Preliminary Information Gathering

Start by gathering information about the student's wellbeing...some aspects have temporary impact on the student’s performance while others may be lifelong.

Physical Wellbeing

General Health

How is the child’s general health? If a child is unwell with even just a cold, it affects how he/she attends and engages in class. Cold, asthma medicines, allergy medicines, seasonal variations do affect how children attend/behave in class. 

Sleep

It takes several months to recover completely from lack of sleep for ONE night. This is one of the most common reasons for children's lack of attention. Talk to parents to see if the child gets sufficient sleep through the night. Tonsils, adenoids, and other causes of sleep apnea reduce the amount of oxygen in the brain. Sleep apnea in young children is often underdiagnosed or ignored.

Click Here fo more information on sleep apnea.

Diet

Does the student have a healthy diet? A child with a restrictive diet will not get all the nutrients—resulting in poor attention skills besides all the other medical conditions. If the child eats mostly soft white foods (starchy foods) what happens? There is a spike in the blood sugar and then a quick drop. Think about how it affects attention in class. Diet is not just about long term health benefits but also day to day functioning.
Mental Wellbeing

Anxiety
Some children look forward to the changes a new academic year brings. Some others take to changes a little slowly. A few others have more than their share of anxiety in the new year (even in older students). Check to see if your student is beset by anxiety.

Social Skills/Social Problem Solving
Is the student happy, with a  circle of friends? How does he/she spend unstructured periods like lunch time and recess? Are there any changes at home? How do parents/extended family get along? What conflict resolution skills do the parents have (as the child will learn the same from them)? Does the child have age appropriate skills to respond/react? How about self esteem/self confidence?

Work Habits

Is your student able to work independently? Does he take care of his belongings? Doe she like to plan and execute activities with her peers?

This information should give you an idea of whether you need to target the student's environment or if you need to focus on a learning behavior.

Next, we'll look at the learning behaviors:)

Ms. S