ADD Student

The audio monsters have won tonight. This Tuesday’s Ten Minute Tip – minus sound.

Lately, I’ve been watching “Jon and Kate Plus Eight”, and I have to say, I am very impressed with Kate’s time management and organizing skills. For those of you who don’t know, Jon and Kate are the parents of eight children: 2 eight year old twins and 6 three year olds. And yes, this is real life, not a sitcom.

On a recent show, Kate was saying that one of the most important keys to managing that many children is having a schedule and sticking to it. That way, the kids always know what to expect.

All kids do better when there is some sort of structure in their lives, no matter what their age. Kids with Attention Deficit Disorder especially benefit from a structured routine, because they have so much difficulty forming that structure themselves.

This is often a big part of why kids who go away to college end up failing that first year; all of the structure that they’re used to has been taken away and they’ve been left to fend for themselves. Not all of them are ready for it.

Summetime represents another fairly free time in kids lives, when the structure of the school year and it’s various activities has been temporarily suspended. You may find at this time of year that your child is more difficult to get along with, may be getting into more trouble, or is just generally out of sorts.

If that’s the case, try adding some structure to their days and see what happens, after the intial complaint period is over. Setting regular times for meals is a good place to start, if you don’t do that already. A regular bedtime should be enforced in the summertime, too, although you might extend it.

Set aside a time of day when they do chores – maybe first thing in the morning after breakfast. And I think that a special time each day to just sit and read a book would be wonderful. Maybe later, in the evening.

Of course, some of these routines will be easier to put in place with younger children, but some of it’s possible even with teenagers. Everybody will certainly benefit.