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School Supplies for the ADHD Inattentive Family

sabrina and adhdLearning is enough of a struggle to children who find it hard to focus. They should therefore never have to look far for the proper tools. Like a busy executive, they need to concentrate on the task before them, and should have anything they need close at hand. There is a closet in our house that looks like the school supply section at Wal-Mart. The boys have tools to stay organized. They have plenty of socks, underwear, and soccer clothes. We have calculators, computers, dictionaries, encyclopedia, rulers, compasses, and even an electric eraser.

I do try to think of my boys as busy executives, and try to be their secretary. (I admit that instead, sometimes I view them as lazy bums, and just try not to toss them out of the house!) If you’ve ever seen the movie “Sabrina“, (and if you haven’t, you should!) you know that Harrison Ford never had to search for pencils or coffee or even shirts. Everything was provided for him, and everything was at his fingertips. This didn’t mean he was irresponsible or lazy. It only freed him up to do his job, and rescue his brother from the evil clutches of Sabrina.

Although schoolwork isn’t near so exciting as a romantic comedy, my children still need the same ready access to the tools of learning. To prepare for this article, I walked through my house and made a list of the supplies we keep on hand. This list can be a springboard for getting supplies ready for your children. Let this list help you as you help your children to help themselves.

Lots of pencils
Erasers
Pens
Markers – wide tip & fine point
Permanent markers
Highlighters in several colors
Zip lock bags – all sizes
Protractors
Compass
Rulers
Glue and glue sticks
Spray adhesive
Scotch tape – wide and thin
Duct tape and packing tape
Sticky tack
Thumb tacks
Paper clips
Paper fasteners
Index cards
LOTS of Notebook paper, wide and college rule
Notebooks – 1 & 3 subject in both rules-
with the THICK cardboard covers
Graph paper
Graph paper NOTEBOOKS (invaluable for math)
Card stock in white and colors
Colored computer paper
Construction paper

White drawing paper
Folders – pocket and prong
Manilla file folders
Envelopes – including large yellow ones
Full sheets of sticker paper
Labels
Newsprint, bought for $1 at the newspaper office
Pencil cases
Bookbags (one of the boys broke his yesterday
and I was grateful we had a spare)
Notebook dividers
Looseleaf binders in several sizes
Sheet protectors
Baby food jars
Old magazines – including National Geographic,
given away free by our local library
Tempera paint
Globe
Wall Map
Atlas
Old set of encyclopedias
Dictionary
Thesaurus
Electronic Dictionary – for the short definitions
and the easy look up
Calculators, some cheap, some not
Extra Ink Cartridges
Memory sticks/thumb drives

I’m quite aware that this is a LOT of stuff. I spend a lot of money in the fall when school supplies are on sale, and keep my eye open at dollar stores and places like Big Lots for their bargains. No matter what the cost, it’s worth the investment. We’ve been doing the dreaded science projects this past month, and almost everything we needed was already in our supply closet. You’re going to buy it anyway. Cut down on the stress and buy it in advance.

Besides, your children are like busy executives, and you must take your cues from the secretary in Sabrina. Just think. If she hadn’t prepared his suitcase in advance, Linus would have never been able to beat Sabrina to Paris!


Filed Under: ADHD Strategies Tagged With: homework, organizing for ADHD, school

First Day of Class

teen driver adhdThe line of cars was long as I waited to pick up my son from his very first day of class. I craned my neck to see him, wondering about his first day. Did he make any friends? Did he have enough to eat? Was he nervous – afraid?

And then they let the kids out, and as I saw my son, my firstborn, my eyes filled with tears. It seemed just yesterday that he was born, and now I was sending him out into the world. For an irrational instant, it seemed I was sending him to his doom. The new experiences and challenges he was facing seemed more like new danger and conflict. I thought about the cruel world he would soon encounter, and I wanted to put him back into his child seat, drive away, and never let him out of my sight again.

Yet I knew I had to let him go. If only the separation weren’t so heart wrenching.

I was the next car. Ashamed at my sentimentality, I brushed my tears away, put on a big smile, and greeted the child of my heart.

“Hi, son. How was Driver’s Ed?”

Filed Under: ADHD-I Blog Tagged With: Parenting, school

Recovering After Recovery – When A Child Is Absent from School

sick student adhdIf your local school is like ours, it has been hit with a major epidemic of the winter crud. We are suffering from 10% absenteeism, and children are out of the classroom an average of four days. Returning to school after a week’s worth of the flu is horrible. The child is probably still tired from the sickness, and has lost momentum thanks to hours in front of the television. To add to the misery, the first day back in the classroom the poor kid is handed a stack of makeup work. It’s enough to make anyone wish for a relapse. Here’s a prescription for recovering after the recovery.

Rx 1 – Get your child’s makeup work early. Contact the school each day she is out, and ask for an assignment list. Let her do the easier subjects for about 20 minutes a few times a day.

Rx 2 – Go over the work before your child sees it. Make sure you are familiar with the subject matter (including finding the GCF!) so you can explain anything your son doesn’t understand.

Rx 3 – Help with the work. Copy the math problems onto lined paper. Read chapters aloud. Let your child answer questions orally, and write the answers down. Then have him recopy them without having to worry about spelling and punctuation. Give any assistance that doesn’t take away from the basic learning process of the subject at hand.

Rx 4 – Appeal to the teacher. Ask if there are some assignments that can be eliminated or abbreviated.

Rx 5 – Let your child stay out an extra day just to do the makeup work. She is probably still weak, and doesn’t need the exposure to other children and their germs. The extra day of rest will help her rebuild resistance. Plus, the entire day can be devoted to working, and not in the many non-academic pursuits of school, like waiting in line for the bathroom or listening to a lecture on the hazards of body piercing.

Rx 6 – Continue to administer chicken soup and lots of hugs and kisses.

I hope your child feels better soon.

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

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