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Transition To Summer , Executive Functioning Kiddos


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It's summer! I'm excited, as I'm sure most of you are. But is anyone else kind of pulling their hair out?

 

I ended up homeschooling my daughter so it's not that I'm not used to being around the kids, it is just anytime there is a shift in schedules or routines, my dau (8yrs, dyslexia, executive functioning issues) struggles to rally. I'm trying to be patient as possible because I know I can't get frustrated with her. I've realized today I need to cut back my work schedule, stop some other things that are taking up my mind and making us hurry to places....

 

What do you do with your executive functioning kiddos in the summer to get them on the right track? I want to enjoy this time, be encouraging, and not nagging all summer. If I were answering my own questions i would say- chore chart, reward system, signs on the doors, start a new routine schedule, calendar on the wall with whats happening.... Anyone else have magic tricks? :)

 

Thank you for this forum- it has helped me so much even though I have mostly been reading and I haven't had much time to interact. You folks are a blessing! And I started my daughter with an educational therapist this week- means driving 45 min to appointment, 4 days a week, but it seems like it will really help! Yikes, motherhood is a lot of work but I love seeing my little girl smile! My two boys think it's pretty fun going to town too- we've been hunting for pollywogs every day near her appointment;) Cheers to you, :driving: great moms!

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My ds has a weekly calendar whiteboard in his room, and every Sunday we write out the plan for the week and discuss it.  I keep extensive, color-coded (by person and category) calendars that sync to all our devices.  

 

Yes to routines.  My ds' kindle has alarms for EVERYTHING that is necessary to get us somewhere on time or anchor his life.  Currently we're not watching Paw Patrol (hallelujah!), but when we were he had a start time for his Bible in the morning.  He has bedtime alarms, alarms for lunch, alarms for 10-15 min before we need to leave for appts to give him time to pack/dress/prep appropriately.  

 

I use visual schedules (packing lists, pictures of the steps, etc.) to teach him how to do tasks like packing his bag for swim lessons.  I never assume he can do it for himself.  I create the visual, walk it through with him, do it with him, and fade.  So he has alarms plus visuals plus me supervising and fading.  Lots of teaching and then fading as he gets it.

 

I find that I need to spend time consistently, daily, following through with the techniques from his behavioral therapy sessions. 

 

I mentioned my calendars.  For me, it gets overwhelming to have so many things to go to, to do, etc. on top of behaviors and things you're thinking about and...  I have to support *myself* a lot, because the more calm *I* am, the better I can parent and follow through.  I exercise 3 times a week, which helps keep me more chilled.  I use my calendars, alarms, and timers religiously.  I have routines that work for me to curb my night owl tendencies.  

 

If you have three littles, I think the pulling hair out thing is a stage.  Like even if there were no SLDs, nothing, you'd be living on the wild side, lol.  

 

How old are her evals?  When will she be up for them again?

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The end of the school year was taxing upon the kids and me, so we are in recovery mode.  The house is in a state where it could be picked up quickly; otherwise, we are slugs.  We went to a science museum on Thursday, and the heat index was 105 deg F.  It is HOT!

 

DS is maintaining a daily schedule with a few items that must be completed.  As long as the items are checked off, I am good.  If the items are not completed, DS does not go to his sports practice.  Rewards are tied to the few daily things that the kids must do.  With my younger, I expect music practice and that it is.  I don't expect much during the summer.  If we must go somewhere or do something, I tell the kids in advance and then remind prior.  I can generally get them moving, and it takes about a week to get school restarted.  I don't have any special tricks other than rewards and my sunny disposition (read sheer force of will).

 

We dug a pool in our backyard during the spring, and it is filled with tadpoles.

 

 

Edited by Heathermomster
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Th

 

My ds has a weekly calendar whiteboard in his room, and every Sunday we write out the plan for the week and discuss it.  I keep extensive, color-coded (by person and category) calendars that sync to all our devices.  

 

Yes to routines.  My ds' kindle has alarms for EVERYTHING that is necessary to get us somewhere on time or anchor his life.  Currently we're not watching Paw Patrol (hallelujah!), but when we were he had a start time for his Bible in the morning.  He has bedtime alarms, alarms for lunch, alarms for 10-15 min before we need to leave for appts to give him time to pack/dress/prep appropriately.  

 

I use visual schedules (packing lists, pictures of the steps, etc.) to teach him how to do tasks like packing his bag for swim lessons.  I never assume he can do it for himself.  I create the visual, walk it through with him, do it with him, and fade.  So he has alarms plus visuals plus me supervising and fading.  Lots of teaching and then fading as he gets it.

 

I find that I need to spend time consistently, daily, following through with the techniques from his behavioral therapy sessions. 

 

I mentioned my calendars.  For me, it gets overwhelming to have so many things to go to, to do, etc. on top of behaviors and things you're thinking about and...  I have to support *myself* a lot, because the more calm *I* am, the better I can parent and follow through.  I exercise 3 times a week, which helps keep me more chilled.  I use my calendars, alarms, and timers religiously.  I have routines that work for me to curb my night owl tendencies.  

