Experiences with Progressive v. Traditional for (Managed) ADHD

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Depends how serious the ADHD, whether there's a social skills deficit, and whether you think inattentiveness would fly under the radar and the school would not intervene.

And it depends on your comfort with "child-led" meaning your child is allowed to avoid certain tasks or subjects and miss out on parts of the curriculum.

Some schools are willing to adjust their "progressive" approach by giving very clear instructions and routines to specific students who benefit from that. If the school isn't self-aware about this issue, beware.

Children are NOT allowed to avoid tasks or part of the curriculum. This is a misunderstanding of progressive child led work.

Well they're not supposed to, but it happens. Especially with a child who hyper focuses on preferred topics and is inattentive to other topics.

We haven’t encountered that at our progressive K-8.

There will always be the challenge of students not loving certain topics. But my ADHD child who really doesn’t love writing still has to get it done. They structure it well, and she’s learning to break it down into small steps. It’s a much bigger challenge than math, but it’s still a requirement.

Child-led doesn’t mean the child it actually in charge.

[Anonymous]

Progressive schools are ok if you are willing to accept academic underperformance and teachers blaming all shortcomings on your child. YMMV.

[Anonymous]

Our family has a long history with progressive ed. and have had our two kids with ADHD start in a progressive school. They each have wildly different presentations. We didn't realize our oldest child even had ADHD until she moved to a traditional school. It was a bit rocky at first, then diagnosis, accommodations, etc. She's absolutely thriving now. Progressive was great for her in many ways, but it was the increased homework and traditional assessments that provided clear data for us that something needed to be addressed.

Younger kid has done great. I will say that we have avoided looking into schools that are supposed to be better structured for kids with ADHD, precisely because of how distracting that can be with someone who has ADHD. I experience that pretty regularly--your ADHD symptoms are triggering my ADHD.

You really need to know your kid, then check out the schools in person multiple times if possible.

[Anonymous]

We’re at a K-8 progressive with managed ADHD. It’s been great—truly. It’s not Willy nilly do whatever you want whenever you want for context, but there are opportunities to explore their interests. Enough structure but not too much. I like the emphasis on the whole child and deep connection to teachers who truly care. Lots of outside time etc.

[Anonymous]

I have two kids with ADHD, one who is also autistic.

The AuDHD child needs very visible structure and routine. He needs everyone to be doing the same thing at the same time and for the requirements of each assignment to be very clear. Progressive schools didn't work for him.

The ADHD only child thrives when he's given the opportunity to make choices. He will do the bare minimum when given explicit instructions but will go above and beyond when he feels like doing so is his choice. He is doing great at a progressive school and would feel stifled at his brother's more traditional school. (There's still dedicated time for each subject. I don't know any K12 school where students can choose not to do a particular subject.)

[Anonymous]

NP. I’ve been wondering about this question for schools like Burke - would my ADHD child just do the bare minimum?

[Anonymous]

We found Burke to offer an excellent balance. The school is structured and far more traditional than many people imagine, but the teachers were warm, encouraging, and somewhat forgiving when ADHD kids messed up. The pace and workload were manageable.

[Anonymous]

Sheridan is excellent for this. You are describing many of my kids peers. We chose it for this and it's dedication to DEI in the curriculum.