Is homework taking hours every night for your child to complete? Do they understand material but struggle to perform well on tests? These are common signs that your child may benefit from ADHD tutoring or executive functioning support.
Children with ADHD are often intelligent, creative, and talented students, but they may struggle academically at school. Executive functioning skills including planning, organization, time management, and task initiation play a large role in the classroom and can affect all subjects. While some children with ADHD can thrive with classroom accommodations alone, others need individualized ADHD tutoring to truly thrive.
An ADHD tutor can provide individualized instruction and organizational strategies to help students succeed academically and feel confident about their abilities.
In this article, you’ll learn about what to look for in an ADHD tutor and how to find the right match for your child.
What Is ADHD?
Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that affects executive functioning skills, including planning, organization, focusing, time management, working memory, and self-regulation. ADHD can affect students in various ways, based on their age, grade, learning profile, and academic environment.
Some students with ADHD struggle mainly with focusing, while others can be hyperactive or impulsive. Many students with ADHD also struggle with academic skills, including reading, writing, math, and other subject areas.
Families searching for specialized ADHD tutoring in Florida can explore our guide to choosing the right ADHD tutoring services near you at https://knowledgeplustutoring.com/adhd-tutoring-near-me-how-to-find-the-right-tutor-for-your-child/.
Signs Your Child May Need an ADHD Tutor
What are some common signs that your child may need an ADHD tutor?
Homework Takes Too Long
For many students with ADHD, homework is a battle and can take an excessive amount of time to complete. Your child might:
- Have difficulty getting started with homework
- Lose focus easily
- Struggle to follow multi-step directions
- Lose their belongings
- Have poor organizational skills
- Have difficulty staying on task
For students who have ADHD, homework assignments that should take less than an hour often take multiple hours to complete. An ADHD tutor can help students develop structured routines, improve task initiation, stay focused for longer stretches of time, and complete their homework more efficiently.
Poor Test Performance Despite Understanding Material
Many students with ADHD are bright and can learn material effectively. Yet they often don’t perform well on quizzes and tests. This could be because they:
- Make careless mistakes
- Don’t self-check their work
- Struggle to stay focused for the duration of the test
- Rush through answering the test questions
- Struggle with time management
- Have poor study habitsHave difficulty following multi-step directions
An ADHD tutor can teach your child study strategies, test taking techniques, organizational systems, and time management tools to help them improve their performance on tests and quizzes.
Frequent Forgetfulness and Missing Assignments
Students with ADHD typically have weak executive functioning skills, which can affect their ability to plan, organize, and manage their time, amongst other skills. Signs of executive functioning weaknesses may include:
- Loses belongings
- Forgets to turn in assignments
- Turns in homework late
- Misses assignments
- Misplaces homework or other belongings
- Completes only parts of projects
- Has trouble managing deadlines
ADHD tutoring in Florida can help your child learn strategies for organization, time management planning, and study skills that can help them both at school and at home.
Learn effective strategies to help your child build stronger organizational skills with ADHD at https://knowledgeplustutoring.com/help-your-child-with-adhd-build-stronger-organizational-skills/
Falling Grades
Many students with ADHD are highly intelligent but their grades don’t reflect their capabilities.
ADHD can affect your child’s ability to demonstrate their knowledge effectively. Even very bright students may struggle academically if they have difficulty staying organized, managing their time, or staying focused for long periods.
The right Florida ADHD tutor can help your child improve their overall performance at school.
Avoidance of Academic Tasks
Children with ADHD often struggle to stay focused on tasks for large stretches of time, especially when working on reading and writing assignments. They might do the following:
- Avoid reading for pleasure
- Become easily overwhelmed with writing assignments
- Write the minimum amount required
- Rush through assignments
- Struggle to organize their thoughts when writing
- Neglect to self-check their work
Some students with ADHD also have other learning disabilities, such as dyslexia or dysgraphia. Specialized ADHD coaching can help your child learn to stay focused for longer periods of time and build their core academic skills.
School-Related Stress and Low Self-Esteem
Academic and executive functioning weaknesses can negatively affect your child’s self-esteem. Students with ADHD often make comments like:
- “I’m not smart.”
- “I hate going to school.”
- “I can’t write.”
- “My friends are all smarter than me.”
With time, these frustrations can lead to anxiety, depression, school avoidance, and poor self-esteem. ADHD tutoring can help your child build stronger executive functioning skills, improve their academic skills, and feel successful and capable.
Time Management Problems
Many students with ADHD struggle with time management, a skill that becomes even more important as students move through school. Older students with ADHD may struggle with:
- Prioritizing tasks
- Breaking down long-term assignments into smaller steps
- Studying independently and effectively
- Managing multiple classes
- Planning their schedules
An ADHD tutor can help your child develop their time management and overall executive functioning skills, helping them to become a more independent and efficient student.
