DS anxious about 6 week summer holiday

[Titsflyingsouth]

So my DS(8) behaviour has been going steadily downhill for about a fortnight. He's been very grumpy at home. Had phonecalls from the school and the childminder.

Finally realised after a few difficult conversations that he's anxious about the upcoming holidays. He likes a routine and it's going to be shot to pieces for a few weeks.

Trying to think about strategies I can put in place to make it easier for him. Anyone else have a similar situation with their kids? Wondering if you had any good strategies that worked...Thanks

We make a timetable as DS1&3 both struggle with the change in routine. It means life is rigid, but it means it runs more smoothly for everyone.

Come up with a schedule that works for your family and provides some structure for him and set it out in either words or pictures depending on what works best.

Sounds like he just wants to know what to expect. You can always add some periods of surprise and then tell him closer to the time what they will be.

Thanks both. We talked about doing a schedule with him and he looked relieved. So will see if it helps. Now just have to work out how to manage heatwave with him....🥵🥵

Hi, we have a DS(6), who thrives on school routine and struggles with change.

At halloween he was a complete mess, wouldn’t sleep, distressed etc. Christmas was quite busy and full of distractions/semi structured so Ok. However, in both instances he remained agitated after the break for a few weeks which disrupted his school work and his ability to enjoy school/friends.

From February half term onwards we have put him in to holiday schemes. Same timing as school, lots of other kids, goes with a packed lunch. It’s essentially school with the academic stress removed. He is much better and goes back to school with little fuss, and we are all doing better too as he isn’t strung up to the moon over holidays anymore. We use his DLA to pay for the schemes, ranges from £60-130 per week depending on what we send him to.