The Best Daily Routine for a Child with ADHD (Summer Edition)

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. 

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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

Transcript

Behavior Breakthrough Week Invite

Apryl 0:00

Now we're going to be talking about summer routines for your ADHD kid in this episode. But before we jump in, I want to tell you about something I'm doing in just a few weeks. It's called Behavior Breakthrough Week. And it is not another training where you sit there and take notes and then go back to your regular life unchanged. This is a full week that we're kicking off June 7th, where we are going to actually build a behavior plan together for that one behavior driving you absolutely crazy right now. The whining, the meltdowns, the bedtime negotiations, whatever it is for your kid, you pick it, and by the end of our kickoff night, Sunday night, you'll have a real plan you can implement on Monday morning. We're also going to be building your win-win board together, which is the first piece of the parent management system inside of raising ADHD foundations. You'll be in a private Facebook group community with other parents of ADHDers who actually get it. There's going to be prizes, live coaching with me, and an opportunity to hear directly from Dr. Bradford, get your questions answered. It's going to be a super fun week. So do not miss out. Doors open to the public soon. But if you're on the wait list, you actually get in one full day early and you get a special deal that day only. So get your name on the list now at raisingadh.org slash breakthrough.

Mixed Feelings About Summer Parenting

Apryl 1:29

Okay, let's get into today's episode. I don't know about you, but this time of year I s I have conflicting emotions. I'm excited. I'm excited to have some flexibility in my day-to-day. Uh, I'm not being run by the school system anymore, but I'm also a bit nervous because I'm not being run by the school system anymore. And now I, it's my job to entertain all day long. So it is exciting, but also, oh my goodness, we've got to get some things put into place so that we are prepared. So that's what we're doing in today's episode is we are going to be creating the best daily routine for a child with ADHD summer edition. All right, ready? Let's dive in. Welcome to Raising ADHD, the podcast for parents and teachers raising ADHD kids. If you've ever felt frustrated, overwhelmed, or just unsure what to do next, you're not alone. I'm April Bradford, a former teacher and ADHD mom, and alongside my husband, Dr. Brian Bradford, a child and adolescent psychiatrist, we're here to give you the clarity, strategies, and support you've been looking for. Every week we break down the misconceptions, answer your biggest questions, and share real tools you can use right away at home and in the classroom. So if you're ready to feel more confident and less overwhelmed, you're in the right place. Hey there, welcome back to the Racing ADHD podcast. Okay, first of all, let's talk about our feelings about summer as a parent. Are you a love it or a hate it type person? I remember when I was a teacher, I didn't get it. I didn't get like parents would be like, oh, it's summer, you know, like they would, and yeah. And then when I became a work from home parent, not in the classroom. I mean, as a teacher, I was just like excited that it was summer, right? Like it was my free time. I yeah. But now I'm like, oh, I get it. I get it. I get what it's like to be able to work in quiet. And then also being a work-at-home parent, having to work at home with a child all summer can be tricky. So, what are your thoughts on the summer? I would love to hear it. You can always DM me on Facebook or Instagram. Um, but today we are going to try to make summer. If you're a lover of summer, great. We're gonna make your summer with your ADHD kit a bit easier. If you are not a lover of summer, that's great too. Same thing, we're gonna make summer a bit easier.

Why ADHD Symptoms Spike In Summer

Apryl 4:33

So before we dive in, there is a reason why summer feels so hard. Besides being the circus director of trying of all the things, right? You're the ringleader trying to keep all the acts going. Um, but there is a real reason behind behind why summer feels so hard. We know that the ADHD brain thrives on structure and routine. And school naturally just builds that in. We have to get up at a certain time, we have to leave the house at a certain time. The school day is very structured and pretty rigid structure. Then they come home. Maybe they have an after-school sport, then it's bedtime or dinner and bedtime, right? That's all very structured. And it's been doing a lot of invisible work for your child all year long. For the ADHD brain, the school day offloads a lot of the X executive function skills. So sequencing, time management, transitions, task switching, they don't have to think about these things because it's so regimented. And then when school ends, your child loses both the internal capacity and the external support at the same time. The Cincinnati Children's Hospital did research on this, and ADHD symptoms like inattention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity often become heightened in summer without some proactive planning. And the CDC, as we know, states that consistent routines improve attention, reduce anxiety, and improve sleep. So two things that we want to uh reduce and implement here. We want to make that inattention impulsivity and hyperactivity become as calm as possible. A few weeks ago, I actually created an Instagram post because people had been asking this like, what's what's a good routine for ADHD kids? And my answer is there's not a perfect routine. The best routine is the routine that works best for your kid. With that said, there's some things that we can do that make our summer days a lot easier. And that's what we're gonna dive into. We're gonna talk about the summer anchor framework so we can be flexible and not rigid, but still have structure in our day. And then we're gonna talk about the three summer non-negotiables. And then we're gonna talk about the summer slide. And that one is really, really important for us to talk about. And then we're gonna put it all together. So let's dive into what this summer looks like. So

