Tip #2 – Buy school supplies AND build executive function skills!
Tip #1, yesterday, was all about getting back into our school routines before heading back to school. If you missed it, you can read it here. But today, it’s all about novelty and newness!
I remember when I was young, even though I didn’t like school, my absolute favourite thing about school was going and buying all the supplies I needed for a new school year. My parents would take my sister and I to BIG W and we would buy what we needed (and of course some extra stationary we probably didn’t need – because seriously, who doesn’t love stationary!)
So our tip #2 for our 10 tips to get your ADHDers (and ourselves!) ready to go back to school is…
As the school year approaches (9 days to go!!!) we can tap into the power of newness and novelty, by buying school supplies, to not only ignite excitement about school, but also to teach our children how to use their executive function skills, which can be a challenge for us ADHDers!
We use our executive function skills for so much! From attention to a task, planning, time management, problem solving, working memory and so much more. Our ability to use our executive function skills plays a pivotal role in our academic, vocational and life successes. Research has demonstrated over and over that ADHDers have challenges with using their executive function skills. However, executive function skills can be taught!
ADHD brains absolutely THRIVE in new situations. Why? Because it gives our brain a dopamine hit and ADHD brains need dopamine hits to be able to function at their best! So newness (like buying new school supplies) can be a brilliant way to engage our ADHD brains, and pair it with tasks that might not be as exciting for our brains, like making lists or sticking to a budget.
Planning and buying of school supplies, can be a fantastic opporunity for children to be shown how to plan, organise and prioritise, while still getting the dopamine hits of newness.
Here are 5 steps to use newness and novelty to build excitement & build executive function skills at the same time!
Step 1: Write a list!
ADHD brains often just want to jump right in and “do the thing” without planning properly first. Why? Because planning can be boring and overwhelming, particularly because they are skills that our brains aren’t naturally wired to do! This is part of ‘impulsivity.’
This is something I STILL have challenges with in my 40s! Rather than writing a list and sticking to it, I more often than not, just wing it. Which usually ends in me forgetting what I actually went to buy and coming back with a lot more than I had planned to buy! But when I plan and write a list, I stick to my budget and get what I need!
So, step one is write a list of everything your children will need for school! If your child is old enough get them to write the list! If they aren’t yet writing well, or if they have learning challenges get them to write it anyway! Repetition and practice is vital for learning how to write and spell. One of my beautiful daughters has specific learning challenges of reading and written expression, which makes it such a challenge for her to write and spell, but she is always willing to give it a go. That’s more important than getting it right every time!
Most schools will have probably sent you a stationary list (unless your school provides everything), so write all of that down. Don’t forget things like a school bag, lunch box, lunch bag, drink bottle, ice bricks, socks and hair accessories.
Would you like a printable list to help you and your children to plan and shop for their items – download ours for FREE at our SHOP!
Step 2: Set a budget, prioritise and stick to it
The price of living is ridiculous at the moment. Don’t feel that you have to get the best of the best and brand name everything. Honestly the $19 stainless steel drink bottle does just as good a job as the $85 Hydroflask drink bottle.
Give your children a budget to stick to for their school supplies and help them work out what they can spend more on or less on to make sure they stick to the budget. If they are older children, give them a total amount for all school supplies. If they are younger, help them out by giving them a budget for each individual item or group of items. You might also want your children to get better quality shoes, or bags, communicate this with them.
My children got a budget this year of $200 each. For some people this is WAY more than you would like to spend and that’s ok! Other people might have a way bigger budget. That’s ok as well. Whatever you are able to manage is fine!
Within this budget however, I wanted them to spent the majority of their money on a good pair of joggers, followed by a good backpack. They are all growing and I want to make sure their feet and backs are sorted – and to make sure they get more than one term out of them!
Step 3: Research & highlight!
Researching online is a valuable skill to teach your children. It can help them learn planning, prioritisation, money management and can help you not spend HOURS at the shops when they can’t decide which lunch bag is the best.
With their list and budget, help them find items they love! Then write them down! This is my kids favourite part. They are able to do this independently now (with me watching of course!)
Set them a challenge to see if they can find the best price for each item. Once they have written everything down, encourage them to group items together by shop. Big W might be blue, Kmart might be red and rebel sports might be yellow. They can then see how many shops they might need to visit, and will stop you having to go back and forward to get things that might have been forgotten. (Highlighting is a fantastic prioritisation strategy for their school work when they are older so this is a nice easy way to teach it!)
Step 4: Shop Shop Shop!
Now you have your list, budget and items colour coded by shop – go and buy them together. Sticking to a list is another great executive function skill to have!
Your children might find something else they love when they get to the shop, and that’s ok! Encourage them to think about their budget again, and if it can be swapped out for another item they love and it comes in under budget – then great! Flexible thinking is another fantastic executive function skill we can learn and this is a really supportive way of encouraging flexibility.
Another great tip is to order things online. This can help stop any meltdowns in the shops when you say no to something, or frustrations for you – but beware of postage fees and make sure the things will arrive PRIOR to school commencing.
I do lots of online shopping usually, but when it’s for something for my kids that they know about I tend NOT to online shop. My frustration tolerance is quite low (another characteristic of ADHD) and I can’t stand being asked every 20 mins if their school supplies are coming. I would rather go and buy them – but this is a great option for some people.
If you decide you want to go shopping – why not see if you can take each child individually and have a little coffee date with each of them. My husband was doing that this weekend and the kids loved it – so did he! He got three seperate coffee shop snacks! haha!
Step 5: Label everything!
As soon as you bring your children’s items home – label everything straight away. This helps you not to forget to do it later and will hopefully help you to not lose what you have just purchased!
Photo by Mike Petrucci on Unsplash