@Gatormama – the one thing I like about bullet journals is you are writing the same task again and again until you actually accomplish it. So if you were supposed to call Annie, and the day goes by and you didn’t call Annie, you write it down again for the next day. If you don’t call Annie that day and it falls to the following day, you write it down again. After a while it gets to be a pain to write Call Annie, so you just get it done so you are not writing it for the fourth day in a row.
Plus bullet journals require no electricity and are cheap to setup.
Our coach said she has found bullet journals work exceptionally well for ADHD folks. (And our pediatrician told us ADHD is familial, so as the parent of two kids with ADHD, I’m probably a good yet undiagnosed candidate. )
I’ve a hard time with parts of the bullet journal as it’s too many steps in my mind. I want ONE list that gets rewritten daily until things come off. Completed items are struck through.
Indexing and all those pages would make me nuts. I need to toss pages and make a clean copy daily (or sometimes more than once). I have a special notebook that works amazingly well for this. The sad part is I have about 5 journals but don’t want to deal with unclean/messy/used pages.
I’ll bullet list notes from a call but then it migrates.
So yeah, probably undiagnosed here (posing as a really great multitasker instead).
Can we go back to this notion of an educational therapist? I’m intrigued by the term and hoping someone will explain it further. My younger son (6th grade) seriously dislikes school – well, he loves the social aspects, it’s just all the academic aspects he hates. He’s been tested for learning issues, and has some modest focus issues – not quite enough for an ADD diagnosis, but enough so that academics are legitimately more difficult for him than some other kids (and most notably, his older brother and sister).
We’ve dabbled into the world of tutoring for him, but haven’t yet found something that he feels helps. He’s had two different tutors that his school provided, who were meant to help with executive function and planning type stuff, but really have done nothing more than help him with his math homework. Better than nothing, but not really getting at the root issue. I don’t actually think it’s executive function coaching he needs (or at least not if I understand it correctly), as it’s not that he really has a hard time breaking projects down into pieces and planning for them. It’s just that he wants to rush through everything and do the bare minimum to get by – checking his work for careless mistakes is worse than pulling teeth. I kind of feel like he just needs some attitude adjustment, which is why the term “educational therapist” caught my attention.
@soxmom I promise, I’ll come tell you what it is and what they do next week! I just set an appointment for D19 and an educational therapist for next Monday after school. Wait 'til I tell her what her new fun after school activity will be. One thing I do know is that educational therapists are not psychologists, they’re educators. So the “therapy” is akin to occupational and physical therapy not…not tell-me-about-your-relationship-with-your-mother stuff.
@soxmom – my D’s academic coach is a teacher and her specialty is working with students with learning differences. She is not a Let’s Use Yellow Folders for History, Use Red Folders for Math, etc. coach. She is more of a “you have not answered the question being asked” person. When we first started with her, she reviewed all of D’s testing/psychological reports and started to peel away at issues that D has had (for years) with learning. Our coach is not only a teacher, but she holds a master’s in special ed, and she is a frequent presenter in our school system. She also helped us update D’s 504 Plan with necessary accommodations.
@OrangeFish, that is exactly what we need! And I love the way you described the contrast in the two styles. Now I just have to figure out how to find such a person. We live in Boston, so obviously such people must exist, but the challenge is more that there are so many people holding themselves out as coaches, tutors, therapists, etc that it’s overwhelming to sift through it all.
@Soxmom – I don’t know if your local school system has a Special Ed/Resource Center, but if it does, I would start there. If you have CHADD in your area (and I would guess you do since you are in Boston), you could also try finding info through their resources. Another idea would be to contact someone over at Lesley College (as I recall, they have a strong educator program) and see if you can find some resources there.
Going to try to get my kid to study for his SAT subject test this weekend. He’s only taking 1 fortunately, as he has been so busy with no time for studying at all. I wouldn’t even have him take them, but at least 1 school on his last requires a couple of them. My older son17 did not take any of them.
