If your child is underachieving in school you need to do something to help. Many parents think the problem will resolve itself, that their child is just going through a phase, and that everything will be OK in a few months.
This is just not the case.
I have worked with many, many parents who say they noticed something was wrong when their child was seven years old but did nothing about it until they were ten or even eleven. By that time their child’s issues with learning had become much harder to sort out.
So, don’t miss the early warning signs that your child is struggling to learn. Chances are you will notice these signs when your child is doing homework or when you get a report card.
Here are some things to look out for.
1. Inconsistent patterns of achievement in different subject
A child who is good at math and has very poor writing skills is definitely underachieving in the language skills area. If your child is good in some areas and poor in others you need to find out why.
2. Lack of concentration
When children are struggling to learn they quickly ‘tune out’. If your child day dreams and seems to have problems with attending to his work chances are he has a learning issue.
3. Poor study skills and study habits
If your child doesn’t know how to study, or has developed some bad study habits, there is no way he is going to be able to do well in school. These bad habits may have developed because of a learning problem or they may create a problem with learning.
4. Not completing assignments/avoiding doing work
There are many reasons this happens, but whatever the reason these are signs that your child is underachieving in school.
5. Not actually getting anything down on paper
If students think they cannot do what is expected of them they may actually refuse to put anything on paper because they know it will reflect badly on them. These children are often called lazy but this is not the case.
6. Inability to deal with failure or success
If your child cannot handle getting things wrong, or never acknowledges when he does good work, it is because he does not actually think the work reflects his abilities. Chances are he is right.
7. Poor literacy skills
Children who struggle to read, write or develop language skills, never have the opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned. They will never be able to show how well they can learn.
These are seven early warning signs to look for in relating to your child’s schoolwork. There are other signs – more in the next post.
