20/03/2021
Dear Educators and parents,
KNOW WHY YOUR CHILD IS NOT EXCELLING IN SCHOOL AS EXPECTED
A lot of parents worry secretly on why their wards don't perform so well as other learners do in school.
This article aim to expose you to some possible areas you may need to look at closely that may help you appreciate why your child learn the way they do and why their performance at school may not meet your expectation.
1. Research have shown that the *LIFE STYLE* of mothers when they were pregnant for their child may have resulted to the learning challenges or ability of a child.
Mothers who had severe accident, or were self medicating or took certain medication or drugs during pregnancy may be the reason why a child underperforms in class.
The effect of these non prescribed or wrongly prescribed medication, high intake of alcohol and high intake of illicit drugs during pregnancy may take a toll on the brain of the child resulting to some learning disabilities or disorders.
Some of these disorders may include :
*Dyslexia* (the learners with this disorder have problems with reading, spelling is a problem, recalling what was taught in class is difficult)
*Dysgraphia* : This disorder makes writing very difficult. Some children with this disorder find it very hard to have a pencil grip and sometimes write letters upside down. Another disorder that affects learning is *Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder* ( this disorder makes children to be hyperactive. They are very restive with lots of energy. Teachers find them very difficult to control in class). Another one is *dyscalculia*( the learner with this disorder performs relatively low at mathematics).
Parents need to know some of these information so as to help their children from the home front.
2. The second factor why children find it hard to learn in school is what is referred to as *MISSING GAP.*
Missing gap is a situation where a child due to parental factors move from one school to another or skip a class to another class for reasons best known to parents. For example leaving from primary 4 to JS one.
Research have shown that the child will experience what is referred to as missing gap especially if the curriculum in the present school is higher than where the child is coming from.
Parents who encourage their wards to skip classes may notice the child decline in grades due to the fact that the child may find it difficult catching up with the new class.
Parents should be mindful of this information as it could affect a child's learning and performance in class.
3. The other issue we need to look at is what is referred to *AWAKENING STAGE.*
As adults and parents a lot of us passed through this stage but we just can't remember.
This awakening stage is a situation where we find some children would struggle to learn in their Nursery and Primary school but would pick up in their secondary school.
Some struggle in the Nursery school but pick up from Primary school to university. Some don't even pick up from Nursery, Primary and secondary school but pick up in their University level and even come out with a FIRST CLASS.
Once a child has the zeal to learn, loves to go to school, cries when his/her result is below expectation, parents should just be patient, the child will pick up someday.
4. Another common factor is the *AGE* of the learners.
Countries such as the UK, Canada and some European countries place emphasis on age because maturity plays a key role in learning.
Parents should be patient with their wards as a reason for their underperforming learning outcome may be due to their age.
While this may not be visible in the learning outcome of some learners, to others, age and maturity is key to their learning.
5. Another factor is the *HOME FRONT*. It has been proven that this is key to the learning ability of a child.
A child that does not do his homework and his/her note books are not checked by parents may not perform as when a parent diligently checks his/her learning materials.
Parents should make conscious effort at showing interest in the learning of their wards no matter the age of learners involved.
Leaving the work to a LESSON TEACHER would not be a very appropriate idea.
Children are our greatest asset.
6. The last issue to look at would be the *SCHOOL*.
The school has a big role to play in the learning ability of a child. Constant change of teachers, lack of supervision from the academic supervisors and inconsistency in the curriculum used can affect the way learners learn.
Hope you learnt something from this article.
You are valued,
Mr Jeremiah Friday
www.thinkconsults.
Local business
