ADHD or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is a condition that makes it difficult for a child to concentrate and control reactions to what is going on around him. ADHD can cause a toddler to have problems in school. But fortunately, parents can do something to help their children with ADHD flourish academically. Here are some strategies on how to help children with ADHD succeed in school.

Work With The School and Teachers

One way to help children with ADHD succeed in school is by communicating the toddler’s needs to the teachers and other school personnel. Make an appointment to speak with your toddler’s teacher and make sure you communicate often. Know your child’s schedule. Share information about your toddler’s condition. Create goals together. Discuss special accommodations for your toddler such as extra time to take tests, having him sit in front of the class and adult supervision. Teamwork is very important in helping your toddler achieve independence and academic success.

Know Your Toddler’s Strengths and Boundaries

Recognize your toddler’s weaknesses to avoid pressuring your little one. A toddler with ADHD who is constantly pressured is likely to have poor self-esteem. Once you have determined his limitations, do not dwell on them. Instead, focus more on his talents and strengths. Develop them and build your toddler’s self-confidence for future successes. For instance, if he is passionate about Lego’s, include Lego’s to his math lesson.

Set Reasonable Goals

Another tip on how to help children with ADHD succeed in school is by plotting reasonable goals. Doing this will be easy once you are aware of your toddler’s limits and strengths. Set goals that are achievable yet stimulating such as finishing his homework within a certain amount of time or without getting up from his seat or reading a harder book every month.

Keep It Short and Clear

When giving your toddler instructions, try to keep them brief yet clear. A toddler with ADHD will not do well when given lengthy directions. Hence, it would be best to keep them short and simple. Make sure you look your toddler in the eye when giving directions and have your toddler repeat them back to you.

Be Consistent

Toddlers with ADHD have difficulty with time management and getting organized. To help your toddler focus, establish a consistent daily routine. Create a chart and include things like homework, short breaks, playtime and even chores. See to it your toddler sticks to his schedule.

Remove Distractions

Children with ADHD are easily distracted. Thus, it is important that you remove anything that can divert your toddler’s attention. When he does his homework, turn the TV, radio and computer off or ask family members to lower down their voices. Keep his study area free from objects except his reading and writing materials.

Give Rewards

Rewarding your little one for his positive actions (e.g. getting three stars in his reading homework) go a long way in motivating a toddler with ADHD to do better. It can be as simple as cooking his favorite food for dinner, allowing him to eat ice cream for dessert, extra time for playing outside or watching TV.

Provide Positive Reinforcement

The most important tip anyone can give on how to help children with ADHD thrive in school is to give praise and encouragement. Appreciate your toddler’s accomplishments no matter how big or small they may be. Give him a hug and a kiss. Say “I love you.” often. Let him know you are proud of him. Toddlers get a kick out of hearing their parents gush about how happy they are. Positive reinforcement increases a toddler’s self-esteem and helps him realize that he is capable of doing well.

Bear in mind that there is no reason why a toddler with ADHD cannot succeed in school. All it takes is patience, effort, determination, a positive outlook and lots of loving and support.

Your toddler is old enough to start school. But, is he ready? To make learning effective, it is essential that your toddler is physically, mentally, emotionally and socially prepared. Getting your toddler kindergarten ready can be done by doing small things. As always, consistency will help him adjust and adapt easily to this new exciting stage in his life.

Starting school is one of the most imperative transitions in your little one’s life. Since school is a new environment for your toddler, he might still feel wary and anxious. Hence, it is your responsibility to ease his worries. Here are some easy tips you can apply to help your toddler get ready for kindergarten.

Preparing Your Toddler For Kindergarten

Boost Basic Skills

Your toddler must be physically prepared for kindergarten. Now that he knows basic skills, you need to exercise them to help improve his abilities. During his playtime, hold educational activities. Encourage him to draw, paint, write and read. Give him blocks and puzzles to help boost his problem solving skill. Incorporate physical activities during his playtime. Perform activities that let him practice how to climb the stairs, hop, jump, run, and walk with control.

Assign him to do simple household errands like putting his dirty clothes in the hamper, opening the mailbox, putting his toys back in the chest or setting the table. Make the most out of craft materials. Use clay dough, crayons, coloring books, paper, scissors and so on. This will build hand-eye coordination and increase his motor and fine motor skills. To make it extra fun for your toddler, do these exercises together. With your assistance, he will be able to learn more efficiently.

