The school year is almost here (and in some places in the country has already begun). Some parents of children with ADHD look forward to the start of the school year. Summer is a time of boredom, chaos and impulsive behaviors. For other parents, school brings long nights of homework, calls from the t...
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school starting
twin4life
Wednesday, August 19, 2009 at 05:50 PM
School starts for my daughter tomorrow (8/20) and I don't know who's more depressed, my daughter or I. The school district we live in only has a 8 week summer break and take a lot of breaks throughout the year. Some may say the scattered breaks would be better for kids with ADHD but from my experience it's worse.
My daughter's in High School now but I felt the same way throughout the years. It seems that every time my daughter (son previously - now in college) gets a routine down, the school takes a staff development day off or extends other holiday's. ie: The whole week off at Thanksgiving, a week off in February and a week around the Easter/Passover holiday. They take additional days as well and the school never goes more than 6 weeks without a day or more off from school.
Anyhow, my point being that it's very disruptive to their learning process. I'm not sure who these breaks are suppose to benefit, but my kids always had homework assigned during that time. I for one love the time we have together in the summers and I wish it was longer like when I was a child. This is the time for us to do things as a family that we never get to do during the year. We center all our activities around physical outlets ( water sking, hiking, camping etc.) so they can burn off extra energy and it's amazing how their attention span isn't a problem when they're doing things that they enjoy. Time's too short, before we know it the years will be lost forever. I know it's difficult at times but, I know I won't get the years back.
School starts for my daughter tomorrow (8/20) and I don't know who's more depressed, my daughter or I. The school district we live in only has a 8 week summer break and take a lot of breaks throughout the year. Some may say the scattered breaks would be better for kids with ADHD but from my experience it's worse.
My daughter's in High School now but I felt the same way throughout the years. It seems that every time my daughter (son previously - now in college) gets a routine down, the school takes a staff development day off or extends other holiday's. ie: The whole week off at Thanksgiving, a week off in February and a week around the Easter/Passover holiday. They take additional days as well and the school never goes more than 6 weeks without a day or more off from school.
Anyhow, my point being that it's very disruptive to their learning process. I'm not sure who these breaks are suppose to benefit, but my kids always had homework assigned during that time. I for one love the time we have together in the summers and I wish it was longer like when I was a child. This is the time for us to do things as a family that we never get to do during the year. We center all our activities around physical outlets ( water sking, hiking, camping etc.) so they can burn off extra energy and it's amazing how their attention span isn't a problem when they're doing things that they enjoy. Time's too short, before we know it the years will be lost forever. I know it's difficult at times but, I know I won't get the years back.