Reading Strategies That Grow with Your Child

How children with attention deficit disorder (ADHD) or learning disabilities like dyslexia can improve reading skills and achieve success at school. 

By Susan Schwartz

Early Years

For grades 1st through 3rd, the object of most school reading assignments is to build reading skills. You can help with the necessary practice and offer support to your child with attention deficit disorder (ADHD), dyslexia, or other learning disabilities.

  • Preview reading materials. Direct your child’s attention to the cover, the title of the book, and the illustrations. Teach her to use these visual clues as she reads. Ask, “What do you think the book is about?” This will help a child with ADHD put the words into context.
  • Read together. Have your child with ADHD read some of the book by himself, and then take turns reading aloud and listening to each other. If he stumbles on a word, say it for him, rather than insist that he struggle to decode it.If he wants to sound out the word, let him. If he needs correction, say something like, “The word is house, but your guessing home makes sense,” or “The word is house, but your guessing horse shows that you know the ‘h’ and the ‘s’ sounds.” In other words, compliment his strategy, rather than demean his ability.
  • Review the ideas. Every few pages, ask pertinent questions: “Who is this story mainly about? What happened first? What happened next? How do you think this story will end?” These help kids put all the pieces together when reading.
  • Play word games. Dedicate each day or each week to mastering a specific phoneme, or word sound. For instance, find 10 things in your house that contain the “kuh” sound — his coat, backpack, clock, or kitten. Serve carrots, cucumbers, and milk for dinner. Find the kings and jacks in a pack of cards. Make it fun.
  • Know your child’s strengths and weaknesses. Some children with ADHD or learning disabilities need help decoding written words. Others find reading words easy but struggle to understand the meaning of what they read. Ask your child’s teacher where he needs help. If it’s decoding, incorporate letter-sound activities into your child’s day. If content is the problem, help your child recognize story lines. Watching short films or reading comic books might help him to understand the concepts of plot, characters, and sequence.
  • Build vocabulary. Talk with your child about anything that interests him, and use a mature vocabulary. Read to him for pleasure, from books that are beyond his capability but within his interest. The richer the verbal environment, the less likely he will be stumped by unfamiliar words in required reading.
  • Get help. Consider having your child work with a mentor, coach, or learning specialist to boost his reading skills.

Grades Three and Up

By grade three - and through graduate school - the object of academic reading moves from learning to read to reading to learn. Most reading assignments are followed by writing assignments, or tests, to assess what the reader has learned. Remind your child to review the purpose of each reading assignment before she begins to read. Then share these strategies for fiction and non-fiction reading.

Tips for Reading Fiction

There are two reasons that teachers assign fiction. One is to help students understand genre, to recognize science fiction or a type of poetry, for instance. The other is to write or talk about what a student has read, by analyzing a poem or producing a book report.

  • Know the assignment. Be sure your child understands what kind of written or oral task will follow a particular reading assignment, so that she can focus her reading to that end. For example, if she must write a book report, identify the type of report she has to write. Ask, “Will your report be a retelling of the story, or will you be analyzing the characters?” Suggest that she keep notes that will help her compose her report. If the purpose of the assignment is to compare two poems, remind her to look for common themes as she reads.
  • Work as you go. Don’t leave the gathering of information until the end of a long reading assignment. Before he reads a work of fiction, for example, have your child write WHO or MC (main character), WHERE/WHEN (setting), P (problem), and S (solution) on sticky notes. As your child reads, have him list on each note the pages that identify the introduction of a main character, the setting, a conflict or problem the character faces, and the solution to the conflict. Then ask him, “What did you read that taught you something new about the main character or the problem in the story?

What did another character say or do that gave you information or insight about the main character? How is the setting or time that the story takes place like our hometown? Is there a character you have read about in the past who faced the same challenges as this main character?”

  • Use alternate formats. Allow your child to follow along with books on tape or let him substitute alternate chapters from a novel with CliffsNotes or other abridged material, rather than to struggle with every reading assignment.

Tips for Reading Non-fiction

Science and social studies textbooks require different reading strategies than those used for fiction. As your child begins a chapter or section of a textbook, point out the title and any boldfaced subheadings. These let him know what the main topics and main ideas will be. Then ask him to form a question that the subsequent paragraphs might answer. Prepare a mindset for reading each section. After reading each section, have your child summarize some of the details he learned that might support the main ideas. He will then start to answer the questions he formulated.

If the assignment is to read a chapter in a textbook and to answer questions at the end of the chapter or on a worksheet, have her read the questions first, so that she knows what to look for as she reads.

