Reply to Structured/traditional vs Progressive school for adhd/anxiety

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Reply to "Structured/traditional vs Progressive school for adhd/anxiety"

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[quote=Anonymous]I would be wary of the "progressive" school. Sometimes kids with ADHD and/or anxiety really do prefer a lot of structure and the behavior expectations being made explicit. For a kid who doesn't self-regulate, pick up on social cues or understand body language as well (which is common for kids with ADHD), having to decide the implicit expectations at a supposedly more flexible school can be an added burden and source of struggle. And if there are lots of other kids whose behavior isn't well-regulated, the classroom may be more chaotic and noisy and that can be difficult for ADHD too-- it's really distracting. The explicit structure, atmosphere, and routine of traditional schooling can be a big help for certain types of special needs.

I would also suggest you set the bar for dyslexia support a little higher than "can handle dyslexia". Which school has the better support? Does either school have an Orton-Gillingham trained faculty member to work with her? At her young age, you're already having issues significant enough to notice. You don't really know whether you're dealing with just ADHD and dyslexia, or maybe something more. Which school is best position to help her in that scenario?

I'm curious why you don't have a middle ground between traditional parochial vs "progressive". I think if you look around a little harder, you'll find something in between-- maybe a public-- that isn't as squishy as a progressive private but also isn't as traditional as the parochial. And then you'd have IEP rights as well. If you're someone who doesn't give public school much thought, take a look, you might like what you see.

I don't put much stock in the "love of learning" yada yada that you get from progressive type schools. It's too squish to really mean that much. In my experience most kids love to learn and have curiousity at most types of schools. It's something parents say when their kid is happy and they don't want to say anything very specific.[/quote]

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