The Summer Anchor Framework

Apryl 7:37

if you are a rigid person, again, I am of the belief that we do what works best in our household, right? So if you are a rigid person and you love the structure of getting out your planner and planning out hour by hour, we're gonna go to the pool at this time, we're gonna have lunch at this time, do that and put it on the fridge for your kid to see. Okay, make it visible. But that is great. We're gonna have a bit more flexibility in our routine here because routine doesn't have to mean rigid, okay? So we're going to design around our kids, our house, and what works best for us. Routine is not about rigid timing, it's about consistent sequence. So let's talk about the summer anchor framework. So, like I was saying, if you're a rigid person, run with that, go with it. But if you are not, what we want to have in our day is three to five daily anchors, things that your kiddo can consistently count on. Again, not at specific times, but they're just anchors of the day. Like I know this is going to happen. Anchors are not ours. Anchor number one is already automatically built into our day. That is a consistent wake up time. And research shows that we want to try to keep this wake up time between 30 to 60 minutes of the school year wake up time. This just helps with our kiddos, um, you know, their mood, their emotional stability. Everything is better when we try to keep it and don't disrupt sleep schedules. There's so much research on sleep. When we disrupt that as little as possible, the better results we're gonna have. Plus, when it's time to go back to school, it's gonna be easier to switch them if we're, you know, going to waking up 30 minutes earlier than we were in the summer, then two hours or something like that, right? Another anchor that's already built into your day is meals at regular times. So breakfast, we wake up, we eat breakfast, right? Lunch, midday. And again, it doesn't have to be at like we eat lunch at 12 o'clock. Okay, we eat lunch between 12 and 1. It's fluid, right? And then we have dinner. We eat dinner between five and six. Here's some ideas for a few anchors. Movement blocks, learning our skills block, and then a defined screen time window with a clear endpoint. That one we can be rigid on that one, so it's not just like the endpoint. What start time doesn't matter. End point, yes. We want to make sure that we're you know being consistent with that, and then another anchor that is already just built in is a consistent bedtime. So again, with waking up, bedtime can move just a bit, but again, there's so much sleep research out there, even you know, as adults getting to bed, waking up at the same time, and as a parent, I don't know about you, but that sleep time is my free time. So if you're finding yourself this summer, you're like, oh my gosh, just so overwhelmed. Check your bedtime. Is your child or your children going to bed at a time that you get some quiet time to yourself? If not, put that in place. Give yourself some breathing room because especially if you're a work-from-home parent or a stay-at-home parent, um, you need that quiet time. Okay. So create some anchors. What are some anchors in your day? And maybe you're the type of person who's like, you know what? We go to the pool every single day. And we go to the pool after lunch. That's an anchor for you. Or, you know, you walk the dog every mid-morning. Great. That is an anchor for you. So look at your day, look at your schedule, and what are some anchors that your kiddo, their brain, can attach onto? And it can be in a consistent order. That's really what's mattering here is a consistent order, right? Not consistent time, consistent order.

Three Research Backed Nonnegotiables

Apryl 12:04

So here are three non-negotiables as you're planning your anchor. Here are three non-negotiables that are research-backed. You're gonna see why. Non-negotiable number one is daily physical exercise. There's so much research on exercise and the ADHD brain. In our episode, which I'll link it in the show notes, in our episode about managing ADHD without medication, exercise is like the number one thing because of the way that it affects the brain, the way that it affects dopamine, all of those things. So having a non-negotiable of daily physical exercise, physical activity significantly improves executive function in school-aged kids with ADHD. So we want to get that physical activity in. It also shows, so there's so much, like it's crazy how much physical exercise helps executive function and ADHD. But cognitive flexibility and working memory, physical exercise has a moderate to large effect on those two executive functions as well. Dr. John Rady from Harvard, he is the author of the book Spark. He says that exercise raises baseline dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin, which are the same neurotransmitters targeted by ADHD medication. Exercise targets those. So think about summer. What are some ways that your kiddo can get outside and get some movement? Whether that's bike rides, going to the pool, doing playing basketball with a friend, soccer camp, going to a martial arts class. What is it? Walking the dog, going to the, we have an animal shelter close to our house that we could go, you know, volunteer to walk the dogs, get in some daily physical exercise or some movement. Non-negotiable number two is consistent sleep. Judith Owens at Harvard says that sleep improves inhibitory control, so that impulse control, which is the core deficit in ADHD. And we've talked about this on the podcast too. Brian has said it how uh sleep deprivation is like super ADHD. So we want to make sure that we're getting our kiddos that consistent sleep. And just like I said earlier, it's that quiet time for us moms and dads, too. So it is nice to not have that like you have to get in bed because you have to wake up to go to school. But it's also nice to make sure that our kiddos are getting to sleep at a consistent time. The summer trap is that wanting to have late bedtimes, no morning alarm, and then shifting wake-up times, right? But if we can aim for that wake-up time within 30 to 60 minutes of the school year time, that's your golden, golden place right there. So, yes, it can be a little bit more flexible, but we want that consistent routine still.

