how to help DS remember to bring his instrument to school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have a list on the back of the door with 4 columns. First has days of the week, second is Child 1's things to remember (library book, instrument, PE sneakers, dance shoes, sport gear, lunch, etc) third column is same for Child 2 and fourth column is me (I bring lunch, reading material on days I wait at activities, notebook for a specific meeting day)

Before we walk out the door each person reads their own list out loud to confirm they have it. It works because we all make it a routine. Except DH - he's a creature of habit already!

Agreed. And it helps, since every day I forget something (my watch, to put makeup on, the lunch I had ready in the fridge....). They can remember to check a list every day, especially if its near the door. It's harder to remember every thing on the list every day, especially when it's somewhat arbitrary (like library on Thursday).

[Anonymous]

does he forget anything else or its just the instrument. eg. school folders, lunch bag if you don't pack it for him and he needs to take it from the kitchen etc.

[Anonymous]

"The more we do, the less they need to do."

[Anonymous]

We have a list of each day of the week and the kid's specials that day. They check the list before leaving the house in the morning. It's the only way they would remember things like instruments, PE shoes, library books, etc.

We all have a touch of ADHD and we all have lists. I would be lost without Google calendar!

[Anonymous]

Op here. Thanks for these ideas. Our front door is in the middle of the living room (no foyer), so it would look weird to hang a list there, but I can hang one in the area of the kitchen where my kids keep their backpacks. For those of you who hang up lists, do you find that at some point the lists almost become "invisible"? I find that for myself, once something has been hanging on the wall for more than a week or two, I start to ignore it. Also, for my child who needs to remember his instrument, there will be nothing on his list other than "backpack" every day except for the one day that also has "instrument" on it, so I suspect he will not really get into a routine of checking the list since 4 out of 5 days it will be so easy to ignore. Anyway, there is obviously no magic solution - thanks to all for sharing strategies.