Homeschooling my ADHD child is one of the most challenging things that I’ve done in my long homeschooling career. My youngest son was diagnosed with two forms of ADHD (inattentive and hyperactive), plus a few other issues several years ago.

We suspected that he had ADHD before he was diagnosed. And we had homeschooled successfully before and even after his diagnosis, until he started going through puberty the summer before 8th grade. Seemingly overnight, everything changed. According to ADDitude magazine, “When ADHD, adolescence, and puberty collide, the teenage years can take a harrowing turn. The emotional and social changes of adolescence, compounded by the hormonal and physical riptides of puberty, add layers of struggle for tweens and teens with ADHD.”

He had difficulty remembering what I read to him as part of our Charlotte Mason style of homeschooling. He had difficulty remembering what he read so he struggled to give his narrations. It became obvious that the he way that my son learned changed. One thing that I did know is that no one else was going to be as invested in my son’s success as I am.

At this time we were nearing Thanksgiving and getting close to our winter break. So to give my son and myself a little breathing room I decided to start our break a few weeks early. I used this time to do some research, read about homeschooling ADHD kids, and also asked advice from a good friend who unschooled her eight children. She recommended that I ask my son what he’s interested in learning and to give unschooling a try.

One of the first things that I learned about ADHD is that it’s hard for people who have it to create the dopamine to do tasks that they’re not interested in doing. So, the advice to ask him what he wanted to learn was very good advice. By allowing him to choose topics he’s interested in, I got some buy-in and motivation. To my great surprise, my 13 year-old son wanted to learn Russian history, philosophy, video editing and creation, and what I like to call real life math.

When we resumed school in January, I told him that he was allowed to study the things in which he was interested and that he had to keep up with his personal responsibilities. After a few weeks, he hadn’t made much progress in his studies, so we had a little meeting. He then told me that he didn’t want to be an unschooler- he just wanted to tell me what he wanted to learn and for me to help him to learn it. He wanted more time to learn video editing and to make videos.

So, I redoubled my efforts to help my son. I found some interesting websites about Russia, and used Google forms to create quizzes for him. The great thing about Google forms is that responses to the quizzes are sent directly to me, so I know what my son has learned from the materials he used. I created a course that I call Real Life 101 that helped him to use math in practical ways- to learn how to budget, pay bills, and shop wisely. Because long novels are challenging to read right now, we’re reading short stories. I’ve provided him with the funds to try various video editing apps, the time to create the videos, and I’ve been an enthusiastic watcher of his videos!

Homeschooling my ADHD child is educating me while I educate him. I’m learning a lot about ADHD in general and my son’s ADHD in particular. As we face the high school years, I don’t know exactly what we will be doing but I do know that it will be interesting, individualized, and will equip him for his future.

If you’re homeschooling an ADHD child, I encourage you to take a deep breath, spend some time learning about ADHD and how your child learns best, and then put what you learn into practice with the understanding that you’re going to have to make adjustments along the way. I’m wishing all of us who are homeschooling ADHD kits all the best! Happy Homeschooling!