The Best Timer for ADHD
The Time Timer is a lifesaver for kids with adhd
Do small Homework assignments take an hour to complete? Do your kids have no sense of time? Do you have more than one kiddo and have to keep running from room to room to manage their work?
Then read on!! I’ve found a solution – A timer that works for ADHD!
I wanted to share an absolute life saver for any family struggling with homework time.
The Time Timer completely turned homework time around for us! What’s great about the Time Timer is that it helps many types of learners – in different ways.
This timer works for different types of students.
Some kids are day dreamers. You may be familiar with the type: A ten minute homework assignment can easily take an hour if you are not directing and redirecting them constantly. From writing their name to completing the work, to placing it back in their backpack, these kids often have to be micro-managed.
And then there is the resistor. It takes these kids so long to actually sit down and do their homework because they thinks it’s going to be awful or take a lot of time. Somedays they even flat out refuse to do any homework.
Whether you kid fits perfectly into one category or exhibits a bit of both, this timer will be so helpful.
How the Time Timer works for kids with ADHD
It’s safe to say that virtually all kids with ADHD suffer from “Time Blindness” or the inability to sense the passing of time. This means that you kiddo could think 10 minutes is “forever!” or that homework assignment will take “two days!”.
The timer’s wide swath of color is a concrete visual representation of how much time is left to complete a task. With use over time, you ADHD kiddo will learn what 10 minutes or 30 minutes feels like.
I love that it’s quiet and makes no ticking noise. It beeps when time’s up and the volume can even be turned off.
Here’s how to use the timer for the day dreamer:
Before we get started on a homework assignment, I will ask my son how much time he thinks it will take him to complete the entire task. He will give me a guess and I will set the timer.
The Time Timer keeps day dreamer son task without constant redirection from me. In our house, homework time has been reduced by at least half.
If the timer goes off and he has not completed his homework, he’ll predict how much time it will take to finish and I’ll set it again. The silent timer produces little anxiety…like the ticking ones do.
Here’s how the timer works for the resistor
Do you have a kid who HATES to even sit down and do homework? Perhaps their “cup” is full from a day at school and even after a break, they complain or flat out refuses to do homework.
The resistance often is a result of “Time Blindness” or difficulty sensing the passing of time.Their skewed sense of time has them thinking assignments will take “forever”.
The timer is helpful to set in 15 minute chunks of time to see what can be accomplished. The timer allows kids to focus for short bursts and shows that the passage of 15 minutes is often enough to get one assignment done.
The Time Timer breaks homework time into manageable chunks for kids. They are not overwhelmed by how much time they THINK it will take. The timer can help ADHD kids realize that homework, in fact, takes much less time than they anticipates.
the time timer makes a great classroom tool
If your kiddo finds the timer useful at home, having one in his classroom with also be beneficial.
I even bought a timer for his classroom and it’s used on a daily basis. The Time Timer can be written as an accommodation on 504 plans. My sons’ teachers tells me it helps – a lot!
Other benefits of the time timer
Using the a timer can help make kids more independent. It almost as if the timer is “watching” them. ADHD Kids can use the timer to feel more in charge of their time.
The timer can be used for many things. Timing showers for teens, timing tasks for chore time, timing screen time…
Your child’s sense of time will develop over time with the use of the timer. They’ll begin to know what 15 minutes or half an hour feels like.
A Real Before and After Story
The Time Timer has truly made homework time “no big deal” in my household – which is HUGE. Before we had the timer, homework could take hours to complete – and there might be some yelling or tears in the mix. Some days there was so much whining about it, it just wouldn’t get done.
Homework time has been shortened by at least 50%.
The timer is so versatile and works to help many homework issues. It gives kids a real sense of the passing of time and keeps them focused.
My two favorite things had a baby
I’ve mentioned how our household uses small whiteboards on nearly a daily basis – for homework, chores, reminders, etc. The Time Timer has released a whiteboard and timer in one!!!
Being independent is a big deal in a house with a working at home parent and two distance learning kids!
The latest edition to our house is the timer/wipe board combo. My kids or I can write down a few tasks to done and I can walk away and let them get to it. It is just so darn helpful!
Other interesting options for the Time Timer:
Time Timer now has an app that turns your cell phone into a time timer. But if you are like me…I need my cell phone in the other room when I work. An app sure can be handy, but we’re sticking to the physical timer for now.
There is also a wrist version…..which is more appealing to me, for sure!
Please let me know if you try the timer or if you have any other homework time advice. I’d love to hear from you!
Please share this post with someone who might find it helpful. I love helping out other families by sharing what is working for us right now.
What else is saving my ADHD Mama life right now?
We love our weighted blanket!! This blanket is saving our bedtime – my son falls asleep in 10 minutes with his blanket. He also gets a much more restful night’s sleep with it. It’s worth it’s weight in gold! Read more about it in this post.
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Love this idea!
An observation…Looking at the Time Timer, wouldn’t it make more sense if the timer followed the layout of a clock, with “5” on the R side of the clock? My 3rd grader is learning about minutes, quarter hour, half hour etc as it relates to math and time between and this layout seems like it would be confusing?
Hi JM! Yes, I see what you mean, but I think it’s going more on the “time left” in the hour model, so the red swath disappears in a clockwise fashion. Either way, it really helps out my kids.