Most people are afraid to homeschool because they don’t know math, or they are worried about socialization, or they think they aren’t smart enough. I was worried about my ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder.) What if I forgot to plan lessons? What if I kept switching from one thing to another and forgot to finish any of them? What if I just completely forgot to have school? (My ADD is severe enough that it was a real possibility. I often forget to cook dinner, pick up children or make a telephone call.)
ADD causes people to have very short attention spans, difficulty focusing, difficulty remembering to do various tasks, and other challenges involving memory, concentration and organization. Most people who have it also have hyperactivity, although I don’t. I had only been diagnosed a few years before starting to homeschool my ten-year-old daughter, and I wasn’t online in those days, so I had no one to ask. Could a mom with severe ADD really homeschool?
She could.
Many mothers who have ADD homeschool their children quite successfully. Often, they report that they just don’t seem to be ADD in this one area. Others report that their ADD is actually beneficial in their homeschooling. Many parents with ADD also have children who have it, so they are in a better position to understand the challenges than an organized and calm teacher might be.
The trick to homeschooling with ADD is to have a plan. I made a basic outline of the entire year over the summer. That way, even if I forgot to make lesson plans, I knew where I was supposed to be. This meant figuring out what I was doing each month. For example, if I were doing astronomy, I might write on the September page of the calendar the word sun. That would remind me that we were studying the sun that month. On the squares for each Monday, I would write the part of the sun we were studying. (You might want to use a lesson planner to do this.) If I had a textbook, I would jot down the chapter and how long we would have to complete the chapter. Otherwise, I wrote general plans: Read 2 books. Do experiments. Write report.
Before each month began, I filled out the details and wrote them in my book. I could not count on remembering to make lesson plans week by week. Monthly was easier and I worked at least a month ahead. I made sure my materials were purchased or made and put in a safe place. Sometimes it helps to have a kit built for each week. Then you can just pull it out and everything is together. If you are lucky enough to have one organized child, or an organized spouse, put that person in charge of checking the kit against the plans to make sure you haven’t forgotten anything.
By having everything on a calendar, you won’t be tempted to say, "Oh, I forgot to plan anything, so we’ll just skip school." The other safeguard is to have some emergency lessons created. These are complete packets with all the materials put in a safe place. If you really goof in the planning, or are having a bad day, use one of these kits.
ADD parents often have the most fun and creative schools. After all, we can’t concentrate very long on one thing, and we like to keep moving. As a result, we often plan lots of hands-on activities, experiments, games and other events that keep learning fun. We know our own limitations so we work a little harder than people who trust themselves to do it correctly every day.
This article first appeared on BellaOnline.com.