100% virtual learning tips for a teenager with ADHD.

[Trinidee]

What strategies has anyone used to help their teen who seems to be having difficulty with 100% virtual learning? Does your teen feel overwhelmed? I have a 16 ur old who is doing 100% virtual classes and has already failed some of the classes. He feels completely overwhelmed, and is doing work on the computer from sun up to sun down. Has anyone had any success in setting up a schedule for their kids?

[Onthemove1971]

Our son, who is a freshman in HS, is using Google classroom as his made assignment platform. On that platform it has a "To Do" list. We go over it before and after school. We also discuss any grades that have come in to stay up to date.

I ask about assignments and let him know we are there to help him.

We push him to re-do any assignments that are under a "C". We also follow school guidelines ( which we remind him of) that he must have at least a C average to play sports for the school.

We have a 504 plan to support his learning which includes things like, extra time on assignments and not having a consequence for them being turned in late. He has so many assignments to turn in daily that sometimes he is not able to complete them all.

When needed, we review class notes or lectures that are recorded to study for up coming tests. We use the text book and other internet resources we can find to help him.

We assist him in reviewing writing assignments, when he asks us.

I contact his teachers when he is out sick.

When I need to jump in on anything, I e-mail the teachers. For example, he took a math test online and snapped a photo of his notes and he felt he did not do well on it and the grade so I quickly e-mailed to teacher telling him about how he felt and that he might need some one-on-one time with the teachers. He was very kind and said no worries, he could re-do it, if he needed to.

For us it really is about learning the material and with that we know the grades will be good. He has really proved to the teachers that he has a strong desire to learn and do well ( which was not the case in middle school).

Our son has also made connections with these teachers.

Hope this helps. Let me know if you have any more questions.

[Hidden]

I know what you mean, my son who is in the 10th grade, virtual lesson is 95 % reading materials , no zoom, no teacher videos, the 5% is the livelessons that each teacher offers but so far we have not been able to take advantage of. The first semester we had to work out a lot of bad habits that resulted in late night getting assignments done on time, let's just say I adjusted him a lot. The lessons can be a bit overwhelming, but once I emailed his teachers, it was okay if he did not get the assignments done on time, that alleviate most of the pressure, the other thing I have my son do, is work on his assignments on the weekends. This Helps as well. For me, I have to watch my son do his assignments, he's more motivated that way and I do work and so on the days I'm working he has to wait until I get home to begin, left to his own devices, history has shown, doing other things on the computer then assignments. Observe and see where your son challenges are, is it time management, is it the lesson itself, too many distraction etc, then offer another game plan, it's not late for him to bring up his grades, three more semesters to go. Step in if anything seems like a 504 issue, what I noticed that the virtual school is a teamwork approach. So basically observe, see where his weaknesses are and offer suggestions also contact the teachers for help as well. This semester I set up a time limit, no more late night and he was recently giving an advisor, she has been very helpful.

[Redpanda5]

I have a sophomore daughter who is so behind I don’t know how she’s going to catch up. Her biggest challenge is initiating assignments and her speed is like a sloth. She simply cannot keep up with the pace. I have hired a tutor to work with her who handles all subjects (SAT prep tutor who also has ADHD!) to help push her through the assignments while teaching executive function skills. Her teachers have reduced her workload so they are great but she still has to do the work. The stress has been tremendous. I am hopeful though.

I recommend hiring a tutor/executive function coach.

[Trinidee]

Thank you for the information!

[sunnyqueen]

Hi Redpanda. We are in a similar situation. I have a 15 y/o really struggling. We took her out of public high school because the expectations for online learning did not match her abilities and the virtual teaching format was not helping at all--pretty uninspiring and a slog to get through and teachers who said things like, "this should be easy!" which made her feel even worse. So we are homeschooling again (she homeschooled through 8th grade before public hs) but struggling A LOT in the motivation department. No motivation for anything that is required, just playing on her phone or drawing. Anything requiring an ounce of thought or energy causes so much resistance, crying, staring at blank pages, sleeping, etc. She is on Rx and sees a therapist once a week. You mentioned an ADHD tutor for executive function. I found some ADHD coaches through CHADD but they are so expensive. We simply cannot afford that. Do you have any leads to someone virtual and not hundreds of dollars?