Going back to school after a long summer can be very challenging for children to cope with. Add that transition to the anxieties that accompany ADHD, and you child is really dreading going back to school and changing his or her summer routine.
But as the parent, there are steps that you can take to make the transition as easy as possible for your child. You can lessen the blow of a new teacher, classroom, and schedule by easing into the process. Here’s how:
- Talk with your child’s teacher to see if it is possible to meet him or her a few days before school starts. Meeting the teacher before the first day of school will help your child because it will be one less new face, and an authority figure that your child can start to feel comfortable around. This will also give you an opportunity to talk to the teacher about any extra needs your child will need in the classroom, like tips you’ve learned on how to keep him or her focused, and what to do when he/she gets off track.
- A week or so before school starts, have your child go to bed and wake up around the time he or she will sleep and wake up during the school year. You can go so far as to get dressed and eat breakfast all in a similar structured time-frame as the pre-school adventure. Starting this structured morning will ease the transition from morning cartoons to scarfing down breakfast and running out the door.
- Begin a nightly reading time to mimic homework time at night. This will again, ease into the school lifestyle, and will start the routine of quiet work-time in the evenings.
Keeping structure and easing into the transition from the summer lifestyle to the school year will help you and your child adjust to all the adventures that a new school year brings.
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