I am curious if others have seen this in their children. My oldest son seems to do better in his earlier classes then the ones later in the day. I have always felt this was the case but it was beuatifully illistrated the last 2 years. Let me give you an example. At the begining of 7th grade my son had his math class at the very end of the day and he was doing miserably. His class got changed to a 1st period class when a new teacher was hired to help alleviate class size. He went from almost failing to getting an A in a matter of weeks. Last year he had reading at the begining of the day and made tremendous strides, this year he had it at the end of the day and did not fair as well. He has commented and teachers have noted that at the end of the day he is wiped. The more reading and writing required of him the more tired he is. He can run a mile without tiring, ride his bike miles on end without tiring, swimming ect, but academics since to wipe it out. We are trying an experiment his 1st year in high school where his academics are at the begining of the day starting with his worst subject, then progressing through the day to his best. In the 8th grade health class he took this last year he got a D (class 6th of day of 7 classes). He is currently taking his freshman requirement for health 1st class and is getting an A. The circulium is harder but he is doing better. The best news is he is able to do it on his own.
Re: fatigue factor
When my daughter was evaluated, the evaluator told me that she was coming home from school EXHAUSTED from having to work so hard. Because of the LD they do have to work harder than everyone else to accomplish the same (or less). Am I naive to think that you could have a meeting with the school and request that part of your child’s accommodations are that they take their hardest academic classes in the A.M?
Re: fatigue factor
>>Am I naive to think that you could have a meeting with the school and request that part of your child’s accommodations are that they take their hardest academic classes in the A.M?<<
Absolutely ask for this and don’t take no for an answer.
And take in this article
http://abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s57074.htm
Anne
I was told my son was tired at the end of the day as well. The teacher kept saying make sure he gets his rest. He always went to bed on time so I was perplexed by this.
My son also has boundless energy for things he likes.
My son actually does ok at school despite his LD. I think it is because he has received some remediation and now knows how to read well. If he was tested today he probably wouldn’t be classified ld.
I have read that kids with ld work 10 times harder than everyone else to achieve the same effect. I think that is the case with my son. He holds it all together so well all day and by the end is just pooped.
I also have asked that the teachers allow him to have a snack in the afternoon. He is slotted for the 11:15 lunch time and I think by 2:30 he is starving. He has always been relativily sensitive to low blood sugar. (moody when he is hungry) He comes home every day starving.
Although the teachers agreed to give him a snack it wasn’t happening. I told him just to eat when he was hungry but I think he was reluctant to do it by himself when the class wasn’t taking a snack break.