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A Motherly report updated Oct. 28, 2026, outlines six strategies recommended by child psychiatrist Michael Morse for easing homework conflict with children who have ADHD. The suggestions include allowing time to decompress after school, breaking assignments into smaller tasks and contacting teachers when a child is overwhelmed.
Motherly updated a guide on Oct. 28, 2026, outlining six ways parents can reduce homework conflict when a child has ADHD, drawing on advice from Michael Morse, a child and adolescent psychiatrist. The recommendations focus on after-school recovery, breaking work into manageable steps and responding to distress without turning homework into a prolonged standoff.
Morse, who directs the ADHD & Anxiety Center at Alvord Baker and is an associate professor of psychiatry at Georgetown University, says the hours after school can be especially difficult. He told Motherly that children with ADHD may have spent much of the school day working hard to sit still and focus; by the time they get home, they may be tired, and medication may have worn off for some. These are his explanations for the challenges families may see, not a guarantee that every child experiences them in the same way.
His six suggestions are to wait before starting homework, offer a predictable break with food and movement, and avoid making the shift from screens to work harder. He also advises parents to make the first task small, divide longer assignments across a calendar, and use short work periods with breaks. For younger children, Morse says, steps may need to be smaller and adult check-ins more frequent.
He recommends that parents coach rather than enforce: sit nearby, model getting started and recognize effort, while leaving the child’s work for the teacher to evaluate. Parents can offer two acceptable choices, such as which subject to start with. If a child is exhausted, crying or stuck despite help, Morse advises stopping when work is no longer productive and sending the teacher a note describing the time spent and the difficulty.
Reducing Conflict Without Doing the Work
The advice addresses a common tension for families: helping a child complete school assignments while avoiding a nightly struggle that leaves the child and parent more distressed. Smaller steps and adult support are presented as ways to make it easier to begin and continue, rather than treating difficulty starting as proof that a child is unwilling to work.
The approach also preserves information for teachers. If a child cannot complete an assignment after sustained effort, a parent’s note can show what happened at home without disguising the child’s level of understanding. Morse cautions against completing work for the child, since doing so can prevent the teacher from seeing what the child can do independently.
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Why After-School Work Can Be Hard
The Motherly report describes executive function as the skills involved in starting tasks, planning and tracking steps. It says these skills develop more slowly in children with ADHD, which can make a large or unclear assignment difficult to begin even when the child is capable of the material. Morse’s advice is to make the starting point visible and manageable.
The article also cites an estimate that about one in nine U.S. children has been diagnosed with ADHD and says the American Academy of Pediatrics recognizes that ADHD can affect academic achievement. Those figures are presented in the source report; the article does not provide a study date or further methodological details alongside the estimate.
“The after-school brain is often a tired brain.”
— Michael Morse, child and adolescent psychiatrist, as quoted by Motherly
What the Advice Cannot Establish
The report presents expert guidance, not evidence that each strategy will work for every child or a controlled comparison of the six approaches. It does not specify how often families should use each method, how to adapt them to a particular school’s workload, or whether an individual child’s medication schedule affects the timing of homework. Those questions depend on the child and circumstances and are not answered in the source.
The report also does not set a universal cutoff for when parents should stop a session. Morse’s cited guidance is based on whether the work is still useful and whether substantial conflict has developed. Families with persistent homework difficulties may need to discuss the workload and supports with the child’s teacher and relevant care providers.
Use the Plan and Contact Teachers
The next steps described in the report are practical: establish a predictable after-school break, divide assignments into small tasks and try a limited choice of when or what to begin. If homework repeatedly becomes a daily struggle, Morse says a tutor may be able to provide coaching with less friction than a parent.
When a session ends because a child is distressed or no longer learning, parents can tell the teacher what assignment was attempted, how long the child worked and where they became stuck. The Motherly report does not announce a policy change or a follow-up study; it offers strategies families can discuss with educators and adapt to the child’s needs.
Key Questions
What are the six strategies in the report?
Morse recommends waiting until after a predictable break, shrinking the first step, coaching rather than enforcing, offering two acceptable choices, stopping when work is no longer productive, and contacting the teacher when the difficulty goes beyond effort.
Should homework begin as soon as a child gets home?
Morse advises against starting the moment a child walks in. He suggests allowing time to refuel and move, then using a consistent homework time that is not so late that the child is too tired to think.
What does it mean to break an assignment into smaller steps?
Instead of treating a full project as one task, identify a first action and schedule the next pieces. A set of math problems, for example, could be divided into two shorter groups with a break between them.
When should a parent stop a homework session?
Morse says to consider stopping when the work is no longer teaching anything or substantial conflict has emerged, such as when a child is exhausted, crying or repeatedly stuck. He recommends telling the teacher how long the child worked and what happened.
What if homework remains a daily battle?
The report says Morse suggests considering a tutor for a coaching role and contacting the teacher when the difficulty appears bigger than effort. It does not prescribe one solution for every family.
Source: mother.ly
