My son is in Year 5 and just turned 9 years old (summer born). He is bright but is lagging behind at school because he struggles to maintain concentration and focus. It's not just at school - he is the same when studying with me at home. He can focus on occasion, but he has to really want to.
I am looking for ways to help him. I am reluctant to look into medication because I don't think it would necessarily be right for him; I don't think his struggles are serious enough to warrant it. But I am keen to do what I can for him with diet, exercise, supplements, - basically anything that will help him.
I think there is some link to his gut health. After weaning he had problems with his gut health (white poos, frequent stomach aches). We saw a specialist who carried out tests and identified a Vitamin D deficiency.
He no longer seems to have stomach aches but has less energy and is more lethargic than my other children (getting out of bed in the mornings is a really struggle - I usually have to dress him or we just wouldn't get out of the door). He is also quite fussy around food and prefers white carbs and sugary foods (whether that be from fruit or refined sugar). I know the white carbs will also turn into sugar ....
He sometimes looks pale. We are of Mediterranean heritage and have the thalassemia trait.
Back to the focus and concentration, he can learn something and forget it the next day. It's a struggle for him to maintain knowledge of times tables and spellings. He frequently gets things back to front. We've had an assessment and diagnosis of dyslexia, but I think the dyslexia is a result of his inability to focus and concentrate. He's capable of emotional insight and working out inference beyond his years, and on occasion can work out fairly complex maths problems in his head.
I would love to hear from other parents in similar situations with advice for what might help and any helpful reading and resources please. Thank you