Math Tutoring for Students With ADHD
Students with ADHD can do well in math. What gets in the way is usually recall under pressure, long multi-step problems and frustration, not ability. We work on those directly: a reason to care about the work, short repeatable processes, every step on paper, and a tutor who makes room for the hard moments.
“ADHD is a learning difference, not a learning hindrance.” — Jonathan Lupercio, physics and math tutor
- No credit card required
- Full Semester Guarantee
Meet tutor and special-programs teacher Jake Gerhardt.
B.S. Applied Physics from UC Santa Cruz, a teacher of gifted and differently-abled students, and diagnosed with ADHD himself as an adult.
Jake Gerhardt
Jake earned his B.S. in Applied Physics at UC Santa Cruz without knowing he had ADHD. He was diagnosed only about three years ago, and he tells his students so: “I’ve told a lot of my students, hey, I have ADHD. I do get it.”
He teaches individualized programs at Pacific Preparatory School for gifted and differently-abled students from 7th grade through high school, and in six years of tutoring has worked with 15 to 20 students with IEPs, 504 plans or learning differences. The one thing he won’t allow in a lesson is a student calling themselves stupid.
- B.S. Applied Physics, UC Santa Cruz
- Teacher of individualized programs, Pacific Preparatory School, San Francisco
- 15 to 20 students with IEPs, 504s or learning differences in six years of tutoring
- Specializes in executive functioning alongside the mathematics
The Alexander Difference
Passion + Purpose = Empowered
When math serves your student’s passion, it has purpose. When it has purpose, something remarkable happens — they become empowered to use education to achieve their dreams.
Personalized Matching = Student Passion
We start by learning what lights your student up — music, sports, art, science, anything. Then we match them with a tutor who shares that passion and shows them how math is the hidden engine behind the things they already love. When math serves something they care about, it stops being a chore.
“His high school teachers were great, but were not able to provide the depth and level of support that was needed… His grade went from a C- to an A- within the year he was tutoring… His confidence in math has accelerated to a point where he is planning to take a dual enrollment college calculus course next year as a senior in high school.”
— Krystal M., Parent · Read on Google ↗
Deep Understanding = Purpose
Most students survive math by memorizing formulas — until one curveball on the test sinks them. We teach the why behind every equation, deriving formulas and connecting them to the real world. When your student truly understands the math, they can solve anything a teacher throws at them.
“Tyler at Alexander Math and Physics tutoring helped my son to test into Algebra 2 honors! His math grade in school went up to an A. Then when we told him he could stop tutoring with Tyler he didn’t want to stop tutoring because he enjoyed what he was learning.”
— Alexandra N., Parent · Read on Google ↗
Confidence First = Empowers Students
There’s no such thing as being ‘bad at math’ — only bad math experiences. A harsh teacher, embarrassment in class, one bad test — and suddenly your student decides they can’t do it. We rewrite that story. With a supportive tutor who believes in them, ‘I can’t’ becomes ‘I’ve got this.’
“Being a straight A student, it was difficult to accept her lower grades and it affected her confidence… within two sessions, my daughter felt more confident in Algebra, her test scores improved… My daughter had not only improved her grades but also developed a genuine interest in math.”
— Diana G., Parent · Read on Google ↗
Everything changed for these families.
Sean tutored my son who is currently in grade 10. I asked him to write this review since he has first-hand connection with Sean and can better describe his experience with him.Here it is: Sean is the coolest Math tutor on the planet. I'm more of the artist type, so Math is not my strongest suite, but when it came down to the 2nd half of our first trimester at school last year, I knew my grades were in trouble. My parents did some research to get me some help and found Sean's website. On his website, it said he also specializes in kids with Learning Disabilities. PERFECT! I happen to have ADD and get distracted quite easily. From the time I first met Sean, I knew we would click. He has a very easy-going demeanor in him that makes everything he teaches become effortless. He has this way of explaining things and all of a sudden, it becomes crystal clear when he's done. I breezed through my Math classes for the entire year last year all with the help of Sean. I hear he's also a whiz at Science so I might sign up with him again when I start my Science classes. Sean is the man!
