Children are always silent when it comes to them struggling to learn in school. Reasons Kids aren’t forthcoming about when they’re having trouble vary. Your child might be too ashamed or embarrassed to ask for help, thinking you might scold him. As the parent, you need to have all your senses awake when it comes to the issue of your child (ren) academics. While your child might be secretive about these, there are signs that tell you your child might be struggling in school. Noticing these signs helps you to seek assistance before it is too late.
1. Low Grades in School
This is an obvious sign, even with this, some parents do not accept that their child might be struggling in school. Getting bad grades once in a while does not cause serious concern, but continuous low grades or even a report card full of red ink is an indication that something is wrong. As parents, we always want to think of the best for our kids. But the poor grade is an indication that such a child is failing. Living in denial won’t help, neither is withdrawing the child without looking into it will. Understand this and come up with a plan to help your child.
2. Your child doesn’t want to go to School
Some children like school more than others, but if your child’s attitude about school takes a dramatic turn or his resistance to school gets more serious than usual, then something might be up. It is either the child is being bullied in school, or he/she is not doing well. The first step is to talk with your child, if perhaps you can’t seem to uncover what is wrong, then you need to contact the teacher and possibly the school guidance counselor for help getting to the root of the problem.
3. Your Child is Misbehaving at School
You know your child is not a troublemaker, but recently you’ve been getting calls from the teacher about him acting out in class. If this is the case, then you may need to look into the matter. There’s definitely a reason why your child is misbehaving, not that he just wants to be “bad.” Your child could be making trouble out of frustration or discouragement.
Once your child starts receiving positive attention for his schoolwork in the form of praise, stickers, and other incentives, then he’ll likely no longer find the need to misbehave in order to be noticed.
4. Reports from the Teacher
Your child’s teacher informing you about any change in your child’s academic progress is their way of giving you the chance to help address any problems they may see beginning to develop. Teachers usually have some suggestions in mind about what they think might help. The teacher’s thoughts and ideas are information that you can put together with everything else you know about your child to know if they are struggling and some of the options available to help them.
5. Spends too much time Homework
Teachers tend to give more homework to kids that are having problems in class. If you notice a pattern of excessive time spent on homework, your child may be encountering school problems. This might be a sign for more help. Teachers have varying homework policies, but if you notice your child is spending more than usual time doing homework, then he/she is struggling to get the work done.
