This is a question looks simple enough to answer but is, in fact, quite difficult to answer. You need to know several things before you can answer it.
* What does it mean to underachieve?
Too often we think that children ‘could do better’ in school and get better marks, learn more, and achieve more things. But how do we know this? How do we know when a child is not reaching their learning potential? As a teacher I developed a sixth sense that told me when children were not doing their best.
When you have been with a child in a learning situation for a while you get a pretty good idea of their capabilities. Perhaps this comes from the way they interact with you, or how they take responsibility for their work, or how frustrated they become when things don’t go right. You seem to just know that a child ‘could do better’.
Underachieving children are those who don’t reach their learning potential. It has been estimated that up to 25% of children are underachievers for one reason or another.
* How do you know that a child is underachieving?
There is a whole raft of different signs that give you clues. Children can be boisterous, quiet, reserved, happy, sad, frustrated, or angry. They can avoid doing work, try too hard, worry too much, call themselves stupid, give up on learning, forget their homework, miss important dates, blame the teacher, blame you, blame themselves or ignore the problem completely.
There was always the child who ‘goofed off’ in class and it was pretty obvious that he or she was not doing their best work as a result. There were a few students who pretended that they didn’t care whether they did good work or not, and a few who, despite trying really hard, still did not seem to ‘get it’.
* Who can tell when a child is underachieving?
Someone who knows the child well, either as a student or as part of family. Someone who works closely with the child and can see the changes that are taking place in their attitude about their work, someone who knows what signs to look for and whether they are fleeting or have been growing for some time.
It can be a teacher, mother, sibling, or close relative who first notices the tell tale signs of underachievement. I say that ‘Mom’s know’ because they are often the ones helping with homework, they are on the front line and can quickly notice changes in their child’s attitude to their schoolwork.
* Why do children underachieve?
That is the million dollar question. (Wasn’t it once a $64,000 question? Just goes to show how old I am). There are many, many reasons why children underachieve, but they can be grouped into two main categories.
Children underachieve because;
They are not being taught the way they learn
and
They do not have the learning skills they need to be able to learn.
Your assignment
Try and answer the question ‘is my child an underachiever’.
If you think that your child ‘could do better’ you are probably right.
Then throw away terms such as ‘lazy, unfocused, distracted, doesn’t try’, the kind of things teachers write about students who are underachieving, and think about the two reasons children underachieve.
Is your child being taught the way he or she learns best?
Does your child have the learning skills he or she needs to be able to learn well?
If you are not sure, you need to find out.