DS19 is taking Chemistry subject test Saturday. No pressure. He can take it again if he doesn’t do well. He had his first AP exam, AP Chemistry on Monday. He is scheduled for Math 2 test in June.
DS17 took 3 subject tests, Math 2, Chemistry, and Physics, eventually but sent only two (math and physics) to the colleges.
It’s become apparent this week we need to do something for S19. I am not enough. His teachers are not enough. His GC is not enough. The various things we’ve tried for him over the years have helped but…it’s not enough.
We have a recurring issue/theme that is not class specific and we’ve got to get to the bottom of it. The grades are just the symptom and I don’t think an academic coach is what he needs, it’s more of a life coach that can factor in the combo of ADHD and gifted/talented/aspie with the academic symptoms. We tried therapy years ago and it didn’t do anything other than eat up my time and give him a place to vent about his brother so the idea of paying full price (versus insurance) is making me crabby. But he needs something.
I’ve spend the day on the phone, email and messenger trying to find the right fit and have figured out the following.
Insurance sucks.
[ul][]While we technically have coverage and very very good coverage…very few providers take it.
[]Of those that do, they may really not, because the providers website is out of date.
[]Of those that do, they may really not be taking new patients, because the website is out of date.
[]Especially if they come highly recommended by parents you trust and take your insurance they are most definitely not really taking new patients.
[]Some of the best sounding options are hideously expensive and far away.
[]If you ask your “village” for ideas, somehow some random person will try to sell you their services that have zero bearing to the issues described[/ul]
Yes. I am SURE practicing mindfulness will all of a sudden fix everything. This is not my yoga zen meditation kid (who it would mayyyyyyyyyyyybe help but then again, a walk in the woods is free). In any way shape or form. I may as well just buy him some incense and hope that works.
Only 3 more weeks of school/sports madness. Son19 is holding it together fairly well, but was exhausted the other night. Got a good night of sleep in though, and had a busy day of soccer and school work yesterday. Fortunately grades seem to be holding up and he has managed the homework load.
Got another crazy week starting today with multiple track meets, robotics, soccer, tests etc.
@ollie113 LOL. Typo! Fastest XC runners are more like 15 minutes for 3 miles. Most kids have finished by 22 minutes. Not 12. Still, much more fun to watch than track!
We are counting down the days here too. D19 has classes until about midJune and then a few tests after.
Summer looks pretty busy for us (not compared to the craziness some people have but we tend to be low key so it doesn’t take much for us to considernit busy)
Summer job probably won’t be happening because she has a month of health classes, 10 weeks of drivers education, 8 weeks of volunteering (once a week for a few hours), PSAT/SAT prep, whatever assigned AP summer work and a week vacation.
The good part is the health classes should be fairly easy, she has a friend doing drivers ed with her, both my girls are going to volunteer together and vacation is towards the end of summer so it’s something great to look forward to through the rest.
We (the whole family) survived the theatre production! ~whew!~ Last theatre meeting of the year is after school today. D19 is running for a board position. #gulp
She is focusing on schoolwork as she begged/pleaded with teachers last week to have presentations, quizzes, etc., rescheduled to this week. (She showed teachers her bullet journal with her time blocked out for dress rehearsals and performances, totaling over 75 hours in a week!) She has statewide testing (SOLs) starting in 2 weeks, with lots of project work due up to the week before school ends (last day is June 23).
Next distraction will be the Cappie nominations coming out a week from tomorrow (May 16).
@OrangeFish I love the idea of showing the teachers a bullet journal to “prove” you’ve been so busy! I think most teachers, if they saw a schedule in black and white like that, would be much more likely to extend a deadline or test. Better than just saying, I’ve got “XYZ” and I need an extension.
Our D21 just emailed her teachers with her schedule from last week. She missed all of last week when we went to a ballet intensive in AZ. She got her assignments ahead of time but it wasn’t until we got there that we realized there was little to no time to do any homework. Her teachers were terrific. Excited for her that she had a great week meeting dancers and teachers from all over the country and are now giving her enough time to get her work done before the end of the year. It’s not high school…just eighth grade…but she still has a ton of work!
