Recently I asked who was going to help ‘grey area’ kids, those children who are struggling to learn but, because they are not thought of as being learning disabled, are not getting any extra help.
Well, the answer is you. You are the only person who can provide the support your child needs.
Children who, for a variety of possible reasons have met a learning hurdle and are struggling to learn urgently need your support.
Schools do not have enough resources to help every child.
Teachers work hard and try to help the children in class but I think they will be the first to admit that some children get more attention than others.
It is often the nagging, noisy child who takes up a teacher’s time and leaves little time left for other children in class. Or there might be a few children in class with specific learning problems and, if a teaching assistant is not included in the classroom, teachers may need to spend more time with them.
Of course, teachers can always try to get extra support from the learning assistance teacher and often these teachers can quickly help children get back on track and participate fully in class lessons. But there is often a waiting list to see these teachers and I am not sur how many of them are specifically trained in helping children with learning problems.
So, if the school is short of resources, you must provide the support your child needs.
Teachers are probably not trained in diagnosing learning needs.
Teachers are trained in how to teach. They learn how to help as many children as possible understand the information they have to share. They do a good job and it takes time and patience to help children learn.
However, most teachers are not trained to understand why children have learning problems. They may understand how to present to information in many different ways so that as many children as possible get the opportunity to learn, but they may not know why your child struggles to learn.
If a teacher does not know why your child has a learning difficulty how can they know what to do about it?
That leaves you.
If your child’s school cannot provide support and your child’s teacher is perplexed by your child’s learning problems the only person left that can provide the support your child needs is you.
You have to fill the gap and give your child the extra support that will help your child get back on track so that your child can reach his or her full learning potential.
How can you be sure to do that? Watch for the next blog post.
