Confronting Lingering Learning Issues: What to Do to Help Your Child

School is a journey, and sometimes that journey will take your child off course or down an unintended path. Even the best of students will find some subjects or concepts difficult, but when an academic issue becomes bigger or seems to be affecting your child for an extended period of time, it’s best not to ignore it.

Here are a few tips on how to help your child confront lingering learning issues that simply aren’t going away on their own:

• Check the organization. Is your child disorganized and constantly losing track of papers and homework? Is staying on top of assignments problematic? Does your child not use a planner no matter how much you suggest it? It is possible that your child is causing many of their own problems with poor organization and haphazard homework routines (e.g., relying too much on their memory to remember assignments and test dates). Make sure they fine-tune their organization skills.
• Evaluate the time management. Some students struggle with managing their time more than anything else. This could be due to Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), which causes struggles with focus, task completion, organization and staying on track while doing just about any activity. Check your child’s routine. Do they have one in place? Have you set expectations for what they must accomplish in the mornings and after school? Help your child become more efficient with better time management.
• Observe your child and pay close attention. You can learn a lot about what struggles your child is having by watching them do homework. Watch how your child operates. Is your child struggling with the work, staying on task, or both? Which subjects take the longest and cause the most stress? If your child needs better homework habits, check out these homework strategies.
• Develop a game plan. Once you’ve gathered information and evaluated the problem on your own, it’s time to strategize about how to fix school issues too. Talk with your child’s teacher, or if you have an older student, encourage them to do so first. The teacher is an important resource who can share their observations of what’s happening in the classroom. They can work with your child to take appropriate action and can refer you to the right school resources if needed.

The new school year is just getting underway, but if you notice that your child seems to lack skills and knowledge they should have acquired in prior years, is getting poor grades already, is angry or apathetic about school, or has needs that are not being met, don’t wait to deal with these issues. Your child needs help getting back on track.

Huntington is here to assist! We’ll perform an academic evaluation to get to the root of the problem and develop a customized program of instruction to address what’s going on. Academic issues do not disappear on their own, and different issues require different approaches. Huntington can help your child become a happy, confident student again, and make this school year a great one. Call us at 1-800 CAN LEARN.