 

If you have three littles, I think the pulling hair out thing is a stage.  Like even if there were no SLDs, nothing, you'd be living on the wild side, lol.  

 

How old are her evals?  When will she be up for them again?

Thank you for your response! I am a total night owl and I hate schedules lol. She had her evals done this last school year so we are just getting started. We've been doing barton for about five months but I have her with an ed therapist that does executive f and memory stuff. I know once we get going more on it they will give me ideas too. I originally was excited to have summer break so that I didn't have to do the ridged schedule with her, because she is a free-flowing creative little human, but I think I will need to be more organized, etc. Good ideas about the alarms! Thank you!!

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The end of the school year was taxing upon the kids and me, so we are in recovery mode.  The house is in a state where it could be picked up quickly; otherwise, we are slugs.  We went to a science museum on Thursday, and the heat index was 105 deg F.  It is HOT!

 

DS is maintaining a daily schedule with a few items that must be completed.  As long as the items are checked off, I am good.  If the items are not completed, DS does not go to his sports practice.  Rewards are tied to the few daily things that the kids must do.  With my younger, I expect music practice and that it is.  I don't expect much during the summer.  If we must go somewhere or do something, I tell the kids in advance and then remind prior.  I can generally get them moving, and it takes about a week to get school restarted.  I don't have any special tricks other than rewards and my sunny disposition (read sheer force of will).

 

We dug a pool in our backyard during the spring, and it is filled with tadpoles.

 

Recover mode!! YEs! Its so hard to cut back on work for me and transition to driving everyday to a city haha. I'm the kind that likes to hibernate in the mountains when the sun comes out. That is way too hot!!! It's been in the 60's in north idaho the last week, but it's headed to the 90s and I am afraid.;) Thanks for the comment! Good luck!

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In the past, we have done what I call "Power Hour" with read alouds, a bit of OG work, and some math in the morning and then in the afternoons we hit the pools, or go out with friends on walks, ice cream, and summer fun. It is enough of a schedule to keep us on track and still have flexibility for downtime and freedom.

 

This summer, we are all in transition as I'm returning to work as Educational Therapist/Teacher and I'm also starting a second M.Ed in Literacy to become a Reading Specialist with additional OG certification, so we are relying on summer camps instead. I would not normally have considered full time summer camps as a homeschooler, but it has been a huge blessing so far and the boys love it. So all to say, that if you are burned out and can swing it, summer camps can be an amazing break for your family too. In some ways I wish I could be having all the fun with the boys, but they are definitely learning skills that I can't teach them (like rock climbing, archery, and canoeing) which is a great thing and inspiring independence in them too.

Edited by FairProspects
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Year round schooling so there are no major shifts in routine.

 

Yep, we take off individual weeks throughout the year for camps, visitors, traveling, etc, but breaks that disrupt the routine for longer than a week are way too stressful and just aren't worth it.

 

Wendy

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In the past, we have done what I can "Power Hour" with read alouds, a bit of OG work, and some math in the morning and then in the afternoons we hit the pools, or go out with friends on walks, ice cream, and summer fun. It is enough of a schedule to keep us on track and still have flexibility for downtime and freedom.

 

This summer, we are all in transition as I'm returning to work as Educational Therapist/Teacher and I'm also starting a second M.Ed in Literacy to become a Reading Specialist with additional OG certification, so we are relying on summer camps instead. I would not normally have considered full time summer camps as a homeschooler, but it has been a huge blessing so far and the boys love it. So all to say, that if you are burned out and can swing it, summer camps can be an amazing break for your family too. In some ways I wish I could be having all the fun with the boys, but they are definitely learning skills that I can't teach them (like rock climbing, archery, and canoeing) which is a great thing and inspiring independence in them too.

Love the summer camp stuff! I am always finding ways for my kiddos to gain more independence. I'm going to find some camp ideas for my boys. My dau has ed therapy every day at 2:30 so its kind of rough getting her there from a camp. I'm looking into becoming a Ed Therapist as well. I have a BA in Psychology . What school/training did you go through? There are zero resources up where I live for families with dyslexia. Do you know of any government funding for kids to receive education therapy? There are so many low income families here that Im not sure anyone could afford it (which we can barely afford it). I have my hat in a million things right now though and Im trying to calm down so I can be a good parent haha. Thanks!!!

Edited by Kaitfish
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Love the summer camp stuff! I am always finding ways for my kiddos to gain more independence. I'm going to find some camp ideas for my boys. My dau has ed therapy every day at 2:30 so its kind of rough getting her there from a camp. I'm looking into becoming a Ed Therapist as well. I have a BA in Psychology . What school/training did you go through? There are zero resources up where I live for families with dyslexia. Do you know of any government funding for kids to receive education therapy? There are so many low income families here that Im not sure anyone could afford it (which we can barely afford it). I have my hat in a million things right now though and Im trying to calm down so I can be a good parent haha. Thanks!!!

