If you have a child that’s starting to have trouble at school, it can feel like a pretty significant failing. Some children have a harder time learning than others, but that doesn’t mean that you have to give up if the results aren’t what you were hoping for. Rather than blaming yourself (or even worse, blaming the child) for results that aren’t as good as you both expected, you should look at the ways that you could help them get back into it with a renewed vigour and concentration.
The earlier you start to help, the better
If you step in too late, you might not be able to do too much to help your child with their studies. If you’re ready to help, but it’s already prep time for exams, you’re going to have a harder time of it. It’s a good idea to start looking at what you can do to help your child as soon as they report having any trouble in school, or as soon as you start seeing their grades starting to slip. This way, you have some room and time to try different methods of helping them before any deadlines or big exams come along.
Ensure they have a proper schedule
Studying at home is going to play a huge role in how well your child does at school. There are those lucky kids who seem to be able to recall things perfectly without needing to study at home, but these kids are very rare, indeed. To that end, you should make sure that your child’s daily schedule both gets them ready for school nice and early so they’re alert in the mornings, as well as making time when they get home from school or in the evening when they can do their homework and study. You might even want to use tools that can help them avoid the websites that might distract them so that study time remains a time set aside specifically for schoolwork.
Create the right studying environment for them
Of course, once you make sure that your child has the time that they need, you need to also ensure that they’re able to use it in the best ways. To that end, you should try to make sure that they have a good study space at home. This should be a space without TVs or without any other unnecessary technology to distract them (though a PC might be necessary.) It should also have comfortable and ergonomic furniture including a chair with back support and a good desk to make sure that they’re able to focus on their work without thinking too much about their own seating position or the like. Creating a great study space for them can be vital for helping them get their heads down.
Work with the teachers
Don’t assume that you have to go it alone. The best-case scenario for any child’s education is that their parent is working together with their teachers, committed to helping them address any problems keeping them from the kind of attainment they should be seeing in their education. To that end, you should consider getting in touch with the teachers to ask them more directly if there are any parts of the curriculum your child is having trouble with. Aside from helping you pinpoint areas you can study more specifically, they might also be able to recommend resources that you’re able to use to better enhance the studying experience at home.
Consider finding a tutor for them
If you want to help them learn as practically as possible, then setting up a study for them at home is all well and good, but you could go even further. Getting help from a professional who is well-suited to teaching the subject they’re having trouble with could be just what they need. We’ve used Clever Tutors for home tutoring, which was really helpful for the girls. For instance, you can find some online physics and maths tuition for your child. One of the benefits of tuition is that it offers a somewhat lower-pressure opportunity to learn in guided lessons, with the focus on being that solely your child gets it, rather than being forced to work at the same pace as the rest of a class.
Help build their confidence, too
It’s not just about helping them build all the knowledge and practising the application of it that you need to be concerned about. Helping them to learn more practically is all well and good, but you also need to think about whether or not they are mentally prepared. If your child doesn’t feel confident about their ability to sit an exam well, it can affect their performance, as the added pressure can make it harder for them to think or to recall what they have already learned. As such, you should look at ways to help your child with their confidence, which you can do by changing the everyday way you talk about school and performance, and by showing the appropriate praise and support when they succeed during their lessons.
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