Good range would be the same as for adults (4-7) I'd be happy with a 5 or so if it was my child (or me!). It depends on how stable they are. If they're all over the place, it might be 'safer' to be a bit on the higher side. But you need to keep in mind that they've got it for life so the tighter control they can achieve, the better their prognosis. It infuriates me that the medical profession are so blase about children's glucose levels!
Yes, I am surprised that they are not testing before morning tea. I see little point in eating what is potentially a high carb snack if the blood sugars are already high. Again, it depends on the snack, the glucose control the child has, their insulin regime etc

Oh good, that was what I thought - you see the parents have the range for her to be within as 5-12...

????

Hmmm - probably what they've been told. And, I suppose if I'm honest, it's more of a realistic goal. Just not something to aspire to IMO.

So thinking back to this, if a child was up the top end of that range (5-12) often, is there anything out there suggesting that that might affect learning?

My daughter is tested before morning tea and before lunch (and before swimming or other intense activity). If she is highish at morning tea time I would expect her to have a lower carb morning snack than if she were lower or normal BG.
If Rachel is high she finds it very hard to concentrate and to take in what she should be learning. What she is trying to learn often doesn't "stick". I like her to be between 6 and 8 at school..

I have copied these from http://www.pediatricsdigest.mobi/content/109/1/e9.full "Effects of Diabetes on Learning in Children" where the the full report is available.

Current academic performance on the ITBS/ITED did not show lower performance by children with diabetes compared with either control group; in fact, children with diabetes performed better than their siblings on math (mean SS: 115.0 vs 111.1) and core total scores (mean SS: 113.9 vs 110.5) and better than their matched classmates on reading (mean SS: 108.9 vs 106.8). When subgroup comparisons based on diabetes metabolic control were made among children with diabetes, poorer academic performance tended to occur in children with poorer diabetic control.
For most children, type 1 diabetes is not associated with lower academic performance compared with either siblings or classmates, although increased behavioral concerns are reported by parents. The results of this study suggest that the subtle cognitive deficits often documented in children with type 1 diabetes may not significantly limit the functional academic abilities of these children over time. However, careful monitoring is still needed to ensure that episodes of hypoglycemia associated with seizures are not adversely affecting learning.

At primary school Phillip wasn't tested before lunch or morning tea. But the school were terrible at handling diabetes and I've learned a lot more since then. (He was year 4 when dxd). With what I know now I'd expect him to test before any meal.

For Phillip high blood sugars over about 15 or so can make it hard for him to concentrate. He finds it really hard to do maths if he's high. It's the same when he's low, his brain doesn't function at all. We try to get between 4-7 for him, but I'm happy with up to 10 while at school, although he will take insulin for numbers between 7-10. I also prefer him to be a bit higher if he's exercising, around 8-9 up to about 14ish works best for him, but it's very individual.

Thanks guys, this is very helpfulfor when I meet with the parents, hopefully they will come in next week, or I will ask them to come in.

Glad we could help, Felicis.

Hi Felicis - I had a girl we taught a few years ago - type 1. (I was only in the class 1 day/week). We had a big container with her food in it (kept under desk) boxes of juice, sweets etc....Her mother talked to us all...and we read a book to the students so they also had an idea of what ? had.
? did have a lot of time of school so was behind quite a bit in her year level of learning.
The biggest help I found was having very open communication with the mother...she was great in explaining all to us.

Yeah, I think the concerns we have is that perhaps the parents arent that on top of everything? Just not much communication with the school, when she had a bad low over a year ago, apparently the school was way more concerned than the parents, same with the highs (i think she is often near the 12, which is communicated, but they aren't worried). I am just interested to see what is 'normal' for a diabetic student and family, as of course we can only come from what we 'read', not what we know - and I would hate to tell a parent anything when they are the ones with the child, not me!

You are quite right here Felicis, many people including Medical Professionals have diddly squit knowledge of Diabetes.

My recent soujorn in the Cardiac Ward reinforces my opinion.

Treatment for Type 1 is totally different to that of a Type 2 and my advice is to see if the Parent can give you information as to "TRIGGER" signs, coupled with the excellent feedback others on here have given.

Best of luck, and i know that you will cope well and one day will be a Legend among your peers.

So have had a talk with manamgement about some of the concerns I have with her levels and how it might be contributing to her learning needs, and they are contacting the diabetic nurse to chat wtith us and her parents to offer them support (while the child is fluent english speaking, I am not sure that her parents are).

Her levels have apparently been all over the place this term.

Thanks for your help everyon!

haha, Of course I mean the diabetes nurse, no idea if she is diabetic, lol!

we knew what you meant,lol, but it did give ma a

I think you should ask directly from your students parents they will give you proper information on this.

Thanks Mustang, there has been a lot of dialog with the parents, unfortunately they feel that they cannot get the child to eat properly. We now have the public health nurse involved to help support the child in making better choices.

If I were a kid of seven and a teacher at school poked her nose into my diabetes affairs and my family, I would be VERY annoyed.

Seeing the parents are not on this forum we only have your word for everything. That isn't right. I expect they are doing the best that they can with their daughter. Parents with children with type 1 are exceptional and most try so very hard. Even people whose 'English speaking skills' are not that great.

Incidentally is it because the parents may be from the Islands or a non English speaking country, that you feel this way about their daughter's diabetes?

Personally i do not think this would ever happen.

We are trying to provide a helpful solution to an existing problem here, not provoke an argument.

Soleil, I wrote a long response but I am simply going to say that most people are pleased when their teachers try to do the best for their students, information is power and I would hate a lack of seeking knowledge to mean that I don't realise when a child in my care is having a medical reaction for whatever reason.

You only have 'my word for everything' (what the hell that actually even means is beyond me when all I have been asking for is information, I wasn't aware that meant you had to give them marks out of 10 for the way they raise their child), so obviously the fact that the parents requested the public health nurse support is irrelevant to you.

But hey, thanks for your advice in helping me learn about my student's needs. Oh that's right, you gave none.

For me as a parent of a diabetic I would have loved it if his primary school teachers had taken the interest Fel has. Unfortunately, DSs teachers weren't really interested and underplayed things way too much, so DS missed a lot of school as I felt he wasn't safe.

You're doing a great job Fel. It's hard for anyone dealing with type 1 diabetes.