 

I'm a certified teacher with a Master's in Education. Teachers sometimes get a bad rep in the homeschooling world, but my teaching certificate and degree has opened a lot of doors for me as far as  professional development and trainings in various educational therapies and assessments. The downside is that as a private therapist you have to pay for all the courses yourself, but the information is valuable enough to me that it is worth the cost.

 

Much of my training was also gathered over the last 7 years on this journey with my boys and participating in all their neurodevelopmental interventions. Often, I realized the therapists we saw (and paid!) had fewer special education or teaching qualifications than I possessed, but they had simply attended a few trainings and set up shop. Once I internalized that nugget, I spent as much time as possible learning the tools and interventions myself. I focused on remediating and teaching my kids, eventually had enough friends ask me through word of mouth to work with their children using the same techniques, and decided I should go into business. I'm still in the process of transitioning into this gig and it is part time at the moment, but I also have a million things going on right now with additional college courses, testing for endorsements, and deciding whether or not to teach part time in PS, so it is more than enough for me.

 

I don't know of government funding for dyslexia. There may be some state specific resources but not much is available in my state. I do live in a major metro area that is fairly affluent and has a dearth of all kinds of services, so it is relatively common to pay out of pocket for therapy or tutoring. I recognize this field would be more challenging in a lower income area. People pay handsomely for Sylvan and Score here and those interventions are not individualized or customized so my services are attractive in comparison. Similarly, our PS system is severely overcrowded and there is not much help available through the schools without a fight. As sad as that is, it works in favor of private education options as many students seek help outside the system.

 

Best of luck to you! I'm sure you will learn an immense amount as you work with your daughter and the path may become more clear as you go along. :)

Edited by FairProspects
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Like FP, we're using a lot of summer camps and scheduled things to give us structure this summer.  That way we don't drift but have routines and order.  We know ok, we have to be out the door at x time and we do these things before, so this is when we wake up, etc. etc.  It's a lot of fun too!  And on weeks when we don't have camp, we make up our own camp themes and try to keep the same schedule!  So one week we did photography camp, another reading camp.  We just used a printed list of ideas for the photography, and for the reading camp I used picture books from the How to Report on Books  gr 1-2 book.

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I'm a certified teacher with a Master's in Education. Teachers sometimes get a bad rep in the homeschooling world, but my teaching certificate and degree has opened a lot of doors for me as far as  professional development and trainings in various educational therapies and assessments. The downside is that as a private therapist you have to pay for all the courses yourself, but the information is valuable enough to me that it is worth the cost.

 

Much of my training was also gathered over the last 7 years on this journey with my boys and participating in all their neurodevelopmental interventions. Often, I realized the therapists we saw (and paid!) had fewer special education or teaching qualifications than I possessed, but they had simply attended a few trainings and set up shop. Once I internalized that nugget, I spent as much time as possible learning the tools and interventions myself. I focused on remediating and teaching my kids, eventually had enough friends ask me through word of mouth to work with their children using the same techniques, and decided I should go into business. I'm still in the process of transitioning into this gig and it is part time at the moment, but I also have a million things going on right now with additional college courses, testing for endorsements, and deciding whether or not to teach part time in PS, so it is more than enough for me.

 

I don't know of government funding for dyslexia. There may be some state specific resources but not much is available in my state. I do live in a major metro area that is fairly affluent and has a dearth of all kinds of services, so it is relatively common to pay out of pocket for therapy or tutoring. I recognize this field would be more challenging in a lower income area. People pay handsomely for Sylvan and Score here and those interventions are not individualized or customized so my services are attractive in comparison. Similarly, our PS system is severely overcrowded and there is not much help available through the schools without a fight. As sad as that is, it works in favor of private education options as many students seek help outside the system.

 

Best of luck to you! I'm sure you will learn an immense amount as you work with your daughter and the path may become more clear as you go along. :)

 

We need more teachers with your kind of expertise!! Im excited about the therapist I found as she sound similar to you. I have been doing my own research, studying as well- so much to learn and so interesting! I am sad for the kids who can't afford remediation therapy. I work with troubled youth and young adults in the education field, helping them get plugged into college resources and help with learning disabilities. So often I find a young adult who had a learning disability their entire lives and only thought they were just stupid, or treated as such. Their worth is often defined by the grading scale and the only positive impact that could have happened in their lives was at school. I would give one of my legs for there to be a foundation that helps pay for dyslexia or learning disability support outside of the public schools. It's so frustrating and sad to see. Anyways, Im sure we all have a bunch to say about this so Ill stop haha. Thanks again for your input and cheers to you for going after this- YOU ARE NEEDED!

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Scottish Rite provides free identification and tutoring, so what you're looking for already exists if you're close enough to it.  And there are other literacy programs, adult literacy programs, etc.  My aunt got trained and volunteers at one.  

 

This is not true in all states. I have looked it up in the past and Scottish Rite in the PacNW focuses on early childhood speech. They don't have anything to do with reading and learning issues. It is only in the NE and Midwest that they focus on dyslexia. So while I think it is fabulous that Scottish Rite has taken on this issue, it is only available in select states.

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