Send us Fan Mail

What's the best daily routine for a child with ADHD? Not a rigid schedule, but a flexible anchor system. Get the research-backed summer framework that actually works. 

___________________________________________________

School ends, and within 48 hours, your ADHD kid is dysregulated, bored, melting down, and you're wondering how you'll survive until August.

Here's why: the school day has been doing invisible work for your child's brain all year. It offloads sequencing, time management, transitions, and task-switching. When summer hits, your child loses both the internal capacity AND the external support at the same time.

But the fix isn't a color-coded hourly schedule you'll abandon by day three. It's building flexible anchors your child's brain can latch onto—without making you the full-time cruise director.

In this episode, Apryl breaks down the Summer Anchor Framework and the three research-backed non-negotiables that protect your child's brain (and your sanity) all summer long.

You'll learn:

• Why ADHD symptoms spike in summer—and what the research says about preventing it
• The Summer Anchor Framework: structure without rigidity
• The 3 non-negotiables every ADHD summer routine needs (backed by Harvard research)
• How to prevent the "summer slide" that consumes your child's entire fall semester
• Practical ideas for the daily learning block that don't feel like school
• What Apryl's own summer schedule looks like (real-life, not Pinterest-perfect)

If you've been dreading summer or white-knuckling your way through it, this episode gives you a framework you can actually stick with.

RESOURCES MENTIONED

• Free resource: Behavior Breakthrough Week waitlist – raisingadhd.org/breakthrough
• Previous episode: Managing ADHD Without Medication
• Summer Bridge Workbooks 
• Read-alouds: The Lemonade War by Jacqueline Davies, Mr. Lemoncello's Library by Chris Grabenstein

Practical ideas for the learning block:

• Math games
• Summer Bridge workbooks
• Reading (or captions-on movie watching)
• Sidewalk chalk math/shapes
• Read-alouds with chapter books