Take Time to Plan

Many students underestimate how much time and effort are needed for a particular task. Break assignments into manageable pieces. If your child has a book report due each month, she should mark in her planner how much she needs to read each night, when she should write an outline, and when the first draft is due. A 200-page book isn’t daunting if she sees that she needs to read only 20 pages a night for 10 nights.

Even daily reading assignments can be broken into smaller steps: First, scan the chapter, then write down the questions at the end of the chapter. Leave space to write the answers, then read the chapter, and answer the homework questions as you go. If reading homework is a challenge for your child, suggest that he alternate reading assignments with math worksheets or other non-reading work.

High protein breakfast foods help boost focus and mood all day long. Use these recipe ideas to help your child shine from the first bell to the last. 

By Laura Stevens, M.S., Susan McQuillan

Maryanne knows that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but getting her 8-year-old son, who has attention deficit disorder (ADHD), to eat in the morning is difficult. Getting his clothes on, teeth brushed, and backpack filled leaves Maryanne little time to prepare a serious morning meal, let alone something Steve will eat. When it comes to breakfast, 8-year-old Madeline, diagnosed with ADHD last year, knows what she likes: carbohydrates. Her meal of choice is toast with jelly or waffles topped with fruit or, as her mother puts it, “anything made with white flour.”

While there’s nothing wrong with eating carbohydrates in the morning, an all-carb breakfast, or no breakfast at all, is a recipe for inattention. Carbs won’t steady a child’s blood sugar throughout the morning, help her stay alert, or prevent the energy dips that cause her to lose focus in the classroom. High-protein breakfast foods are ideal.

Research suggests a direct correlation between breakfast and academic success. A 1998 study, published in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, showed that children who ate breakfast regularly had higher reading and math scores, lower levels of anxiety, and hyperactivity, better school attendance, improved attention spans, and fewer behavior problems.

For children with ADHD, the menu matters, too. In a 1983 study published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research, researchers at George Washington University tested three breakfast types (high-carbohydrate, high-protein, and no breakfast at all) on 39 children with ADHD and 44 kids without the condition. For the hyperactive children, performance on several tests, including a test for attention, was significantly worse after eating the high-carbohydrate breakfast, as compared with the scores of the children who ate the high-protein breakfast.

Why is this? Research out of Orebro University in Sweden shows that children with ADHD have nearly 50 percent lower levels of an amino acid called tryptophan. Tryptophan is one building block of the neurotransmitters in your brain that carry important information; it is needed for attention, learning, and self-control. It is also generated by eating high-protein foods. In other words, a diet rich in protein jump-starts better learning and behavior.

Seeking Balance at Breakfast

Like most children with ADHD, Madeline has very specific preferences and she will reject any food she’s not fond of. Her mother knows what foods to keep on hand and which to serve first thing in the morning to ensure that breakfast goes smoothly. She tries to balance these foods in ways that give her daughter as many calories and as much high-quality protein as possible, especially on school days.

“When you’re thinking about your child’s eating habits, or any other behavior, you have to recognize his unique temperament and behavioral traits, and work around them,” says Dr. Stanley Greenspan, M.D., author of The Challenging Child. A balanced breakfast — high in protein and carbohydrates from whole grains, fruits, and/or vegetables — ensures a varied supply of nutrients along with enough calories to sustain mental and physical energy until the next meal.

“If you don’t eat properly, you can become distracted, impulsive, and restless,” says Ned Hallowell, M.D., founder of the Hallowell Center for Cognitive and Emotional Health in Andover, Massachusetts, and author of Delivered from Distraction. “Skipping breakfast or self-medicating with food can sabotage the best of ADHD treatment plans. In treating the condition, you must consider a balanced, healthy diet an essential component of a proper regimen.”

Protein Power

“Protein helps keep your child’s blood sugar levels steady and prevents the mental and physical declines that inevitably come from eating an unbalanced breakfast containing too many carbs,” says Hallowell.

Combining protein with complex carbs that are high in fiber and low in sugar will help your child manage ADHD symptoms better during the day. The sugars from the carbohydrates are digested more slowly because eating protein and fat along with fiber results in a more gradual and sustained blood sugar release.

For your morning menu, try scrambled eggs with whole-grain toast; or natural peanut butter on whole-grain bread. Make sure to skip sugary cereals, which can cause spikes in blood sugar and increase hyperactivity in ADHD kids.

