Parents who have children with ADHD are driven to scream in frustration when trying to get out the door in the morning. This can come from a parent’s frustration not really understanding what their children need to successfully transition out of the house into the day. Below are some strategies to help parents get their child out the door.
Set The Tone For The Day– Set the first 3 minutes of the morning to set the tone for your day. You can purchase an alarm clock that has features that raises the volume slowly or set an alarm for 20 minutes before you think they need to be awake and tell them they only have 15 minutes of free time until they hear the second alarm then your child will then need to begin their morning routine.
Help Your Child Feel Prepared– No matter how old your child is no one enjoys the feeling of what is in store for them for their day. One thing that you can do with your child is get a large calendar for their room and work together to schedule in activities, projects ect. You can also color code these things and review it with them at the beginning of each week or in the evening to make sure that your child has everything ready.
Set Zones Have a specific area or zone for your child’s keys, book bag, hat , gloves or whatever else they need so they are not running all over the house looking for them at the last minute.
Praise Your Child For Good Work- As you already know it is not easy to get your child’s brain to complete a morning routine. Praise your child on what a great job they did focusing on getting ready in the morning.