Child Struggling in School? 7 Tips to Solve That Now!

There’s nothing worse for a parent than to watch your child struggling in school. No matter what the situation or subject, we would all love to be able to ease their burden and resolve any problem that comes along. Unfortunately, it doesn’t always work that way and there are times when we simply have to step aside and let them work through it. Sometimes the effort is on their own and sometimes with the assistance of a private tutor or teacher.

So what are some basic steps you can take to assist?

1 – Check in with the school or teachers that your child currently sees.

See if something is going on that they have noticed? Are there social issues? Or is it academic? Are new topics or studying methods being introduced? Like a detective, you want to see what has changed or is different that might be causing the impact on your child.

2 – Review grades and homework.

How consistent is the work and grades that you see for the last month or several months? If you notice any changes that you can pin point, now is the time to address them. Perhaps it is one course in which case certain topics might have been introduced that are not being fully understood by your son or daughter. If there’s a general downward trend then that takes additional digging to find out the cause of that issue. Are your child’s friends and acquaintances the same or have there been changes? Is there a change in free time usage? New sports, activities or work can have impacts as well.

Whatever the case, the burden falls on you to determine what has happened and what options exist.

3 – Talk, talk, talk

When dealing with teens this can become more difficult since they are not the most chatty of creatures but whatever age, it’s now time to start finding out from the source if there’s anything happening.

You might have to be subtle and wait for the best time to have this talk but it is critical if you want to help them to help themselves. Check in on what is going on, use any and all tactics to get them to share what is the latest with school and their classes.   Asking direct and specific questions can help you get the information out of them. Many times they are aware of what’s going on but at a loss as to what to do about it.

4 – Determine what are some options?

Once you have an idea of what is the root of the cause for the drop in grades you can start taking actions. It always feels better to take action! (At least I’ve found that to be true)

If it’s social pressures or other topics along that lines, you want to find the assistance to help cope with and resolve those types of issues.

If it’s academic, you can now create a game plan to help your child get back on the road to academic success.

5 – What assistance from your school is available?

Depending upon your perspective of your child’s school and district, you might want to again ask them for options and assistance. Many schools have tutoring or after school programs that can provide assistance to their students. Based upon what your child needs, this might be an avenue for exploration. Make sure that you check out these options in advance and see if there is a fit. You know your kid and what will work well for them.

6 – What outside tutoring or study skills assistance are there?

Depending upon what your child needs, you might want to explore private tutors or even private tutoring at home depending on the crazy schedules that we all are keeping these days! This option allows you to hone in on exactly what is needed and the tutor will provide focused programs designed to address exactly those areas.

Like PrivateTutoringAtHome.com offers, these types of tutors cover just about every subject you could think of from early education through graduate university studies. Best of all, you can find the right tutor in your area which makes it even more convenient.

Tutors provide individualized attention that fits a child’s learning style, and many tutors work to make the sessions “fun enough that the students actually want to be there,” says Fleming. The fun and games teach the student that learning can be a positive experience. Positive tutoring can help a child learn the material, get better grades, and even form a better attitude about school. Having a positive attitude about school and being interested in it really has a tremendous impact on the results that a child gets in school. Any assistance that you can provide will help insure your child is one of the students that thinks of their education in a positive light.

7 – Implement and monitor

Just because you started a plan for your child doesn’t mean you can rest easy. Now is when you have to help your child stay on track. In addition, monitoring and seeing if there are positive results is critical.

If your child has fallen behind, there will be a catch up period that might include additional struggles. Playing catch up is never fun and it’s frustrating for you to watch as a parent and for the child to go through. However, both of you will make it out the other side with a little bit of time, patience and focus.

Getting through school successfully is frequently a group effort. Parents, children, schools and various other resources like tutors all combine to help make it a successful educational process. By initiating the first steps today, you can insure that your child will continue to grow, learn and flourish and with an education, be successful later in life as well. And, after all, isn’t that what we each want for our kids? I know that I do!

Please let us know your thoughts in the comments below! We’d love to hear your stories.