At the beginning of the school year, your child may be doing well with the new concepts being taught. His grades may be high because the concepts are fairly easy, but this may not be a very reflection of your child’s actual skill knowledge and reasoning skills.
Don’t get caught off guard with a bad report card later.
Here are some warning signs to watch for:
- Is your child beginning to give excuses about why his classwork or homework was not completed and turned in?
- Is your child losing interest in a particular subject, or in his schoolwork in general?
- Is he procrastinating when it’s time to study or prepare for a quiz or test?
- Is he blaming the teacher for his low test scores?
- Is he saying that the bad grade was not a big deal because most or all of his classmates did poorly anyway?
- Is the teacher sending home more and more makeup work or requesting a parent-teacher conference?
Even though each student may have his own way of dealing with challenges in certain subjects – especially math, reading, and comprehension; stepping in early is the best way to avoid frustration for you and bad grades for your child. Here is our guide on the best way to talk to your child and find out what is going on.
I’ve heard parents say, “But his teacher says to wait and see what happens by the end of the semester.”
A lot of the time, if your child is in elementary or middle school, his teacher may tell you to wait and see what happens.
They may also say that this is just a learning phase and that your child will outgrow the struggles and overcome it eventually.
I recommend the opposite. My advice to parents who are serious about helping their child is “do not play the wait and see game”!
I’ve seen what happens over and over when parents wait and hope that out of the blue their child will, by some sort of miracle, know how to answer questions about the same math concepts he didn’t understand at the basic level. Or be able to read the words he had a hard time reading correctly, without any kind of extra instruction.
Unfortunately, that is not the case. Poor academic skills don’t magically become better without intervention.
Why? Because while you are waiting, your child is falling further behind and their skill gaps will only get BIGGER, making it more frustrating for both you and your child.
As the saying goes, “a stitch in time, saves nine”.
As soon as you notice any signs of struggles, it’s time to spring into action and get some help for your child as soon as possible.
Quick action will help keep or even improve your child’s confidence and love for learning.
I’m sure you want your child to learn the skills and become better at solving grade level problems independently.
Here are some things you can do today:
- Have a short conversation with your child to find out what is difficult for him in math, reading, or comprehension.
- Schedule a time to talk with his teacher and get the teacher’s perspective on the problem.
- Start looking for the right kind of instructional help for your child right away.
- Make sure that the instructor can teach using a multi-sensory approach and can adjust the instruction to fit your child’s current level.
You have the power to reverse your child’s learning struggles. What you do today can make a big difference in your child’s learning and his ability to thrive in the classroom.
Ready to see your child break through the struggles; improve in reading, comprehension, and math- and get better grades?
Let’s Talk about how we can help your child reach their full learning potential!