, parents reward the child for a certain number of “pluses”. For this house, a list of rewards is compiled: each "bonus" is worth a certain number of "pluses".
This system is exclusively a system of rewards, that is, “minuses” are not set and “pluses” do not burn out. This is due to the fact that the behavior of a child with ADHD is so restless that he will lose “pluses” faster than he accumulates them, and thus the system will stop working, the child will lose interest in it and, as a result, it will be impossible to motivate the child with something .
Children with ADHD need to be led only on a reward system, the punishment system either does not work or quickly leads children with ADHD to depression, which also worsens their behavior.
12. The system for developing the skill of desirable behavior can also be used for the entire class as a whole (B. Furman's system "Kid's skills" - there is such a book).
In this case, one skill is selected, which the whole class learns. For example, be ready for the lesson on time. This means that as soon as the bell rings, the children should stand exactly near their desks, the things needed for the lesson should be on the table. If all the children were able to do this, then the teacher praises them and puts the ball in a special jar. When the jar is full, it means the class has mastered the skill. For this, children are rewarded with what they love: tea drinking, a diploma from the director, going to the zoo.
The experience of using such a program has shown that when developing one skill, children become generally more successful in all areas and their behavior becomes better in general.
13. In general, the child can be involved in helping the teacher, this will greatly inspire him, cheer him up and motivate him to cooperate.
10 WAYS TO HELP A CHILD WITH ATTENTION DEFICIENCY AND HYPERACTIVITY
1. Remove distractions
No silence in the room for activities and sounds from the street can distract the child's attention. That's why it's so important the right calm environment during classes. You can offer for a child with ADHD, mobile partitions on the table, desks, earplugs, luminous glasses filter. This will reduce susceptibility to external stimuli. Also effective means are inflatable balancing discs for sitting, which reduce the creak of chairs when the student sits on them.
2. Constantly train your sense of balance
The areas of concentration and balance are so closely related that more and more new adaptations are steadily emerging so that the child can practice and at the same time maintain body balance in a changing environment. Use all sorts of ways to develop your balance skills. It doesn't have to be complicated bungee jumps or obstacle courses in play centers or playgrounds.
Moreover, the best period for practicing balance is the time immediately before the lesson. There are many tools for training balance at home, among which are those that are used during exercise at the table. Large fitness ball, trampoline, balancing board, inflatable balancing hemisphere, stretching table legs for balancing legs while sitting. The key word in balance training is CONSTANTLY.
hand-eye coordination
Toss and catch, but not the ball, but light scarf (!) It is much easier for the child, but the therapeutic effect remains pronounced. Just 5 minutes before any activity that requires concentration of attention, and you will be surprised at the positive result!
4. Correct table position and posture
what is the posture of the child during classes, plays an important role in readiness his body to efforts to focus attention. Use a reclining seat chair, or a special seat stand - with air inside. It leads child in a state of increased attention due to the active inclination to the table and over him.
Also an effective way to long reading can become a bean bag chair that gently works with proprioceptive sensitivity, providing the child with complete information about position of his body, thereby removing external stimuli (from not understanding “where self" that children with ADHD or ASD often experience).
5. Weights and pressure
Sensory weight system leads to a decrease in response to external stimuli and releases power to focus. Vests and belts with weights are at your service, as well as a weighted knee pillow.
6. Sensory activity breaks
when the child either ran aimlessly, or remained sitting at a table or desk. Fill breaks in activity with different sensory impact.
These may be games with touch boxes, in the sand, with water, with a bag containing your favorite sensory toys child (rosary, toy soldiers, boxes). Or distraction with maximum benefit for gross motor skills - a children's sports corner, a hammock or a bean bag in as a felting mat.
Such breaks refresh the child's ability to focus. attention.
7. Vibration
Any vibration massage or self-vibration exercise for older children. It awakens the attention, tones the body and improves concentration in the next period.
8. Chewing
swallow it. Or the use of improvised means that can be sucked, chew, bite. Or special devices akin to a teether for kids.
Every opportunity to chew for a child with ADHD can be tried as a way to focus. And sometimes it is simply amazing how the child's ability to concentrate on task only because he was allowed to chew during class.
9. Take your hands, including drawing more often
everything and everything from paints and felt-tip pens, to deprive the child of the opportunity to draw it is forbidden. Thus, you block his path to improving his ability focus attention. Small devices for busy people are also at your service. hands - rosaries, elastic bands, sponges, plasticine - in general, everything that gets over, crumples, twists, stretches and easily transforms in other ways.