Wait List Reminder And Why It Helps

Apryl 15:23

Okay, I have to interrupt for just a second. You know that behavior breakthrough week I mentioned at the beginning. If any of this sounds familiar, the wait list was made for you. First, you've picked one specific behavior in your house that is wearing you down. You think about it in the shower, you dread it before it happens, you feel like a different person after it's over. This week is for that behavior. Second, maybe you've tried the sticker charts, you've tried timers, you've tried taking things away, and nothing sticks for more than three days. That's because you have strategies, not a system. We're gonna build the system together. And third, maybe you are tired of doing this alone, of being the only one in your circle who actually understands what parenting a kid with ADHD feels like at 5 p.m. on a Tuesday. The Facebook community alone is worth showing up for. Here's why getting on the wait list is super important. Waitlists get access one full day before doors open to the public, and there is a special deal available only during that 24-hour window. Once it closes, it closes. So go to raisingadh.org slash breakthrough and get on the wait list. Dill? Okay, let's get back to the episode. Let's

Rewards That Actually Motivate ADHD

Apryl 16:43

talk about non-negotiable number three, a real reward system. The ADHD brain has measurably different reward circuitry system. Now we're gonna get sciencey for just a minute. The sciencey words, the nucleus accumbens, which is the brain's core reward center, shows reduced activation during reward anticipation in ADHD kids. This is why consequences don't motivate. The brain isn't getting the signal. So when you feel like I have punished, punished, punished, punished, punished, and nothing works, this is why. So you need a real world reward system to though to get your kiddo to do the things that we want them to do. This is again what we're building inside of Behavior Breakthrough Week. We're gonna build the win-win board. We're gonna talk about that, we're gonna build it. So make sure as you're doing this this summer, you have some sort of reward system for your kiddo. Those are our three non-negotiables: daily physical activity, consistent sleep, and a real reward system. These are all what the research shows that we need to have in our ADHD kiddos summer routine and daily routine. Let's

Preventing The Summer Slide

Apryl 18:09

talk really quick, which former teacher I find very important. The summer slide. Kids, and this is just kids in general, lose one to three months of academic progress over summer. And up to 80% of neurodivergent kids lose skills. And the recovery, listen to this, the recovery of those skills can consume the entire fall semester. So if your kiddo is already struggling, them having summer break, they're going to lose one to three months and then have the entire fall semester trying to catch up. So we want to close that gap. Doing one academic skill daily is even like 10, 20 minutes is going to help reduce that summer slide. Things like reading, math games, journaling, make it fun, make it something that they look forward to. Other options are like structured summer camp or a new hobby or a sport can help with this summer slide as well. So

A Realistic Morning To Bedtime Plan

Apryl 19:19

let me talk about what we're going to be doing in our household this summer. I'm going to talk about what, let me talk about what hours, what I'm planning our schedule to look like, and then especially what I'm doing with this summer slide. So for us, again, I work from home. So our mornings are are more like we're at home, I'm working, and my daughter's doing her thing. So again, the consistent, wake up, all of that stuff, get dressed, those kind of things. With our mornings, our very first thing is going to be the academic. Get it out of the way. First thing in the morning, have it done. I have, if you are on my newsletter, you get the weekly newsletter, and I share our three things that I'm loving now. I have just bought some math games. I loved teaching math with math games. Um, I was a math teacher and we had yeah, just so much fun. Kids don't even realize that they're learning when they have games. So I actually have some fun games. Well, actually, some of them I don't know if they're fun yet. I'm gonna be testing them out. I'll be sharing them in the newsletter. I'd share them here if I knew that they were good. I don't know that they're good yet. And you know what else I'll do? If you're on the newsletter, if you're not on the newsletter, if you join the wait list for the breakthrough, you'll be added to the newsletter. I will be sharing some of my games that I actually created as a classroom teacher that will help like with math, um, math facts, like um hangman and stuff like that that are super fun. You just print, easy to do, your kids will love it. I kid my students loved it, but I'm gonna be sharing the games that we are using to make math facts fun. So we're gonna be playing games. I on Amazon, you can get like Summer Bridge workbooks, that's what they're called. And they have if your kids like in second grade going into third, that it's the bridge, right? So they have those workbooks. I would suggest getting one of those, just having your kid work through that, even a piece of it, or reading for five, ten, fifteen, twenty minutes. If you can get them to read, fabulous, fabulous, fabulous. If this is a struggle for you, I get it. Here's a little tip turn off the sound and say, Great, you can. Watch this movie, but for the next 20 minutes, 10 minutes, whatever works again, it is what works for you and your household. We're gonna turn off the sound and only have captions. Guess what? They still get to watch their movie, but now they have to read. So if reading is a struggle for you, or getting this, you know, academic portion of your day in, do that. That will work. That will work, okay? Another thing you can do, sidewalk chalk. Like have um, you know, do math facts with sidewalk chalk or shapes with sidewalk chalk, depending on what age your kid is, right? You can do area, perimeter. There's so many things you can do with sidewalk chalk as well. Make sure you're doing something academic so we don't have as great of slide. And like I said, the simplest thing you can do is reading and reading to your kid. Oh my gosh, there's so many ideas that I can share with you. Uh, the Lemonade Wars. If your kid won't read, read to your kid. Lemonade Wars is a great read aloud for summer. Mr. Lemoncello's Library, another great read aloud for summer. They're chapter books. Those would be really fun books to read as a parent to your kid or have your kid read those. Fabulous, great summer read alouds. Okay, so there's some ideas for you.

