Planner for student with ADHD

[Porridge]

What planner (paper or digital) has worked for your ADHD student?

I'm looking at good old fashioned, uncluttered paper planner like this.

Trello seems like overkill. Sunsama looks good, but is pricey...

Until now, I've created a daily checklist for my rising 8th grader. I want to help him move toward managing his own tasks.

Any advice appreciated 🙂

ETA: My kid is also dysgraphic, so writing in his own tasks is laborious and...messy. But I don't want too much screen time, either.... 

Edited August 20, 2023 by Porridge

[EKS]

I strongly recommend something simple.  For example, I'd start with having him make a list on an index card each day that he can carry around with him in his pocket.  That way he can look at it wherever he is.

Once he gets that down, I'd add a monthly planner.  

[happypamama]

I use Trello for my 7th grader with ADHD. There is a list for each week, and each week's list has a card for each day, and each day's card has a checklist. He can check the boxes as he completes his subjects. 

[Porridge]

27 minutes ago, happypamama said:

I use Trello for my 7th grader with ADHD. There is a list for each week, and each week's list has a card for each day, and each day's card has a checklist. He can check the boxes as he completes his subjects. 

do you create the cards for him, or does he create the tasks on his own?

[happypamama]

26 minutes ago, Porridge said:

do you create the cards for him, or does he create the tasks on his own?

I create them for him.  Asking him to create the tasks on his own would be too much at this point.  Most of his subjects are just "do the next thing," so it is pretty easy.

[vonfirmath]

My ADHD son HATES to write

What has worked the best has surprisingly been the Rocketbook Reusable Planner.

He does not take pictures of many of the pages -- but can if need be. Mostly he keeps homework (minimal) in it. Or refs to check online. And then erases it to reuse every other weekend or so.

Unlike most planners we've tried over the years 1) This one gets used a little and 2) He has not lost the planner OR the pen

[HomeAgain]

Oldest ds uses Siri for everything.  EVERYTHING.  "Hey, Siri, put paper due on Aug 27 in my calendar." "Hey Siri, put work from 4-8 on Aug 24 in my calendar"

He will check his week in the morning and evening, but not having to write things down helps immensely.

[PeterPan]

17 hours ago, Porridge said:

Until now, I've created a daily checklist for my rising 8th grader. I want to help him move toward managing his own tasks.

The usual advice for people with EF deficits is to *transition* this rather than going cold turkey. I had done something similar with my dd, making her complete schedule for every day of the week, all typed/printed out on beautiful charts that showed which assignments which days with little check boxes.

So think through how you can give him structure and *teach* him to schedule.

-when given the tasks, he decides which day and puts them on his planner

-when given the subject goal or course syllabus, he breaks the material into tasks

and so on.

And it doesn't have to be all or nothing. Kind of a half way for us was to have dd schedule her *independent* tasks but me schedule her *with Mom* tasks. So naturally as she did more by herself she was scheduling more for herself. And if the work was independent, it either had clear structure, meaning she just needed to know how many lessons to complete in a week to stay on track, or I created a course syllabus, again to give clear structure.

So if he's doing 7 subjects, you might have him start by scheduling *3* while you do the other 4. And for those 3, you look at how clear the structure is (chunks, etc.) and what kind of structure/prompt he needs each week to do that. You also want to be building in ACCOUNTABILITY or CHECKPOINTS so you know the work is actually happening. 😂

It amazes me how intuitive my ds is, having grown up with a lot more tech, and how opinionated he is on how to solve his problems. Like your ds, my ds is exceptionally dysgraphic and not likely to hand write much of anything. He uses his phone for EVERYTHING and every time I've gotten gung ho ideas about paper planners they've been a waste. 

Google calendar is pretty amazing and the norm. We're very much mac people, but Google calendar is really ideal for students. You can create classes and upload assignments. The app version for his phone will be bright and colorful and able to do reminders. 

What you might want to consider is a weekly coaching/planning meeting where you meet and help him get his list into his chosen planner/device. So you start with your written list of the subjects that have to be done and the frequency by the end of the week. You also hand him the syllabi or tables of contents for each thing so he can see the structure and components of each lesson. And then you say ok subjects 1-3 you will plan and you just need to get them done by the end of the week, put them into your device and show me how that looks. And subjects 4-7 mom will plan and do with you at our daily meeting time. You could also have some agreements like certain subjects (math, math, math) have to be completed BEFORE that meeting time. 😁

So it's not paper vs. tech that is the most important thing, only the TEACHING of how to break things into chunks and get it in somewhere. If he's not using tech, now might be the time. 

[happypamama]

Also, I likely have undiagnosed ADHD myself, and regardless of what I use for planning (I like Artful Agenda), I have to have a standing alarm pop up on my phone at a certain time every day that says, "Check agenda," or I will forget. 

[prairiewindmomma]

Planners have been very much dependent on the kid (with ADHD).  My best advice is to explore options with the kid and have them choose.  Remember, we're teaching them how to organize and manage their own lives, not handing over a checklist of tasks for them to complete and then expecting them to magically have the skills to manage their own adult lives at 18.

Oldest eschews anything paper.  He does much better with digital calendars and planners and with the auto reminders he can put on there for himself.  He has daily reminders just for the basics in life (take meds, brush teeth, etc.) because it's so very easy for him to get distracted if the meds haven't kicked in yet or if they've worn off.  His university classes all use digital assignment postings through university software, so it's been an easy transition for him.

Another of mine is a paper person, but they also have the ability to remember to open the planner. They can easily follow checklists made in the planner, but remembering to write down stuff into the planner is a problem.