ADD Exercise #2

ADD activity #2

Spelling- want to see why your ADD child has such illegible handwriting?
(this one helps to have a partner say the spelling words and time them appropriately, like a real spelling test)

1. Sit down on a firm chair and place a pad of paper on your lap with your legs together and feet flat on the floor.
2. Place your name and date on top of the page and then number from 1 to 10 down the left side of the page.
3. Now turn the pad of paper upside down and place your pencil or pen in the other hand.
4. Now (with your partner saying one word, repeated every 10 seconds for a total of 3 times and 30 seconds per word)
spell the following 10 words next to the numbers 1-10. You should be writing upside down with the wrong hand and going from right to left. Also, as you are doing this you need to make circles with your feet- the right foot going clockwise, and your left foot going counter clockwise-
Ready? Begin.

1) pretty, 2)lime, 3) bend, 4) canvas, 5) regular, 6) investment, 7) opportunity, 8) frustration, 9) bartender, 10) individual.

Any of us can spell these words in 10 seconds with much time to spare. Most children can do this easily in 30 seconds. I added larger words for us adults to keep this fair. Adults spelling childrens words and comparing themselves to children is silly. We only start out easy so you can get the hang of it.
It also helps when halfway through as we start to fall behind your partner periodically tells us to "pay attention" and "try harder" When the time is up, turn the paper rightside up and see how many words you actually completed. Does the handwriting look familiar? How do you feel?


I first learned these exercises from attending a seminar on ADD taught by Dr. Barkley if I remember correctly. Many parents ran outside during the break to call their spouses telling them not to spank or punish the children any more. We learned how to see more than just the world through the eyes of our children that day, we learned what we looked like too, and that wasn't very pretty.