Exercise Basic Lessons

By now, your little one knows how to count, read the alphabet and distinguish shapes. Expand his mind by doing fun indoor and outdoor exercises. Each time you go to the grocery store, let him assist you in putting the items in the counter. Tally the items together. When outdoors, go to the park and let him enumerate the things he see. Hold a car counting contest. At home, use his blocks to identify colors or let him arrange it in size order.

Practice Independence

Your toddler needs to be aware by this time. Train him to memorize his basic information (e.g. his full name, age, address, name of parents and contact number) in case of any emergency. If he finds it difficult to remember all these information, leave your calling card in his bag or pocket. Teach him to clean up on his own. Train your toddler to do simple things without any assistance like reading his own name, dressing himself, tying his shoes, going to the bathroom, washing his hands and blowing his nose.

Improve Social Interaction

Your toddler will interact with a lot of children his age in kindergarten. Hence, introducing him to different people will prepare him to socialize well with his peers. Encourage your toddler to play outdoors. Invite his playmates over. Have an afternoon of movie marathon. Round up your neighbors’ kids and do fun-filled activities such as a puppet show or an arts and crafts workshop. Divide them into teams. Or, you may enroll him in a sports class or summer camp. This will train him to be comfortable working with a team. Plus, he learns how to socialize and deal with different personalities. He learns the value of giving, sharing and listening.

Visit The School

To ease out the fear of your toddler, take a tour of his soon-to-be school. Visit a couple of weeks before his school starts so he is able to get a good feel of this new environment. Introduce him to his teachers. Attend the orientation seminar together. Let him play in the school’s playground so he gets to socialize with other toddlers. Stop over classrooms, libraries and other parts of the school building.

Have a Heart to Heart Conversation

While yes you are also anxious for his first day in kindergarten, never express your anxiety to your toddler. This will only scare him and increase his panic. Share your own happy kindergarten memories. Explain to him why he needs to go to kindergarten. Tell him about all the fun activities he can do every day, the friendly teachers, the friends he will make, his Justice League school bag and the supplies he will be using and finally, the food he wants to eat for lunch and snack time.

Education is anyone’s stepping stone to success. For toddlers, they spend most of their time learning. At a young age, they are immersed in their surroundings as well as the people around them. But, learning is beyond playing. That is why, your precious one needs an upbeat early childhood education which he can benefit from in the future.

Early childhood education is becoming more customary these past few years. Parents are more encouraged to give their toddlers early education due to the fact that this program is an excellent helping hand as they begin their schooling.

The Pros of Early Childhood Education to Your Toddler

Prepares Your Toddler’s Mind For Formal School

Going through early childhood education allows your toddler to jump-start his learning for his preschool and elementary days. This program also serves to be the perfect ground for his preparation to formal education. Since early education is all about incorporating learning and free play at the same time, your toddler gets to develop and increase his social, cognitive, fine motor and mental skills at an early age. When school time comes, he will no longer be shocked or have a hard time adjusting to his new environment.

Improves His Overall Skills

At this age, your toddler needs all the assistance he can get to help him master reading and writing. Early childhood education consists of numerous reading and writing activities. Interactive stories helps your toddler how to read and how to comprehend properly. He also learns how to distinguish basic lessons such as the alphabet, animals, numbers, colors and shapes. During art class, your toddler gets to enhance his writing. He is able to do different arts and crafts which can help bring out his capabilities. In addition, your toddler will be able to pronounce simple words correctly and increase his vocabulary.

Plus, all the free play activities give him the opportunity to develop his fine motor and motor skills which develops dexterity and coordination skills. Not only is his mind nourished but as well as his body.

Enhances His Social Interaction Skills

Early childhood education introduces toddlers to other toddlers. Since this program is mainly about educational play, your toddler gets to appropriately relate with his peers. Your little one gets immersed with children his own age. This is beneficial because it will allow him to learn the value of sharing, taking turns and listening. Being socially competent also allows him to function better during his teenage and adult years. He adapts a more cheerful, positive and friendly personality which are essential in building relationships with others.

Patterns Your Toddler’s Educational and Personal Success

Early childhood education gives your toddler consistency which is imperative in building a solid foundation for his education. He gets to learn good habits and form patterns which helps your little one accomplish immense educational success. As his second mentor, the values you instil in him will be strengthened by the people (teachers) assisting your child. This helps develop his personality and mold his character.

Having an early childhood education produces a strong foundation for your child’s learning. It helps mold your toddler’s development – from the physical, emotional, mental and cognitive aspect, you can be sure each area is covered.