ADHD and Homework

I found this video on You Tube today. I have two comments:

1. The parents observed the child's behavior and showed it to him with the hopes it would help him do better. It did not work. In my model, The Homework Trap, I recommend that parents be observers rather than enforcers. Although it might be helpful to share those observations with the child, it is more important to share those observations with the teacher, and have the teacher make modifications in light of the difficulties involved. For a child with ADHD, it may be possible to contain behaviors during the day with medication, but that can also give the teacher a false impression of what the child can do during the afternoon and evening. Medicating the child after school is not a particularly good solution.

2. The second important point to make is that the child is doing well in high school. Maturation is a significant factor in human development. We make the mistake of thinking that the child must do the work now or he'll do poorly later on. The key is that we must not create so much negativity in the child's life that he turns off to school later on.

Here's the video:

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Dr. Kenneth Goldberg, is the author of The Homework Trap: How to Save the Sanity of Parents, Teachers, and Students, published by Wyndmoor Press.

 I recommend giving copies of the book to the teachers at your child's school. Discount purchases are available through Wyndmoor Press. Single copies can be purchased at Amazon.