Tips for chaperoning kids with ADHD on field trips?

[Anonymous]

The mother express concerns about the meds being administered late due to the field trip.

Well, this could be your answer. For example, if the child normally got a booster at lunch and did not get it until after the field trip, that could be why the behavior was so off. And in fairness to the teacher, if he/she hasn't seen the child when they didn't get their meds at the right time, they may not have realized what a problem it would be.

I have a child with severe ADHD. Her first grade teacher didn't really believe us, until the day DH forgot to give her the medication in the morning before school. By 9:30 she was in the office, and the teacher said, "OK, now I get it!"

I always volunteer for field trips like this whether it is school or scouts because she needs constant 1-1 supervision. She is fast and impulsive. I would never expect another parent to be able to give her that type of supervision, especially if she did not get her meds on time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How come he was only severely disruptive in your second post, when the thread wasn't going the way you expected?

OP here. Because apparently I wasn't clear earlier. It can be hard to convey the entirety of a few hours in quick 3 sentences, but trust me that I'm not exaggerating the situation in order to get a desired response.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly? The teacher should have taken that kid. It's not fair to ask a regular parent volunteer to deal with kids who (for whatever reason) can't follow the rules.

Agree. It is not fair to have a parent chaperon. At our school, it's usually the SN teacher or teacher who chaperons unless the parent of the child can volunteer.

The class is doing a bunch of small group field trips, so no teacher was there.

What do you mean "no teacher was there"? The parents took the kids on a field trip without a teacher? Or the teacher was with another group?

[Anonymous]

To me severely disruptive means he basically had to be carried away. If a kid was severely disruptive the museum would have gotten involved or the bus driver or someone else. If he was severely disruptive you would have definitely told the teacher. Did you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

The mother express concerns about the meds being administered late due to the field trip.

Well, this could be your answer. For example, if the child normally got a booster at lunch and did not get it until after the field trip, that could be why the behavior was so off. And in fairness to the teacher, if he/she hasn't seen the child when they didn't get their meds at the right time, they may not have realized what a problem it would be.

I have a child with severe ADHD. Her first grade teacher didn't really believe us, until the day DH forgot to give her the medication in the morning before school. By 9:30 she was in the office, and the teacher said, "OK, now I get it!"

I always volunteer for field trips like this whether it is school or scouts because she needs constant 1-1 supervision. She is fast and impulsive. I would never expect another parent to be able to give her that type of supervision, especially if she did not get her meds on time.

+1. I just cannot imagine how on earth this school is sponsoring field trips in which an educational professional is not there. Is this a charter? Or a private? This seems to me absolutely awful and I would not trust any such school to deal with my SN child. Field trips can be very difficult for ADHD kids because of the lack of structure, massive overstimulation, etc. Last year I chaperoned the first field trip to help handle mine, and volunteered to be an "extra" chaperone on the second field trip, but was told I could not come because I had already attended one. I thought that was really short sighted of the school but didn't kick up a fuss. You've been given some good advice by some other posters but, really, you're not an educational profrssional and the school should be taking on this responsibility. I'm pretty appalled they did not.

[Anonymous]

Any school that receives public funding has to make sure children with IEPs can be accommodated on field trips. For children who may be disruptive that often means a parent comes or a school staff member is assigned to that child (and possibly others).

I have never heard of a public or private school having field trips without a teacher. Is this a group of people home schooling?

[Anonymous]

My kids attended a Montessori charter school. In the upper grades (4th and 5th) the students would create and plan 'going out' field trips in groups of 2-3. The students had to conceive of the idea, do the research, figure out the transportation, financing etc.

A parent had to be recruited to go along but wasn't supposed to do anything but make sure no one was hurt, lost or abducted.

That said if there were behavioral problems for whatever reaso the parent chaperone would have been expected to report back to the school and the next trip would be managed differently.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Any school that receives public funding has to make sure children with IEPs can be accommodated on field trips. For children who may be disruptive that often means a parent comes or a school staff member is assigned to that child (and possibly others).

I have never heard of a public or private school having field trips without a teacher. Is this a group of people home schooling?

