The Learning Academy: Signs of Academic Struggles
You want to be watching and paying attention to the work that's coming home. If they're missing a lot on assignments, then you want to be paying attention to that.
I think attitude towards school is a really big sign. If they don't want to go school or they have tummy aches before school and they have a negative attitude when talking about school. You will also start to see kids have a negative view of themselves as it relates to school. I'm stupid, I can't do it, and everybody is smarter than me. Those are signs that your child may be struggling.
What can parents do to help their child?
Be involved with school. Research shows, over and over again, that parental involvement is really important for school success. So, communicating with the teachers and being involved in their child's school work, but also volunteering and just being present at the school as much as you can is really important.
When should parents seek professional help?
When a child is struggling at school the first thought in a parent's mind isn't let me go talk to a psychologist about this. But really we're able to look at the bigger picture of everything going on in your child's life.
Whether it's at home and at school and trying to narrow down what are the variables that are getting in the way for them. Is it really that they're struggling with a learning disability, is it that there is some undiagnosed ADHD, anxiety or depression. Maybe they're having hard time with peers. We need to figure that out.
