Back in June, we were told by our old landlord that she was going to make us move after Rainbow was born. I didn't like the idea of having to move right after giving birth. When we told us this, there was two weeks left with the month. Now, up to this point, Sunshine had been doing very well in school. She made highest honors and was a well behaved child.
The sudden move left us in a tiff. The home we moved into was by no means acceptable for my children. Some have called me ungrateful for this, but I only want the best for my children. (I explained part of the situation here) Sunshine's behavior changed. We were getting letters from the school just about everyday. She would be getting into trouble for excessive talking and not following directions. In addition, she'd also be bringing home failing grades. This blew me away. She was a straight A student at her old school.
In the past, I thought ADHD was apparent since some things react differently with Sunshine. When she has sugar, she'll go to sleep easier. But give her something for sleep and it makes her hyper. We took her into the doctors at the beginning of the month and they did in fact agree with me. She has ADHD. Over the past month, she has been taking Concerta and we have adjusted our lives for her. So, here I am to help any other parent who may think their child has ADHD.
First and foremost, handle it by keeping calm. Yelling and screaming isn't going to solve anything. In fact, it'll just add to the stress of the situation. Arguing will no get anything accomplished. Give them time to talk and express their feelings to you. If they don't want to talk, suggest for them to draw or write in a journal. This will help them channel their feelings and express them in a healthy way.
Create a well structured environment. Routines and expectations should be made clear and if the child breaks any such rules, the punishment should be fitting. Be sure to make the rules clear. One way to do this is to write them down on a rule chart and hang it where your child can see it at all times. When giving your child instructions to do something, keep it at one thing at a time. Kids with ADHD seem to get overwhelmed easily. If you're trying to get them to do their chores, focus on one at a time. Working as a team instead of against each other helps, too.
When the said child is doing the tasks at hand, give praise for a job well done. Most likely, this will encourage the calm and inviting atmosphere. As an example, my daughter knows that when she comes home from school, she is to start on her homework. This is usually a task all on its own. When she has homework that she doesn't understand or she's brought home a bad test score, I don't tend to yell at her. I go through each problem with her and we find the mistake together. There's also an hour of study time in the evenings to help with her grades.
Well, these are what I have for now. As we go further into this journey, I'll update and post any other tips that I find.
In the past, I thought ADHD was apparent since some things react differently with Sunshine. When she has sugar, she'll go to sleep easier. But give her something for sleep and it makes her hyper. We took her into the doctors at the beginning of the month and they did in fact agree with me. She has ADHD. Over the past month, she has been taking Concerta and we have adjusted our lives for her. So, here I am to help any other parent who may think their child has ADHD.
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First and foremost, handle it by keeping calm. Yelling and screaming isn't going to solve anything. In fact, it'll just add to the stress of the situation. Arguing will no get anything accomplished. Give them time to talk and express their feelings to you. If they don't want to talk, suggest for them to draw or write in a journal. This will help them channel their feelings and express them in a healthy way.
Create a well structured environment. Routines and expectations should be made clear and if the child breaks any such rules, the punishment should be fitting. Be sure to make the rules clear. One way to do this is to write them down on a rule chart and hang it where your child can see it at all times. When giving your child instructions to do something, keep it at one thing at a time. Kids with ADHD seem to get overwhelmed easily. If you're trying to get them to do their chores, focus on one at a time. Working as a team instead of against each other helps, too.
When the said child is doing the tasks at hand, give praise for a job well done. Most likely, this will encourage the calm and inviting atmosphere. As an example, my daughter knows that when she comes home from school, she is to start on her homework. This is usually a task all on its own. When she has homework that she doesn't understand or she's brought home a bad test score, I don't tend to yell at her. I go through each problem with her and we find the mistake together. There's also an hour of study time in the evenings to help with her grades.
Well, these are what I have for now. As we go further into this journey, I'll update and post any other tips that I find.
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