Visual Schedules And Simple Wrap Up

Apryl 23:22

Something we want to do, as we know, we want to make this visible. The ADHD needs to see the routine, not just hear it. So you can post a visual weekly calendar where your child can see it. Um, you know, just and it can just be the routine of the day. Like breakfast, uh, school time or academic time or learning time, whatever you want to call it, lunch, screen time, movement time, dinner, free time, bedtime, whatever, you know, you're that's kind of what ours is gonna like look like, except screen time will be after lunch. And then for us, because I work, right? Um that afternoon is when I'm dying and want to get out of the house. So that's when our movement time will be. We are lucky we have a pool in our neighborhood. So going to the pool at the night at night is one of my favorite things. And our pool has a little restaurant. So some nights, especially if Brian's working late, I'm like, let's go to the pool. We'll just get dinner at the pool, we'll stay there till bedtime, and we'll come home, put our PJs on, and boom. That's one of my favorite things to do. Let's wrap this all up, okay? So we want to create sameness across days for predictability. That's really what we're doing. Follow the summer anchor framework. Wake up time, regular meal times, a movement break, a learning skills block, a screen block, and then dinner and bedtime block. Just simple and easy, just those anchors that they can capture onto. We are not Pinterest perfect. We are doing what works for us. You have permission to not be perfect, not be Pinterest perfect, not be the mom who's doing all the cutesy things unless you love that. If you love that, my friend, go for it. The goal is just being consistent and having a consistent routine that your kiddo has structure. This work will pay off all summer and all fall. When we have this, it's gonna help your kiddo's executive function so that when they go back to school, they're more regulated. We're gonna have that summer slide not be as big, right? They're not gonna have to spend all fall catching up. So, this simple having those anchors, having those anchor blocks are key to making sure that we have a successful summer that doesn't completely wipe us out as parents. I want to leave you with three starting actions from today. Pick three to five daily anchors for your summer: a consistent wake up time, meal times at regular times, and a defined screen window with a clear endpoint. Build in daily movement, whether that's the pool, the bike, because exercise is the closest thing we can we have to a non-medication intervention for the ADHD brain. Keep one academic skill alive for 20 minutes a day, whether that's reading, math games, journaling, so your child doesn't lose ground over the break. And if

Final Action Steps And Invitation

Apryl 26:24

you want to take this further, I want to personally invite you to Behavior Breakthrough Week. Once your routine is in place, the next layer is what you do when the behavior still happens, because it will, especially when everyone is home together all summer. During behavior breakthrough week, we're going to pick one behavior that is driving you crazy and build an actual plan for it together. You'll create your child's win-win board, you'll get live coaching from me, you'll get to hear from Brian, Dr. Bradford, Brian, and you'll be in the Facebook community with parents who finally get what your day-to-day actually looks like. So get on the wait list now because waitlisters get in one day before dos open to the public and you get a special deal on that one day only. So head to raisingadh.org slash breakthrough to get on the wait list. I'll drop the link in the show notes and I really hope to see you there. Again, raisingadh.org slash breakthrough. You've got this. Summer is going to be

Subscribe Review And Share

Apryl 27:29

great this year.

Brian Bradford 27:29

Thanks so much for joining us for today's conversation on raising ADHD. Remember, raising ADHD kids doesn't have to feel overwhelming. Small shifts can make a big difference. If you found this episode helpful, it would mean the world if you would hit subscribe, if you would leave a review, or if you shared it with another parent or teacher who needs this support. And don't forget to join us next week for more real talk, practical tips, and encouragement. Until then, you've got this, and we've got your back.