Finding the right teachers/tutors for my son is not always easy, as he has dyslexia, dysgraphia and ADHD. A lot of educators just don't get it. To that end, I typically, use tutors who work exclusively with kids with learning differences. But I decided to take a gamble on Sean and it paid off. My son was failing Algebra before we started tutoring. We are now going into finals with a chance for an A in the class.
I actually had a few conversation with Sean before I enrolled my son into their programs. Sean was very patient and understood my concern. He assigned my son with Jonathan to do a one on one Geometry session in summer. My son usually gets bored easily and it's hard to capture his full attention. Jonathan did a fantastic job to attract his attention and able to challenge him plus boosting his confidence. My son was very happy with Jonathan. Our goal is to help him to get a solid foundation in summer so that he can master his honor class in fall plus the upcoming pre-cal class. The amount of homework was just right so that he spends reasonable amount of time in playing and working in summer. I strongly recommend Sean and Jonathan for Maths advancement.
Sean is a great instructor. He works well with all types of students. My child with some learning difficulties did well under his tutoring. I sat in on several sessions and was really impressed with his style of teaching. He has a lot of patience.My 2nd child used Sean's summer program to gain some confidence in math! I highly recommend Sean.
I was referred to Sean by my daughter's former Math teacher when she was having trouble transitioning from Integrated Math into Pre-Cal. She went from being an A math student her whole life to getting the first F she had ever received in any class. After working with Sean for a short time she made significant progress. My daughter has a learning difference, and Sean was able to work with her on strategies. In addition to helping her with the basics, he helped her re-gain her confidence. He was great about keeping me in the loop and addressing any concerns, and is very responsive. My daughter also enjoyed his teaching style and found him much more informative and helpful than her Pre-Cal teacher and the tutors provided by her school. He really helped us tackle and move past a horrible experience.
Krishann has been absolutely amazing! She explains math in a way that helps our child not only complete the work, but truly understand it. Krishann brings such a positive attitude to every session, and our child feels comfortable asking questions and making mistakes without feeling discouraged. We are so grateful for the confidence and understanding she is helping our child build!
We are incredibly grateful for the support, patience, and encouragement provided this semester. What started as a stressful and discouraging experience has completely turned around, not just academically, but emotionally as well. Beyond helping strengthen understanding and confidence in Geometry, the consistent positivity, calm approach, and ability to connect have made such a meaningful impact. Seeing renewed confidence, reduced anxiety around math, and even excitement after assessments has been wonderful to witness as a parent. Krishaan, thank you for not only being an excellent tutor, but also for being someone who truly knows how to motivate and support students through challenges. Your work genuinely makes a difference.
My 8th grader was so demoralized about math before working with Rebecca. In addition to identifying and targeting her areas of struggle with the school material, Rebecca also worked hard to dismantle my daughter's math anxiety and shame. She built a ton of trust and managed to really connect with a teen who until then had been doing her best to hide her deficits, racing through material too fast, pretending not to care, or shrugging it off as "I guess I just suck at math." Together they worked to fill the gaps left after struggling through the pandemic and remote classes, and get my daughter excited about the subject again. She brought her grade from a C to an A, but more importantly, she's not embarrassed to ask for help anymore. Rebecca is a game-changer. We've also really utilized the skills videos and progress reports provided in addition to tutoring.
Alexander Math & Physics Tutoring already came highly recommended to us by our son's teacher but I could not have imagined the impact Tyler had on our son. A junior in High School he was struggling with Physics adding a lot of anxiety and stress to his school days. Our son strives in a 1-1 environment and Sean took time to talk to us about our needs and matched our son with Tyler. Tyler has helped him tremendously, not only understanding and mastering the material but discovering his love for Physics and Math in the process. After the first session with Tyler he came home and could not stop talking about Physics--he could not wait for the next session. He felt that Tyler totally got how he his brain works and was amazed how things all of a sudden fell into place. Tyler will accompany our son through senior year, without a question. Last week our son came home from a Physics class literally jumping up and down. He had been able to explain a process in class as one of the only ones because Tyler had explained it to him in an interesting conversation they had the day before. Moments like these are precious in building the confidence needed to succeed. Tyler is not only our son's tutor but also his mentor. Sean and Tyler have been very accommodating to our schedule--even setting up skype sessions while we were traveling in Germany. Both were in contact with our son's teacher to make sure they understood what was expected in the class. We can very highly recommend Tyler and Sean and his team.
