Tutor Calgary

High school students and ADHD

Our program combines academic support with strategies that reduce stress.

For many students with ADHD, procrastination and last-minute deadlines can become some of the biggest barriers to academic success. Rather than expecting them to solve these challenges overnight, we focus on helping them succeed today while they continue developing stronger long-term habits.

Managing events and tasks is crucial so we provide our own ADHD journals designed specifically for various ages, to make planning and organizing more engaging.  Students use these journals to track assignments, deadlines, and goals in a way that motivates them.

Each semester they start a different journal, a different layout, theme, and we get to see what works best.

 

Some ADHD students have a problem with creating order. If for example, all the pages of a lesson look the same, students may not be able to arrange them in order and know which page belongs to which lesson, they give up and choose not to review.

Initially we looked for products that would solve some of these problems but could not find them in one system that works together so we decided to make our own.

We provide our own stationary when applicable so each lesson has pages with a unique character on it that never repeats throughout the year. This helps reduce the students' frustration when sorting things out.

We are trying to show the student what works, so in the future when they cannot manage, they can fall back on techniques they will remember as successful.

 

To eliminate common obstacles, we keep a large collection of Calgary high school textbooks on hand, along with paper, pens, pencils, erasers, and other study supplies. Students can sit down and start working immediately without worrying about whether they have brought the right materials.

We provide extensive tutoring to help students work through their most challenging assignments efficiently, saving valuable time and reducing frustration.

Students also have optional access to supervised study hours at our location, where they can work in a quiet environment alongside other students who are focused on their own schoolwork. This approach, known as body doubling, helps many students stay on task simply by working in the presence of others who are doing the same.

We maintain a respectful study atmosphere where noise is kept to a minimum, allowing everyone to focus and be productive.

Over the years, we've learned that every student has unique challenges. Our philosophy is simple: remove as many barriers as possible, help students build momentum, and adapt when new challenges arise. While there may not be a permanent solution overnight, students can achieve strong grades, gain confidence, and earn admission to the programs and universities they aspire to while continuing to grow and mature.

 

ADHD Articles

Is it ADHD or Immaturity? How to avoid a misdiagnosis when a child is young for his class

"Several studies in recent years have found that children who are among the youngest in their class are diagnosed with ADHD at a much higher rate than their older classmates. This suggests that a significant percentage of kids with ADHD are being misdiagnosed just because they are less mature. It raises important questions about how kids are being diagnosed, and how to avoid misinterpreting the behavior of children who might be having trouble meeting expectations just because they are younger."
Read more...

 

Before Referring a Gifted Child for ADD/ADHD Evaluation:
Gifted, ADHD, or Both?

"....causing the child to "misbehave" or "tune out," or if the child feels out of control, then it is most certainly appropriate to refer a gifted child for ADD/ADHD diagnosis. Premature referral bypasses the educational system and takes control away from students, parents and educators. By referring before trying to adjust the educational environment and curriculum, educators appear to be denouncing the positive attributes of giftedness and/or to be blaming the victim of an inappropriate educational system."
Read more.

 

17 Things to Love About Your ADHD!

Well-adjusted people with ADHD have learned to use humor to cope with difficult situations, reduce stress, strengthen bonds, change minds and more.
Read more...

 

The Center for ADHD Awareness, Canada, which is an advocacy group, proposes benefits for body doubling as follows:

- reducing isolation
- reducing anxiety
- providing inspiration or encouragement
- offering an opportunity for constructive feedback
- reducing stigma around ADHD

Give us a shout if you'd like your child to participate in such a group (NW Calgary only).

 

Helping Elementary Students
Using Manipulatives

Some students don't learn best by sitting still, they learn by doing. At Tutor Calgary, we use hands‑on manipulatives to help ADHD learners turn math into something they can touch, move, and explore and give students a physical way to understand ideas that used to feel confusing on paper.

When their hands are busy, their brains stay focused and their confidence grows. Hands‑on tools are essential for ADHD learners at every level, but especially for elementary students.

We use manipulatives to:
- Reduce cognitive load
- Support working memory
- Keep attention anchored
- Build conceptual understanding

If your child struggles with focus or confidence, this approach can be a game‑changer.

Many children struggle quietly during the school year. As gaps build up, confidence dips, and learning starts to feel harder than it should.

Our current and summer classes give students the space to slow down, relearn the foundations, and rebuild the skills that slipped through the cracks.

With hands‑on strategies and ADHD‑friendly supports, we help kids catch up, feel capable again, and walk into the next September ready to succeed. The best part is it won't feel like learning because our hands‑on activities look and feel like play.

Our students learn to organize and create order in the early grades.

This does not have to be daunting. Fun and order can go hand in hand by design.

If a child becomes overwhelmed we can take a break to color a small image, and look around what other tools may be interesting.

Call for volunteers of all ages: Do you have a passion for art and education? Help us create resources that help young students enjoy learning.
The best way to contact us is via email.

 

The Neuroscience of Fostering Executive Function

Myelination of Decision Circuits: Repeating simple, everyday choices coats the active neural pathways in myelin, a fatty sheath that makes brain signals travel faster and more efficiently over time.

Low-Stakes Cognition Practice: Routine tasks happen when a child is generally calm, allowing the prefrontal cortex to practice executive control without being hijacked by intense emotions or high pressure.

Self-Efficacy and Intrinsic Motivation: Neurobiological studies on autonomy show that perceived control activates reward circuits in the ventral striatum, making children more engaged and resilient when facing harder choices later.

 

How we work the problem...

We offer a few acceptable options during routine moments, such as asking whether students want to use a certain color, or a specific type of page for that lesson. This does not introduce cognitive overload while still granting real control.

"What animal do you want to choose for your lesson today?"

Children get to make micro-choices, for ex. the order of certain tasks: a memory game, a snack, reviewing the previous lesson, etc. Students chose which pages to work with and what colors to use.

They also get to keep and collect a matching card for the page they chose. This makes it more interesting. They get to build a game at the end when they have enough cards.

We keep choices authentic and honor them. We ensure every option offered is genuinely acceptable so the student experiences real cause-and-effect. We don't want to override the child's choice after offering because it disrupts trust and weakens reinforcement learning.

 

Rewards: We offer rewards if that was cleared with the parent first. These can be: stickers, erasers, pens, stationary, sweet treats, notebooks, journals, small toys or points to build towards a larger reward. Rewards work for some students but not for everyone.