Anyone else NOT looking forward to school re-opening?

[Anonymous]

Nearly all of my typical friends are counting down the days to the first day of school. Not me. For my ds's sake, I don't want summer to end.

I am regretting the return : (

Ds had a so-so year last year. Just being in school all day is just so stressful for him (public) with the long day, transitions that are typical to nearly all schools, and being in a room full of other kids. He is EXHAUSTED mentally and physically at the day's end.

He is a different child during the summer. There is still structure, with half day camp and therapies, but all the anxieties and fatigue disappears and he actually has time to play, laugh, and be the happy go lucky kid that he is.

I am nearly in tears at the thought of the approaching school year. He (and we) are loving summer so much! I feel so bad for him, and regret that our school system still caters to kids who can sit in a classroom most of the day at desks and write on worksheets.

[Anonymous]

I'm with you, though summer is harder on our ADHD kid than the school year- kid thrives on structure and consistency. But the stakes during the school year are much higher.

[Anonymous]

I can empathize - I love summer just in general. DS has done a special reading program through our school system's summer school program to further develop his skills. It's been a half day and then there's an after-care program, which has been nice. It is much less in-school time and there's really no homework.

I guess we partially look forward to the return to school - he has good friends in school (some of whom did the "reading camp" with him) and we hope he has good teachers in the Fall. Every year, it's a mixed bag, but he had some truly outstanding ones last year, along with a couple who were mediocre. I guess we hope for more outstanding and less mediocre.

I don't look forward to the extra stress of homework but we are hopeful that the new medication DS takes for ADHD (Vyvanse) is going to make getting through the school day easier and more enjoyable. The school year for us, I guess, brings a mix of hope and worry.

[Anonymous]

I am already stressing about homework and the boatload of work that comes with 3rd grade. Arghhh. But we do have a very strong IEP in place and are trying different meds so I am trying to be more positive. Not easy.

[Anonymous]

I'm dreading it. I feel like my kid learns so much more in an informal way with me around the house than in school.
I'm dreading it even more than he is.

[Anonymous]

I get sick just thinking about it.

One of the hardest parts is getting up so early. My kids are not wired to wake up at 5:30 am for school to begin at 7:10. They're exhausted all day, but then around 8 pm they get this burst of energy that makes it so hard for them to go to sleep at night.

And the homework...it's so nice to have evenings where you can do whatever you want, and not have your schedule dictated by an inflexible, one size fits all curriculum.

[Anonymous]

I am dreading it. My son has had a fantastic summer, no injuries in his camp. But once school starts I get letters and phone calls and bad notes every day.

[Anonymous]

I dread it! I love spending all day hanging out at the pool or going to the beach. I love that we have almost no schedule during the summer. No homework, no school projects, no after school stuff.

And my college kids were home for a few weeks!

[Anonymous]

I'm dreading it as well. In addition to ADHD, my DS has anxiety and the 6 weeks before school starts are miserable. Then, once school starts, there are the transition issues, learning the schedule, the teachers and who's going to be his friend? He's okay so far socially but that doesn't stop him from worrying about it. My younger DS is also starting K. He was in a special ed preschool the last couple years (think very small class size and very nurturing) and will now transition to general ed with some special ed. I'm dreading it. He's just not ready but we can't afford private school.

[Anonymous]

Im also not looking forward/borderline anxious. After an unhappy year for both my NT child nad SN which ended with school saying they are unsure whether they can educate the SN kids, we enjoyed a peaceful summer in which everyone was in a good environment, grew and was happy. No calls and stress during the day, no annoyed conversations from teacher at drop off, though the trade off was more complicated logistics in the morning. With a few weeks left of summer left, the reaching out has already begun from the people we interact with during school year and not happy about it

One funny story: parent of two "normal" kids i work with complained in June about the start of summer bc it would mean she'd have to leave work ontime for a 6 pm pickup. That should be my only problem!

[Anonymous]

How old is your DC?

Mine is rising 2nd grade. Until this year, as long as we were in public school with an IEP I have dreaded the beginning of school. It was agonizing to watch the ramped up stress level and behaviors, etc.

Now that we've switched to private, this is the first time I can actually say that we're enjoying our brief summer break, but also looking forward to school beginning again. That's all of us, btw, not just me.

[Anonymous]

IF only private school wasnt so dang expensive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:IF only private school wasnt so dang expensive.

I'm the PP and I apologize. Paying for private school is not an option for our family. We are not wealthy and I was not gloating.

We had to fight the system to get a publicly-funded private placement. It was a year-long project which, I think, took years off my life. Having said that, actually having my child in the school may have given them back. We shall see. In the meantime, from my perspective no matter how well-intentioned our public schools were, they did not have the experience and expertise to do what a specialized program is doing. I love our brief summer break, but I will also love "back to school."

It's just a different opinion, so I'm putting it out there.

[Anonymous]

PP, we're actually in a similiar situation now as your year long struggle you describe here. Is there an offlist email address I can contact you at with some specific questions about resources we are using? Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP, we're actually in a similiar situation now as your year long struggle you describe here. Is there an offlist email address I can contact you at with some specific questions about resources we are using? Thanks.

Sure, we can talk offlist. But, do you have an email I can send to? Mine identifies my name pretty clearly.