Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Age or Ability Specific Forums Middle School Executive Function and Middle School (LONG)

My eldest DD is pretty clear cut, she is less able to function than her peers on age appropriate tasks and is not meeting her intellectual potential by any measure. I think, when she finally gets in to see the paed in 9 months time, that we probably well agree to medicate her.

My 2nd DD may be one of these more tricky to figure out cases. She clearly doesn't have the same degree of issues as her older sister, so she seems "Great" to me comparatively, she's not yet at school so I don't know how that will pan out. But our perspective is perhaps skewed as to what "great" looks like. She's likely to be more asynchronous and she's got an ADHD role model... It's amazing how different #2 is when #1 is way (like on camp for 3 days). Which in itself may be a reason to err on the side of treating #1 if it is suggested - the degree to which her chaos is effecting her younger sisters' behavior (and my sanity). For example DD2 has no trouble following instructions and getting ready for school when DD1 is not there, but she is almost as bad as DD1 if DD1 is there. Whereas DD1 is a nightmare to get to school whether DD2 is there or not.

I know this thread is old and I don't have a child in MS but willl next year. I'm just curious, do the MS really insist on binders for each subject and that each child be organized in the same fashion? This surprises me since I don't think I have issues with organization (probably average at that) but this method would probably have had me leaving things in my locker as well. We had many folders but I thought they were mostly in a big trapper keeper thing. I would probably have had to carry my whole backpack with everything to each class. Maybe I did (I'm so old I can't remember .....My first thought when I read the thread was that this sounds like the school's problem. They should let each kid figure out how to get it done in their own way.....not prescribe something.

Our local MS does not provide lockers so the kids must carry everything with them from class to class. In response to heated complaints from parents, however, they do provide two sets of books -- one for class and one for home -- so the kids don't have to lug those around.

The teachers each require a folder and spiral notebook, so there is still quite a stack of materials that are carried throughout the day. Add a band instrument to the mix and our son gets quite a workout.

And just to make sure the kids don't fall asleep between classes, they have only 3 minutes to get from one class to the next.

I require my 6th grade social studies students to carry three items to each class: their school planner, a two-pocket portfolio for their homework and handouts (that I believe is common to our 6th grade team), and a pencil with some kind of eraser.

And then I have pod managers for every small group who can loan and log pencils from the supply closet, or exchange a micropencil (one in danger of going into the pencil sharpener and never coming out) for a full-size one if the micropencil is the only one the student has.

We have only a classroom set of textbooks, so textbooks do not go home. I buy paperback composition books for all my students that stay in the classroom. I rarely ask them to use a sheet of notebook paper, and provide some when I do. I rarely give homework, and I encourage students to submit their homework online if they can. I see that three students have used the online option to report back to me on their interview with a grandparent, but it isn't due until the 29th.

All of this is because I have my own executive function issues. I am trying to limit the amount of loose paper floating around my room.