A therapist said that I have all the symptoms of classic ADD. One of my two daughters might have too. They are 6 and 1 years old. I am a little nervous. My husband said I am normal. But I know I am not. I have hard time to make friends and keep friends. I have difficulties on the relationships with others.... My daughters seem normal too except my old one like to say things to herself some time.... I am a little fear to continue homeschool.... Any encouragement and thoughts or help?

I would think that an ADD mom would struggle with sticking with a curriculum and homeschooling consistently (ie, 5 days/week). If you know this is your challenge area, though, you can work with it. You can keep yourself motivated & interested by selecting things that offer variety. You can buy a program that really holds your hand so that you are able to teach consistently. KWIM? I don't think you should be fearful at all, and I do think that for an ADD child homeschooling is a must!

I read an awesome book this past year called "ADD-Friendly Ways to Organize Your Life." Don't know if I'd be considered ADD, but it was an excellent book and I picked up some good tips that have helped me stay on top of things. I work p.t. as an administrative assistant right now and I use some of the techniques at work with my boss. . .who is definitely ADD.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_0_12?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=add+friendly+ways+to+organize+your+life&sprefix=ADD+Friendly
Jen

Although I have a majority of the "symptoms" of ADD, if we listened to everything the media and dr's think us the WORLD would have ADD/ADHD and be depressed! My dd10 was always hsed. She has aud/lang proc. issues. I was also told she has ADD. Her and I have always butted heads and no matter how hard I tried, we were just not compatible in the hsing area. After lots of prayer, (and 2 years of crying, bickering, and stress) we put her in a very small, private/christian school. She does great there. No attitude with the teacher, her grades are a's and b's. The teacher says everybody loves her and she is a quiet, friendly, and great student. I thought what? At home she's the opposite. I'm not saying not to hs. I'm just saying I don't always think hsing is for every child. Most of her "supposed" ADD issues happen at home and not at school, isn't that odd? I hs my ds12. I just look at his face everyday and think, I want him to have the best he deserves. I "owe" it to him to give him the best education I can give. Kids will tell him it must be nice to be hsed, you can probably do whatever you want. My ds says "wrong"! He tells that he has to do his work everyday, unless he's sick! and his friends respond with "that stinks!" He tells them, "my mom loves me and wants the best for me, that's why she makes me do it everyday." I loved that answer,it makes me feel like I'm doing something right, in fact, with "supposed" ADD tendencies, I am NOT one to skip or allow him to miss anything that has to do with his hsing. So, therefore, I wonder if we are all really ADD, or if we are just living in such a fallen world that we are reacting/stressed to the "crazy" world around us? Makes you wonder, doesn't it?

Jen has described me, I have trouble sticking to a curriculum and schooling consistently. I'm also very ADD in my housework, I'm going to check out that book she recommends!

I've found what works for our school is using a complete textbook curriculum. We tried unit studies to CM, to classical, and anything else in between and the complete textbook curriculum works best, school actually gets done daily. I believe on of my children is also ADD and she thrives with the textbooks. Our school is now going very well now that I found what works best.

I think the book Sidetracked Home Executives could help you get a handle on housework. Even the title sounds like it would help, right? :)

I have a friend in real life who says she has ADD and she struggles with homeschooling, unfortunately. She sent her toddler to day care full time because she could not manage to parent him and get other things done :( She says her older children also have ADD and it's tough.

Here! I'm here....wait..what was I doing?? ;o)

I'm not diagnosed, but I have symptoms and with the symptoms come challenges. I have worked through a LOT of my issues w/simple things. I make lists and have a location for them, I have a big calendar in my kitchen so I am constantly reminded of what needs to be done that day, I put 'alarms' on my cell phone so I can be reminded about things and if I'm going somewhere that day and I *have to bring something (like a birthday gift) I put it in the car in the morning. Sometimes I have to tell myself, "You are not leaving this sink until these pots are done."



I've found a schedule helps me, even though it's against my nature. The ADD-friendly Ways book is good.

Read this article for encouragement.

http://www.k12academics.com/articles/are-you-add-or-quick-smart-kid

It can be done.

Oh, you didn't mentione whether your dd has difficulty w/friends, but a great book for kids is _The Unwritten Rules of Friendship_.

Spetzi

A.D.D Attention Defi......Hey look, a butterfly!

Spetzi- you are tooo funny!

I am definately ADD and have a ds 15 who is ADHD (add the HYPER factor) and a ds12 who is probably on the ADD side. I am sooooo glad I have homeschooled these past 8 years cause I don't think I could have kept up with homework, backpacks, lunches, special events, fund-riasing, etc that would be a part of life if my kids were in school. We have all learned to roll with the punches and do a lot of things on the fly. I have trained them to keep up with thier own schedule and stuff- cause Mom ain't gonna do it.

What works for us/me: curriculum that is orderly but not strictly so (just found ACE which I LOVE), certain days to be out of the house and some days home all day, cleaning is done sporadically as needed, we start school at the same time every day with a morning meeting then go our separate ways, checklists for the school work done weekly and revamped often, when we take breaks- I set the kitchen timer and don't do anything that will be hard to stop in 15 min, allow for physical movement during the day, etc

What doesn't work for us/me: Curriculum that regulates 5 days of work in each week, running errands on our at-home days, a cleaning schedule (Fly Lady is no friend of mine!) School time led by children- I have to stay on top of them (this gets easier with time) Yearly lesson plans-yuck, working for more than an hour without a break, sitting still at the table all day, etc

I think that finding a routine really helps much more than a schedule- The hardest thing for me when we first started was to stay available to the kids during school time. I had to treat homescholing like a paying job and sit there and be involved and not get up to do laundry, make a phone call, cook something.... This gets hard when they are old enough to do something quietly and you are not really "teaching." I have to work hard to keep myself available to them the whole time they are working independently- even if they don't need me the whole time, I have to be free to answer questions, grade work, explain the instructions, etc. I can't read a book - I get too involved and tell them "wait a minute, I'm almost done with this page," I can't start a project, answer the phone, do my Bible study, journal, laundry, cooking- it all has to be done before or after school, just like if I was working outside the home. That, more than anything, has kept me "on task."

What I CAN do is look at recipe books and make out menus, read a magazine (easier to put down), sort and put away old school work, plan for the next weeks school work, etc. I just have to be careful that what I am doing isn't distracting to the kids - no cleaning or straightening up in the room where they are working.

Good luck- HTH
Suzanne

I do have these tendencies but haven't been formally diagnosed. My oldest ds does have ADD and I am thinking that dd might as well.

Thanks Jenny for the book link, there were several others there that I might see if I can get from the library.

BamaMom - I so appreciate what you have said. These are great tips and some I have even realized that I do have to work on.

It's nice to know that we aren't alone. LOL You CAN do this! It's just going to be a bit tougher at times w/ some things. But, don't we all deal w/ things at times? It will just take a bit of trial-and-error to figure out what will work for you.

K