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Redshirting* and Recent Research

Posted by Kayla
redshirting kids with adhd

If you’re looking for another reason to consider redshirting, you may want to consider findings published online recently in the Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics. According to research done over several years on elementary to middle school aged children in Iceland, younger children may not perform as well academically in mathematics and language arts as their slightly older peers. Additionally, children who are in the youngest third of the class are 50% more likely to be prescribed stimulants to manage symptoms of ADHD between the ages of 7 and 14. Let me be … [Read more...]

Filed Under: School and ADHD-Inattentive Tagged With: ,

What To Do When They Just Can’t Sit Still

Posted by Brock
can't sit still in classroom

You know the type. You can easily recognize her in a classroom setting. The teacher’s talking, and he’s in constant motion. She’s drumming her fingers on the desk. His leg is bouncing up and down with a rhythm to match the tune in his head….except he doesn’t recognize that he’s moving. The good news is that often, the wiggling and jiggling is an attempt to pay attention. The bad news is that the constant movement looks like distracting and annoying hyperactivity. Aside from starting gym class a little early, what can you do? Take a look at the following tried and true tips to … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Focusing Tagged With: ,

The PAC-kit – Our Planner for ADHD

Posted by Kayla
adhd planner

We don't talk a lot about the PAC-kit, but this is the time of year that we should! The PAC-kit is the Planner, Agenda, and Calendar that evolved from our attempts to keep Ron and Joe organized. We always found that store bought planners didn't work for our guys. Here's what would happen. It's Tuesday night. Your son has a new $8.95 planner that you just bought because he lost the one he had before. You flip to today's date. Nothing is written on it. He patiently shows you where he wrote his homework - on the wrong page. Because he couldn't fit all the words onto the tiny lines, his … [Read more...]

Filed Under: ADHD-I Products Tagged With: , , ,

Adding the Big C to ADHD

Posted by Brock
Communication and ADHD

To succeed, a child diagnosed with ADHD-inattentive needs the best of two worlds: home and school. Good communication between parents and teachers paves the way for a winning strategy for your child. Here are seven ways to improve two-way "reception": 1. Meet early and agree on the frequency of meetings. Don't wait until a problem presents itself. Be proactive and set up an appointment early in the year or semester to give the proverbial word to the wise. Think ahead about where your child is now and where you hope he is in 6 months. What are realistic goals? How can those goals be … [Read more...]

Filed Under: School and ADHD-Inattentive Tagged With: ,

ADHD and Homeschooling

Posted by Kayla
adhd and homeschooling

This week we have a guest post by Shannon Stoltz, of Living Life at Home. In her article, she references a conversation the two of us had last summer on Blogspot.com. You can listen to the interview on her Living Life at Home blog, or you can read the transcript here. Shannon homeschools her four children, and she's got great insight about homeschooling, especially homeschooling kids with learning challenges. She almost (but not quite!) makes me want to go back and homeschool my boys! "You should just put them in school. It’s a lot less work for you," a well meaning friend told me years … [Read more...]

Filed Under: School and ADHD-Inattentive Tagged With:

Balancing School and Life

Posted by Brock
adhd inattentive and life

Last week, I told you about what's been going on at our house. Recent events included theatre, usual homework, high expectations, and Lesley's panic attack. One part of our solution has been to simplify Lesley's routine and not allow her to be over scheduled. This week, I'd like to fill you in on the role of Lesley's ADHD medicine. I don't want to portray ADHD medicine as a necessary evil or the root of every health problem. I also don't want to go to the other extreme and say the medicine was all we needed to fix ADHD. Neither extreme opinion is verifiable. Interestingly enough, last week … [Read more...]

Filed Under: School and ADHD-Inattentive Tagged With:

Balancing Success in the Classroom with Everything Else

Posted by Brock
balancing school and life

The good news is that Lesley's focus has greatly improved. Her grades are good - mostly A's. Another piece of good news is that she auditioned for the school play and got a fairly good role. Life is busy. I thought we were all fine, but unfortunately, Lesley was stressed. She made straight A's for the year in 8th grade, and her expectations were that she should continue doing that in 9th grade. With the demands of play rehearsals, drama club and piano lessons, her schedule didn't allow as much time for homework and study. Her grades were moving from an A to a B in a couple classes, but I … [Read more...]

Filed Under: ADHD in Real Life Tagged With:

Notebook Checks and ADHD

Posted by Kayla
notebook check

I'm not sure there is anything worse for our kids than the dreaded notebook check. In case you're not familiar with them, brace yourselves. They're headed your way. Many teachers, starting in Middle School but especially in High School, require kids to keep all papers associated with their class in an organized notebook. There are usually sections for warm-ups (the work kids do as they enter class), homework, tests and quizzes, classroom notes, and classwork. At an announced - or un-announced - time, the children are supposed to show their neat and orderly file of papers to the teacher. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: School and ADHD-Inattentive Tagged With:

ADHD Medicine Melodrama

Posted by Kayla
To Med or Not to Med

I would like to tell you that medicines to correct ADHD-Inattentive are great, and that once our daughter started meds that she immediately began feeling focused, organized, confident, and successful. Yet if that's all I told you, it wouldn't be the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Although Lesley was initially diagnosed in fourth grade, we survived without medicine until she was in sixth grade. Because Lesley's my third child and not the first, I wasn't overly concerned. I just knew that she would outgrow her ADHD tendencies soon enough. Unfortunately, the outgrowing didn't happen … [Read more...]

Filed Under: ADHD Medication Tagged With: , ,

Timing’s Everything for an ADHD Child

Posted by Kayla
Red Shirting for ADHD

Kayla may have shared with you about how she almost kept Mike out of kindergarten for a year to let him start a year later. She and I have been discussing this issue lately because many kids (ADHD or not) benefit from maturing a bit before they start their school careers. What Mike ended up doing was taking a gap year after his first year of college. It looks like Kayla’s instincts about holding him back a year were accurate – he just ended up taking the time a little later than anticipated. We have our own timing story. When Lesley was 4, she started kindergarten in Maryland. It … [Read more...]

Filed Under: School and ADHD-Inattentive Tagged With: ,
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