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Monthly NewsNote
July/August 2007
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Beware the Easier First Marking Period
It's hard to pay attention to school when everyone has just started to breathe free. Nevertheless, an important point to be aware of as school starts is that the first marking period can be the easiest, and this can present problems as the year goes on.
The point was brought home a few weeks ago when I saw two new patients. Both were 17-year-old boys with ADD, one who attends a prep school and the other a local high school. Their story and report card told the same story. They had slid through the first marking period doing little or no homework, paying little attention in class, and having no feeling that they needed to work harder. Despite all this they got B's and were happy with the grades. Their parents were also content, feeling things would get better.
But things did not get better. Feeling they had everything under control, the boys continued working as they had been. But their grades began to fall, and by the end of the year they were barely getting C's.
For these boys, the easier marking of the first period made them feel everything was under control, and it wasn't.
Another problem I see every year are parents withholding medication during the first quarter. This develops because Mom decides not to use medication until she's absolutely sure it's necessary. She correctly remembers that her child had done well last fall, and wants to put off using the medication. In this situation the child may be okay at the beginning of the year. But they are not learning what they need to know as the foundation for the rest of the year. For example, they may not learn math equations or how to write a book report. This is because of their ADD, and the lack of learning becomes a significant problem as the year goes on. Grades go down, particularly in the 2nd and 3rd marking periods.
We would have been in a much better position if we had started the year with medication instead of having to play catch up.
The point is that an easier first quarter does not predict an easy year. It is of great importance that a student, at whatever grade level, take the first marking period seriously and do the best they can.
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