Children need more calories and protein per pound of body weight than adults do, to ensure normal growth and development and to maintain good health. The average daily amounts of calories and protein recommended by government health experts for normal-weight children and adolescents are as follows:

  • Ages 1-3: 1300 calories, 16 grams protein
  • Ages 4-6: 1800 calories, 24 grams protein
  • Ages 7-14: 2000 calories, 28 – 45 grams protein

A varied diet that supplies enough calories will generally supply enough protein. Children with ADHD who are strictly vegetarian and those who avoid meat or dairy can get enough protein from a diet rich in whole grains, legumes (dried beans and lentils), and the many meat and dairy substitutes made from soy protein and wheat gluten.

Protein in a Pinch

Here are some quick, easy, and tasty ways to get enough protein into your carb-lover’s diet without turning your kitchen or dining room into a battlefield. The idea behind all of them is to start with her favorite carbohydrates, such as waffles, toast, jam, or fruit. Then add in high-protein foods you know your child likes, such as eggs, meat, peanut butter, yogurt, cheese or other dairy products, or beans. Combine these foods in creative ways:

  • Top waffles with melted cheese or ham and cheese, instead of syrup or fruit.
  • Spread peanut butter on apple slices, a halved banana, or celery sticks.
  • Fill a breakfast burrito with scrambled eggs, black beans, and cheese.
  • Spread a toasted, whole-grain bagel or toast with natural peanut butter or another nut butter, such as almond or hazelnut. Adding a dab of all-fruit jam is just fine.
  • Wrap a slice of turkey bacon around a firm-ripe banana; broil or grill until the bacon is thoroughly cooked.
  • Sauté lean, breakfast sausage patties with pieces of diced apples.
  • Swirl crushed fruit or all-fruit jam into plain yogurt and top with dry, whole-grain cereal or chopped nuts.
  • Fill an omelet with chopped or sliced fresh fruit or spreadable fruit.
  • Serve tuna or chicken salad, sloppy joes, chili, or baked beans over toast.
  • Offer eggs and a smoothie. To save time, make hard-boiled or deviled eggs the night before.
  • Toast a slice of whole-grain bread and add a little whipped butter or margarine and a dab of all-fruit jam; milk.
  • Serve whole-grain cereal with low-fat milk, lean meat from last night’s dinner (pork chop, chicken), and orange sections.
  • Top plain yogurt with fresh fruit or mix in oatmeal.
  • Offer a grilled-cheese sandwich made with whole-grain bread and two-percent cheese.
  • Blend up a homemade instant breakfast shake or make sausage patties (see recipes, left sidebar).
  • Serve a veggie omelet with a bran muffin.
  • Offer mixed nuts, fresh fruit, and a glass of milk — a great breakfast for kids that graze.

What works best for Madeline, her mother says, is to eat a small breakfast at home and to have a second breakfast on the way to school. Madeline takes her medication with her first meal, so by the time she’s heading out the door, it’s beginning to take effect and she’s better able to focus on eating. To fill in the protein gaps, her mom may send along some scrambled eggs with cheese in a tightly wrapped tortilla, a high-protein cereal bar, or a bottled yogurt smoothie.

Maryanne discussed Steve’s breakfast problems with her doctor, and they developed some strategies. He suggested that Maryanne and Steve get up 15 minutes earlier, to give her more time to prepare breakfast, and advised that Steve take his medication with his meal rather than just after waking up, to delay the appetite suppression.

The doctor gave them a list of possibilities get more high-protein foods into her son’s diet. Their list included lean meats and poultry, eggs, unprocessed nuts and seeds, and milk products, as well as complex carbohydrates, such as whole-grain cereals and bread and fresh fruits.

ADHD Friendly Recipes

Instant Breakfast Shake
– 3 ounces low-fat milk
– 3 ounces plain yogurt
– 1 tablespoon ground flax seed
– 3 tablespoons soy or rice protein isolate
– 1/2 cup blueberries, strawberries, or peach slices, fresh or frozen

Process all ingredients in blender on high until smooth. Serve immediately. If your child doesn’t find the shake sweet enough, add a teaspoon of sugar or half a packet of artificial sweetener.

Homemade Sausage Patties
– 2 pounds coarsely ground lean pork, beef, or turkey
– 4 teaspoons sage
– 1/2 teaspoon thyme
– 1/2 teaspoon marjoram
– 1/2 teaspoon basil
– 1 1/2 teaspoons black pepper
– 2/3 cup water

Combine all ingredients in large mixing bowl. Shape into 8 patties. Fry in a non-stick skillet until fully cooked and slightly browned, or package for freezing and use patties as needed.

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