6 Back to School Tips for Dyslexia and ADHD Kids

Back to School Tips: Set Your Dyslexia and ADHD Kids Up for Success

Back to school tips already? Back to school is already upon us. In fact, my grandkids start back to school next week. There are specific back to school tips you can implement to make learning easier for your kids with dyslexia or ADHD. Start off by letting your child know that you do remember some struggles last year. Remind them they are a bit older now and that their brain has had time to make more connections, so learning has become a bit easier.

This is a new year and you want to help them have a really great year. Sit down with your child before school starts and make a plan. Ask them for their suggestions. What do they think you might do in order to have a great year? What do they think they can do in order to have a better year?

Back to School Tips: Talking With Your Child’s Teacher

Once you have your plan ready to implement, it is time to look at the second thing you can do to get your dyslexia and ADHD kids off to a great start. You will want to meet your child’s new teacher. You can often meet them in their classroom a day or two before school starts. The teacher is often in their classroom getting things organized a few days before school starts.

If you don’t have a chance to meet your child’s teacher before school starts, make a point of meeting them at the end of the school day during the second week of school. This is not the time for a huge conference. It is the time for a quick 5-minute ‘meet and greet‘ with your child’s teacher so they can put a face to you and your child. Let them know how you are looking forward to a great year with them. You may mention that your child did have some trouble in the past and to keep you in the loop of how they are doing. I usually let them know that my kids will rise to their expectations when they are encouraged. And then, ask them if you can be of any assistance or support.

6 Back to School Tips to Start the School Year Off Right

So what can you do to get your kids off to a great start? What can you do to help them be excited and confident about school?

For our family, it was critical that we talk about the upcoming year. We’d speculate on which teacher they might get. We’d speculate on who would be in their class. We’d walk over to the school a week before school started and see where the new grade classrooms were and sometimes we even got to meet their teacher who was getting the classroom ready. Doing this always increased their excitement and confidence about the coming year. Then, one of the most fun things we’d do was to shop for the new backpack. There is nothing like that feel of picking out your backpack and a few new supplies, opening up So, here’s our list of 6 Back to School Tips.

1. Get a sturdy backpack for your kids.
2. Get color-coded folders with a different color for each subject. (This will make it easier to find your papers. You will always know which folder to place them in.)
3. Visit the school a day or two before it opens and check out where their classroom is, so they will know exactly where to go.
4. Set up your first week of school schedule: including homework time as well as sports practice, scouts, etc. (This is very easy to do with the planning calendars in Ten Minutes to Better Study Skills.)
5. Plan what you will wear to school the night before school. This is a good routine to get into as it helps reduce morning stress.
6. Plan what you’d like to take to school for lunch so you have energy for learning.

Doing these things ahead of time will make it a bit easier adjusting back into ‘school mode’. Coming out of summer break and back to school is a big change and implementing these tips will make getting back into the routine of school a bit more enjoyable.