Teachers Report Focusing or Organization Problems
You might receive frequent calls from your child’s teacher, mentioning issues like:
- Missing homework assignments
- Focusing challenges
- Incomplete assignments
- Weaknesses with following directions
- Poor organizational skills
If you receive these calls frequently from your child’s teacher, it may be time to seek specialized tutoring for them outside of school.
How ADHD Tutoring Helps Students
ADHD tutoring can help your child with more than just completing their homework. Effective ADHD tutors should teach your child:
- Executive functioning strategies
- Organization systems
- Study skills
- Time management tools
- Reading comprehension and active reading strategies
- Writing strategies
- Self-monitoring skills
- Confidence-building techniques
An ideal ADHD tutor for your child should individualize the lessons to their specific needs and learning style, and keep sessions multi-sensory and engaging.
ADHD Tutoring and Step Up Funding in Florida
For many students in Florida, Step Up For Students scholarships may help fund tutoring services, including for those with ADHD.
If your child qualifies, you may be able to use Step Up funding for:
- ADHD tutoring
- Executive functioning coaching
- Specialized reading tutoring
- Writing remediation
- Multi-sensory math tutoring
- Orton Gillingham instruction
- Virtual tutoring
Knowledge Plus Tutoring specializes in working with students who have ADHD and executive functioning challenges. We are a Step Up approved tutoring provider and can teach your child effective strategies to build their academic and executive functioning skills through one-on-one evidence-based, multi-sensory instruction.
Many Florida families use Step Up For Students scholarships for tutoring services to access specialized academic support. Learn more at https://knowledgeplustutoring.com/how-to-use-step-up-scholarships-for-students-with-learning-challenges-in-florida/
Why Choose Knowledge Plus Tutoring for ADHD Coaching?
At Knowledge Plus Tutoring, we help students with ADHD with more than just homework help. In our individualized one-on-one tutoring sessions, we focus on:
- Improving executive functioning skills
- Developing reading, writing, and math skills
- Building organization skills
- Improving self-confidence and motivation
- Helping students become more independent
We specialize in providing individualized one-on-one tutoring and homeschooling for students with ADHD both in-person and virtually throughout Florida.
Frequently Asked Questions About ADHD Tutoring
What does an ADHD tutor do?
An ADHD tutor can help your child with more than just homework help. The right ADHD specialist should help your child develop their organization, planning, time management, focusing, task initiation, and overall executive functioning skills.
Can tutoring help children with ADHD?
Yes, absolutely! Many students with ADHD struggle with their executive functioning skills and benefit from individualized tutoring to help them build their academic skills and learn effective executive functioning strategies.
Which subjects can ADHD tutors help with?
ADHD tutors can help your child with a variety of skills and subjects, based on their unique needs. Some skills that may be covered in ADHD tutoring sessions include:
- Reading
- Writing
- Math
- Study skills
- Executive functioning
- Organization
- Time management
- Test preparation
- Homework management
Can Step Up funding pay for ADHD tutoring?
Yes, it can, if your child is eligible. Many students can use Step Up For Students funding to pay for academic tutoring and executive functioning coaching in Florida. Knowledge Plus Tutoring is a Step Up approved tutoring provider that specializes in ADHD tutoring and executive functioning coaching in Florida.
What age students benefit from ADHD tutoring?
Students of all ages can benefit from ADHD tutoring, including elementary, middle school, and high school students. As students progress through school, the executive functioning demands increase rapidly, and ADHD tutoring can be even more impactful.
Is online ADHD tutoring effective?
Yes! Many students respond well to online ADHD tutoring sessions, especially when sessions are multi-sensory, structured, and individualized to their specific needs.
Read more about how online tutoring can help your child with ADHD at https://knowledgeplustutoring.com/how-can-virtual-tutoring-help-your-child/
How often should a child with ADHD receive tutoring?
The frequency of ADHD tutoring in Florida varies based on the student’s needs and overall profile. Some students need only one session per week, while others may need much more frequent weekly sessions to thrive academically.
How do I know if my child has ADHD?
In order to know if your child has ADHD, they will need to undergo a comprehensive evaluation by a qualified professional. However, signs of ADHD include distractibility, poor organization, incomplete homework assignments, weak time management skills, and trouble staying focused for long stretches of time. Early support with the right ADHD tutor or executive functioning coach in Florida can make a significant difference in your child’s overall performance at school.
Dr. Emily Levy, the executive director of Knowledge Plus Tutoring, holds her Doctorate Degree in Education and her Master’s Degree in Special Education. She has helped thousands of students with ADHD build their executive functioning and academic skills through one-on-one ADHD tutoring over the past twenty years. She frequently speaks at national educational conferences and appears as an educational expert on podcasts. She is the author of the Strategies for Study Success, Flags and Stars Orton Gillingham, and Flags and Stars Multi-Sensory Math student workbook programs, all of which are used by students and schools nationwide.