Rebecca has been consistent in establishing a relationship with my daughter and working with her year after year to teach foundational math skills that will carry forward with her. Calculus made easy! Money well invested as I have LITERALLY watched Frustration melt into Absolute understanding of the subject. Thank you!!
ADHD Math Tutoring at a Glance
- How common
- About 1 in 9 US children aged 3–17 have been diagnosed with ADHD (CDC, 2022 data).
- How we teach
- Purpose first, conversation before math, a short process for each kind of problem, every step on paper, and breaks when they help.
- Who teaches
- Tutors with degrees in math, physics or engineering, not college students. Our founder taught at a school for neurodivergent students, and Jake Gerhardt teaches gifted and differently-abled students. Meet the team.
- Format
- One-on-one and online, on a shared digital whiteboard, with the same tutor every week and nightly office hours for homework.
- What it costs
- $895/month on Dedicated Tutor: a weekly one-on-one session, nightly office hours, monthly progress reports and direct tutor access. See all plans.
- The first lesson
- Risk-free, with a skills assessment and a 30-day plan that is yours to keep. Plans are backed by our Full Semester Guarantee.
Why is math hard for students with ADHD?
Math builds on itself, so every new topic leans on something learned a year or two ago. One of Jonathan Lupercio’s students described it as each new math class erasing the last one, like memory on a computer.
- Recall under pressure. The knowledge is there, but asked to remember fifteen steps at once, students freeze.
- Too much held in the head. As Albert Meng puts it: “I can’t learn this new concept while juggling three balls at the same time.”
- Overworking every detail. One of Jake Gerhardt’s students worked every detail so carefully that he ran out of time.
- Frustration that builds. A few misses in a row, and some students shut down.
How do our tutors teach math to students with ADHD?
Same tutors, adjusted approach. These six habits come straight from how our tutors work with students who have ADHD.
1. Start with purpose
“What no one tells you about ADHD is that students hyperfocus on what they care about. Give them a purpose and the focus shows up.” — Sean Alexander, founder
So we find out what your student cares about, whether that’s a game, a sport, a career or a grade they want, and connect the math to it.
2. Talk first, then math
Jonathan Lupercio and Krishann McConico both open some lessons with ten minutes of conversation, because a student who arrives tired or wound up won’t get anything done otherwise. Krishann’s first question is always “What’s the vibe?”
When a student hits a wall mid-lesson, she calls a five-minute break: “Take you a five, and then once you’re done, come back and we try again.”
3. Teach a short process, not every detail
Asked to remember every detail of a long procedure, students with ADHD often freeze. So for each kind of problem, Jonathan builds a routine of “two, three steps, probably max, and they can do it. They’ll recall it.” The details come back once the first step is on the page.
4. Get it on paper
Formulas, values and every intermediate step go on the page, so working memory is free for the new idea. For word problems, Albert Meng has students cover the numbers and read the problem like a story first, then uncover the numbers and label each one.
5. Shrink the problem
A hard problem handed over all at once is overwhelming. Caleb Nastasi breaks it into parts instead: “Part A, draw the picture. Part B, write a formula.” When a student gets frustrated, he steps back to a problem they solved last time as a confidence boost, then warms back up.
6. Make room for frustration
Jake Gerhardt has ADHD himself and tells his students so: “I’ve told a lot of my students, hey, I have ADHD. I do get it.” He gives them room to say they’re having a tough time, offers a break when they need one, and stops any student who calls themselves stupid. His goal is “teaching them to be okay with failing, but to not be okay with quitting.”
What does progress look like?
The unit circle in a week
One of Caleb Nastasi’s students, who has ADHD, had the unit circle provided on every 10th and 11th grade test and never learned it. When her calculus teacher stopped allowing it, she learned it in about a week and didn’t miss one in the next six to eight weeks.