The school cannot require a parent to come on the field trip wit a SN child. The child cannot be excluded from the field trip. Just FYI.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any school that receives public funding has to make sure children with IEPs can be accommodated on field trips. For children who may be disruptive that often means a parent comes or a school staff member is assigned to that child (and possibly others).

I have never heard of a public or private school having field trips without a teacher. Is this a group of people home schooling?

The school cannot require a parent to come on the field trip wit a SN child. The child cannot be excluded from the field trip. Just FYI.

Would this apply if the child doesn't have an IEP?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any school that receives public funding has to make sure children with IEPs can be accommodated on field trips. For children who may be disruptive that often means a parent comes or a school staff member is assigned to that child (and possibly others).

I have never heard of a public or private school having field trips without a teacher. Is this a group of people home schooling?

The school cannot require a parent to come on the field trip wit a SN child. The child cannot be excluded from the field trip. Just FYI.

Would this apply if the child doesn't have an IEP?

It would apply to a child with a disability known to the school, i.e. with an IEP or 504. It does not apply to a private school (which can do anything it wants, basically) or to a child without a disability but just with behavior problems or to a child with a disability that the parents haven't disclosed to the school.

[Anonymous]

My 2nd grader with combined type ADHD is a very literal rules follower. But you do have to get his attention individually, tell him the rules explicitly (including the "why"), and have him repeat the rules back to you. And you have to do this before you actually begin otherwise he will not be able to focus on absorbing the rules. If you wait until he's amped up to tell him the rules or don't include why, behavior can be extremely variable. Overstimulation or missed meds, even though he's not on stimulants, really impacts his behavior.

It can also be helpful to give him something he is supposed to do. For DS, going to an art museum with his oil pastels and drawing pad in hand would be appropriate. For some kids the job may be more in line with helping navigate using the map or perhaps keeping notes in a notebook about some specific topic. Then if the child gets hyper or distracted you can ask them how they are doing with their job (can you show me where we are on the map? what artist names did you write down?).

[Anonymous]

Our teacher excluded our child from field trips when a parent couldn't come. We didn't know it was illegal until we hired a lawyer. MCPS.

[Anonymous]

There is a high proportion of children with ADHD in my son's class.

For the hyperactive ones, you have to stay super engaged all the time, continually reminding them not to touch, not to run ahead, to raise their hands before they speak, to use inside voices, to respect personal space, etc... It's policing 24/7 and gets old very quickly.

My son is inattentive ADHD - he will be in his own silent daydream, fly under the radar and you'll risk losing him at some point! Please don't forget about children like him, especially if the children need to cross the street... he won't necessarily pay attention to cars or stay with the group.

[Anonymous]

It's best to get familiar with all of the students prior to a trip. If you're able, participate in the classroom observe behaviors during transitions and PE (unstructured times) and get familiar with the teacher & staff methods of redirecting students. Also, if you have student you think are a bit rambunctious ... make friends with them, find out their interests and activities. This will create a familiar bond. Also, use the same words the teacher and staff use. If you don't have the time prior to the trip ... the day of the event on the bus ride you can do a "get to know you" activity that will help everyone feel more comfortable and at ease. I hope this helps!

[Anonymous]

We always chaperone our child's feild trips for this reason. Unfortunately, that also means we usually get 2-3 of the ADHD kids since we are so good at managing our own.

We do these things:
-meet in advance with the teacher to understand the rules/ escalation strategy for discipline (for some kids the threat of having to join the teacher's group is enough to keep them trying) and you want to reinforce the expectations the teacher has set
-give them something to do at all times- while walking at the zoo count how many light posts we pass etc
-have a ritual for each stop- at each stop- take a photo, tell your favorite part, vote on what next (repetition is key)
-have a reward they can earn for brief segments- like holding the flag- John did such a good job listening, he is the flag holder/ line leader on our next walking
-ask the kids questions about what they are seeing
-if they are touching- have them hold something or hold hands
-if they are running- they have to hold hands on next walk
-use time outs- we have to wait for 2 minutes before we can proceed

In typing these out they sound like preschool suggestions, but that is the nature of ADHD. it is a developmental delay, so recycle your preschool parenting skills- redirect/ engage/ distract

Good luck!