Homeschooling my ADHD Daughter

 My oldest daughter is 2E. She has ADHD and is gifted. She was amazing brilliant as a little kid and soaked in everything around her. Her baby sitter spoke Spanish and English to the kids (she was with us from 6 weeks to 3 years and became very close to us, we miss her terribly even now). My oldest picked up Spanish colors, numbers, and much more. She taught the older kids shapes and colors and my little one picked it up right along with them.  She was like a little sponge. 

But behavior wise it was a never ending story. We worked our tales off to keep her busy because her behavior when bored always caused trouble. She was a handful to say the least. She thought she should be the boss, always knew the right answer and was constantly going, and talking. She did not sleep through night and it was exhausting. 

Public school was a struggle for preschool so when we moved from MCAS Miramar to Camp Pendleton I chose to homeschool her for the rest of preschool. Then I made the mistake of sending her to public school where they bullied me into not getting her tested to see what was going on and her teacher lied on the ADHD form from her doctor. Then they physically restrained my daughter and did not call me, and I was done. 

Homeschooling was easy from k-5th grade. She loved to learn and was self motivated and would finish before noon and play the rest of the day. 

Middle school she stopped working and we dealt with depression. It was hard, she could not work, she knew the material but could not complete the assignments. It was so hard.

We are now in high school and her ADHD distracted brain is very hard to deal with. I am hoping that she will do better in public school if we find  place with a school she can attend once we move. If she does well I will be super excited for her. 

 She will be entering the 11th grade in public school with an IEP. This IEP is not quite accurate or functional I feel for my daughter in a typical classroom, so it will need to be adjusted when she starts school.

It was a hard won fight to get her an IEP at all. Since we homeschooled through a public charter and behavior was not an issue, plus she tested as gifted (through an outside psychologist and with their own tests) the school did not see a need for an IEP. 

The only reason we got one was because of her Ehlors Danlos that effects her movement, sitting and typing.

While she does indeed need accommodations for that, the thing that effects her school day the most is her inability to focus for more than a few moments at a time. Completing 5 math problems can take hours. Not because she does not understand the concepts but because every few seconds she gets distracted and is constantly having to refocus. 

Meds have not worked for her so far so we have to use accommodations to meet her needs. 

I will reach out to her teachers and ask them how we can support her to be successful in their classroom, without being disruptive.