From behind to bored
Jonathan Lupercio’s student started around sophomore year, behind and frustrated. With a simple process for each problem type, the student caught up, then got ahead. For a month and a half they sat in math class bored, amazed that classmates didn’t know how to do it.
“Just these important parts”
Jake Gerhardt’s student, who has autism and ADHD, practiced quadratics with a guide sheet, then from memory. He saw he didn’t have to spot everything, just the important parts, and started doing them on his own.
Why earlier is better
Another of Jake’s students had masked so well for years that no one saw he needed help, and he had taught himself slightly wrong methods. Fixing them meant going back several steps at a time.
“It’s not really a good idea to wait until the very end when things finally come to a crisis.” — Jake Gerhardt
Ready to start? Book a risk-free first lesson, or read how we work with learning differences.
What about accommodations and medication?
Accommodations: use them. Jake compares them to the minimum effective dose in medicine: “It’s not to make it easy on them, it’s to give them just enough accommodation for them to be able to succeed like other students.” Extra time and a fuller formula sheet let a test measure understanding instead of memorized equations. Where a support is covering a skill the student could learn, like Caleb’s unit circle, we teach the skill too.
Medication: that’s a decision for your family and your child’s doctor, and we don’t advise on it. We teach the student in front of us either way.
What can parents do at home?
- Check in for ten minutes a day. Jake’s advice: ask what’s going well in math class, what’s hard right now, and how they feel about it.
- Don’t call it easy. “This is easy” or “you’ll get this right away” can make a struggling kid conclude they must be stupid.
- Don’t over-drill. Repeating the same problems until they stick “makes them mask better” without fixing the gap underneath, says Jake.
- Watch understanding, not just grades, and don’t hand over answers.
ADHD Math Tutoring FAQ
Can students with ADHD be good at math?
Yes. One of our students went from behind to a month and a half ahead of the class. What changes things is a short process for each kind of problem, a reason to care and a patient tutor.
Why does my child understand it in the lesson and forget it on the test?
That's usually recall, not understanding. We teach a short process for each problem type and practice it until it's automatic, so the first step comes back under pressure and the rest follows.
How is your tutoring different for a student with ADHD?
Same tutors, adjusted approach: conversation before math, breaks when needed, problems broken into parts, and every step written down. Every lesson is one-on-one, so the tutor adjusts to how your student is doing that day.
Do your tutors have experience with ADHD?
Yes. Jake Gerhardt has worked with 15 to 20 students with IEPs, 504 plans or learning differences in six years, teaches gifted and differently-abled students, and has ADHD himself. Founder Sean Alexander taught at Stanbridge Academy, a school for neurodivergent students. Meet the team.
Should my child keep their 504 accommodations?
Yes. A 504 plan is a legal requirement for the school. We also build the skills underneath, so your child needs the support less over time.
Do you give advice about ADHD medication?
No. Medication is a decision for your family and your child's doctor. We teach the student in front of us either way.
How much does tutoring cost?
Dedicated Tutor is $895/month: a weekly one-on-one session, nightly office hours for homework help, monthly progress reports and direct tutor access. No signup fee, no contract, and the first lesson is risk-free. See all plans.
Related reading:
- How to Study Math With ADHD
- 5 Best Concentration Techniques for ADHD Students
- Concentration Techniques Every Parent Should Teach Their Child
- Testing Accommodations for Students With Neurodivergence
- What Tutoring Looks Like for Students With Learning Disabilities
- Turning Learning Disability into Learning Genius
- How Confidence Relates to Mathematics
Further reading: CDC data and statistics about ADHD
Most tutoring gets a student through Friday’s test. That’s not what we’re for.
Your student learns where every formula comes from — so a problem they’ve never seen stops being a threat. They stop asking whether something will be on the test and start asking why it works.
If it doesn’t work, you don’t pay. Period.
We’re so confident in our method that we guarantee your results for the entire semester. If you’re not satisfied at the end of the term, we’ll refund every penny. No fine print. No partial credits. A full refund.
No other tutoring company in the country offers this — because no other tutoring company gets results like ours.
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