Homeschooling

Most of the specific coping strategies for this are listed under Practical Strategies, because the information there was originally written for a homeschool situation.

What about a parent with ADD who is trying to teach a child with ADD? You would think this would be a complication. I find it to be a strength. Since I know what is going on in his mind, I can help him figure out how to overcome it better. The strategies I use to help him learn better help me cope better with my limitations as a teacher too. If I eliminate the paperwork, I eliminate a great deal of correcting (and correcting just drives me nuts!). I fully correct, or spot correct all papers as soon as they are finished. I use workbooks and programs which require very little planning, and I directly teach the subjects which interest me the most (fortunately, they lend themselves best to group instruction). Other subjects, I provide assistance as needed, and use self-study programs for older kids. I involve my kids in my transient interests, and we all make word searches or mazes if that is my current creative outlet.

I keep myself there, and available for the allotted school time in the morning (we start at 8:00, and work till everyone is finished - usually 2-4 hours, with recesses for the little ones). I try to keep variety in the teaching of younger students. This keeps both them and I interested better. The hardest part is keeping the fire - I burn out quickly. Lots of prayer, and attacking it with a new approach and new ideas periodically helps a lot. One reason I homeschool is because it not only teaches my children things they would otherwise not learn, and for some of my children, teaches them better, but it makes me be a better mother.

This is the bottom line for me. I want to teach my children more than I want to do anything else. I will give up all the rest to be able to do it, and I will do what it takes to be able to do it right. I am not a perfect mother, and sometimes not even a good teacher, but we keep on striving together, and the results are pretty good. I know my children better now after 1 1/2 years of homeschooling than I did the entire time they were in school. I can teach them about life, God, and values right in the mix, and it fits beautifully. And I love it when I get it right.