If your child is having some troubles at school you will find that it will affect the other areas of their life also. These problems can range from academic struggles to social issues and anything in between. It can be easy to jump to conclusions and think you know what the problem is. But instead of getting up in arms, you need to focus on supporting your child first. Here fours things you should avoid doing when your child is struggling…
1: Don’t Assume You Know The Cause
Thinking you know what the issue is and actually knowing what the issue is are two completely different things. So don’t jump to conclusions too quickly. Instead, try to find out what the actual cause of the struggles are.
What To Do: Have a casual chat with your child to see what is bothering them. You can also involve their teacher to get further insight. By understanding the problem you can come up with a solution that works for everyone, and you can come up with it together.
2: Remove The Distractions
There are many distractions in our busy modern world, so don’t let them affect your children. If you let your child do their homework in front of the TV or a device, then they are not able to give anything their full attention. This can affect their ability to concentrate long term.
What To Do: Set up a designated homework space that has no distractions. It should be a quiet retreat spot for your child. Because you don’t want homework to seem like a chore, you want to make the space comfortable and inviting. You should try to customise it to your child’s needs and interests to encourage productivity.
3: Demand Answers
Making your child feel like they are on trial over their struggles will not encourage them to open up to you. Neither will wishy-washy questions like ‘How was your day?’ This is the kind of question they can brush off with a one word answer.
What To Do: Foster communication by talking about anything and everything. This will get them used to talking to you. Then you can go ahead and ask them specific questions about their day. If you know they had a test, or if they are having trouble with a certain classroom peer. This gives your child more opportunity to open up and let you know the real reasons for their issues.
4: Crank Up The Rules
Imposing unnecessary rules on your child will not have the desired effect you are hoping for. If the initial rules are not working then you should probably explore why that is instead of heaping more rules on them.
What To Do: Make a new routine and set of rules that work for the whole family. Come up with it together so that everyone can have input and be on the same page about the final decisions.