How to Help a Child with ADHD Better Understand Their Lessons

When Learning Feels Like a Maze

“We just went over this—how can you not remember it?”

If you’ve found yourself saying something like this to your child, you’re not alone. Many parents of children with ADHD (or TDAH, as it’s more widely referred to in French-speaking communities) face this exasperating cycle: read the homework, review the lesson, repeat the steps… and still, your child looks lost.

This isn’t because they’re lazy or not trying. Their brain just processes and stores information differently. And that means our approach as parents has to be different too.

Why Traditional Studying Doesn’t Always Work

Children with ADHD often struggle with working memory, sustained attention, and cognitive flexibility. In plain terms, that means:

• They may forget information quickly, even if they understood it moments ago.
• They have trouble focusing for long periods, especially with material they find boring or difficult.
• They find it hard to shift their thinking if something isn’t working or if they get stuck.

So forcing your child to “just read the chapter again” can feel like asking someone to fix a locked door with the same key that didn't work the first time.

Turn Lessons Into Emotionally Engaging Experiences

One of the most effective ways to support a child with ADHD is to turn dry content into immersive, emotionally engaging experiences. If a child can feel something while learning—curiosity, laughter, pride—they’re more likely to retain and understand the material.

Try converting a history chapter into a story you tell together at bedtime. Let your child play the role of the hero exploring ancient Egypt, or an inventor during the Industrial Revolution. It may feel silly at first, but emotional storytelling has surprising academic power. We explore this further in this article on using stories to teach lessons.

Digital tools can also help with this. Some apps now let you turn a written lesson into an audio story where your child is the main character, using their own name. This turns learning into an adventure, not a chore. One such tool is the Skuli App, which transforms school content into personalized audio tales that your child can listen to on the way to school or while relaxing on the couch.

Break It Down—and Then Break It Down Again

Your child may be sitting in front of their math homework, staring blankly—and not because they didn’t learn it in class, but because the sheer volume of steps needed to solve a single problem is overwhelming.

This is where we as parents can step in as guides, not instructors. Instead of saying, “What’s the answer?”, try asking, “What’s one small thing we can figure out together?”

Breaking tasks into smaller, manageable parts not only makes learning more accessible—it also teaches your child an important skill: how to organize their thoughts for better understanding. For more on this, I highly recommend this in-depth guide on helping kids structure their thinking.

Use Multiple Senses to Reinforce Learning

Children with ADHD often benefit from multisensory learning—that is, learning through more than just reading or listening. The more areas of the brain we activate, the better the chances that the information sticks.

Here are a few ideas:

• Audio: Read the lesson out loud together, or turn it into an audio file your child can listen to during breakfast or in the car.
• Visual: Use drawings, diagrams, colors, and symbols. A science lesson about the water cycle can come alive when your child draws it and adds smiley faces to the clouds!
• Kinesthetic: Use movement—for example, clapping or stepping to memorize multiplication tables, or acting out scenes from a story.

Some apps can help here too—like those that allow you to take a photo of the lesson and turn it into a personalized quiz. This method helps reinforce concepts in a more active, hands-on way.

Balance Review with Curiosity

Kids with ADHD typically respond better when they’re curious or personally invested in a topic. If possible, look for “hooks” that connect the school lesson to something your child already loves. Is your child obsessed with space? Use that as a launching pad—even for math or grammar exercises. Find ways to make the academic content feel relevant on their terms.

Nurturing curiosity is also a great way to move away from the frustration of repetition. If you find yourself going over the same content multiple times, ask yourself: is your child bored or confused? Or maybe both? In this article on sparking interest, we explore ideas for reigniting your child’s natural desire to learn—especially in subjects they’ve started to dread.

Be Mindful of the Emotional Load

Your child with ADHD is not just showing signs of distraction or restlessness—they may also be quietly carrying shame, self-doubt, or frustration from many moments of “not getting it.”

As parents, our tone matters. Try to swap out, “You should know this by now” with something like, “Let’s figure this out together.” This builds trust and reduces the emotional pressure that often compounds learning difficulties. If you’re not sure how to approach homework without triggering stress—for them or for you—take a look at this article on common homework mistakes that caring parents unknowingly make.

Celebrate the Wins (Even Tiny Ones)

For children with ADHD, progress sometimes looks like this: they remembered three multiplication facts today when yesterday they remembered one. Celebrate that.

Building their academic confidence is foundational. One way to do that is to end every study session with a clear “win”—something your child can point to and say, “I did it.” Whether that’s creating a flash card, understanding one vocabulary word, or asking a brave question—they all count.

You’re Not Alone in This Journey

Helping your child with ADHD better understand their schoolwork doesn’t mean becoming their tutor or hovering over every homework session. It means being an ally, a coach, a calm presence in the storm of their school life.

And every small tool that helps—whether it’s a colorful mind map, a playful quiz, or a personalized audio lesson—is a step toward making learning feel a little more natural, a little more joyful, and a lot more possible.