Make Learning Fun for Children with ADHD and Learning Disabilities
Students with learning disabilities can be a particularly frustrating challenge for teachers and tutors. I've found that adding action and variety to learning greatly helps students who have a hard time focusing and sitting still. This takes a lot of patience, energy, and a playful mentality. The following activities and strategies are also excellent for slower students and students who don't enjoy the material. In the words of Mary Poppins -- a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down!
Sandwiching less fun learning between fun activities
I use the following tactic with my learning-disabled, rowdy students and it turns them into focused angels. Kids' parents have bestowed effusive praise, calling me a magician, a genius, and God.
How does it work? The kid gets to try to throw three balls into a makeshift basket, for instance. After three attempts they read a sentence you write [or solve an equation or answer a science question]. And repeat. Activities I've tried that work like a charm:
- Kicking a ball into a goal post (under a chair)
- Running and high fiving me where the high fives become progressively harder to reach
- A competitive (short) round of air hockey
- A competitive (short) round of ping pong
Using videos
Videos are fun. They move. They are associated with pleasure. Harness your students' positive associations with videos toward learning! Some ideas:
- Mute a favorite movie and narrate it to practice different grammar concepts. For instance, to practice the present progressive, have the student form sentences such as "Shrek is dancing" and "Donkey is crying".
- Have students repeat and translate what characters are saying to boost listening comprehension
- Challenge students by listening to characters with different accents
Hope this helps!
Happy teaching,
Your English Coach
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