For most local school districts, first semester grades have been sent, and while some parents are proudly displaying those familiar honor roll bumper stickers, for other parents it's a time of real stress. There are many students who are not doing well in school, and for parents, figuring out how to help can be very complicated.
Narda Black is not only a teacher in the Dexter Community School District, she also is a parent with two children in school. She understands how both teacher and parent can pull together to help the child.
"I think it depends on the grade of the student and subject matter they are struggling with," Black says. "I would have different advice for a high school student struggling with calculus than a first grader who needs help with letter-sound relationships."
But Black has general suggestions that could apply across most grade levels.
"First, set aside a comfortable and consistent time and place in your home for your child to read (or be read to) for 20-30 minutes every day," she said. "This is one of the most important things you can do to help insure your child's academic success. Reading is the foundation for learning."
Black also suggests supporting and encouraging your child's academic areas of interest. "You can talk with them about the curriculum in a meaningful way," she said. "If they are reading a biography, do an Internet search together and find more information about the subjects life. If they are learning about rocks in science, go out on a rock hunt in your back yard and work together to identify some of the ones you find. The opportunities are endless."
Other ideas Black suggests include: "Make school at least as important as athletic interests; take your child to the local library on a regular basis and find books that really interest your child and make them want to read; and become involved in your child's classroom by volunteering or helping out whenever possible."
Julie Deppner, assistant principal at Chelsea High School, believes a report card grade should never be a surprise if both parents and teachers are being proactive in communicating about the child.
"Good communication between teachers and parents is a critical part of any students' success," she said. "I would encourage any parent who is concerned about their child's progress to keep an open line of communication by contacting a teacher on a weekly basis."
Deppner said many teachers at Chelsea High School send out weekly progress reports to parents. Parents are encouraged to e-mail teachers and all e-mail addresses as well as phone extensions are listed on the Chelsea School District web page.But what happens if the report card includes a few below average grades?
"If a student does bring home an unacceptable grade, I would encourage parents to talk to their child first," Deppner said. "Find out his or her perception of why the grade was given. Is this grade truly a reflection of his or her knowledge of the content, or are missing assignments, attendance, etc., affecting the grade?"
The next step would be for the parent to contact the teacher to discuss how they can help at home and how to increase communication between the parents and teacher.
"Once a plan for improvement is in place it is important to remember that consistency over time creates change," Deppner said. "Parents need to consistently contact teachers and consistently work with their child at home. Inconsistency is one of the most common reasons grades or behavior don't improve."
Sandy Inman, who is in her 30th year of teaching science at Chelsea High School, agrees that being proactive is the key.
"I tell my students that if your grades aren't where they should be, make a plan before you go home and give the report to your parents," said Inman, who currently teaches physics and biology II. "Tell them why you think you got the grade you did and tell them what you are going to do to make improvements."
Dr. Jennifer Holmberg, psychologist and director of the Mindworks Learning program which helps kids with academic difficulties, dyslexia, and ADD/ADHD, says "when kids aren't doing well in school it's a very complex issue because there are so many different reasons why kids struggle. It would be much simpler if it didn't matter what the cause was and we could just implement the easiest solution, but that's not the way it works."
As with most other problems in life, solutions to learning problems need to be tailored to the reasons behind the problem, otherwise they are ineffective, Holmberg says.
It's frustrating and heartbreaking for parents to watch their children struggle in school. They want answers and direction. Holmberg provides a framework that parents may find useful in helping them start to answer this question. She notes that some of the most common causes for academic problems include:
· Situational factors: For example, the child missed some important lessons in school due to illness, is sitting too far away from the teacher and too close to chatty friends, or is going to bed too late.
· Psychological factors: For example, depression, anxiety, or unusually high stress – all of which can have a negative impact on concentration, memory, and motivation.
· Processing based learning problems: Many students have problems such as ADD/ADHD, or reading problems that negatively affect all aspects of their schooling. Often, these issues are caused by differences in the way these students understand and remember information, attend to information, organize, and problem-solve in comparison with their peers.
· Other Motivational factors: Kids often do poorly in school when they are bored, not challenged, or don't think it's relevant.
Holmberg emphasizes that these categories are not mutually exclusive. More often than not, causes for poor grades are multifaceted. Solutions should be chosen based on which factors appear to be the largest barriers to academic success, and also what type of intervention the child is most likely to respond to currently given his/her motivation.
If poor grades seem mostly a result of situational factors, parents can enlist the help of the child and his/her teacher to come up with creative solutions. Solutions may be as simple as moving a child's desk away from friends who are distracting, or designating a "study space" in the home to help the child focus and stay organized during homework time.
When the child has generally done well in school, but currently is having difficulty in one or two classes, traditional tutoring is often a very effective solution. When psychological or motivational factors are suspected, the child may benefit from consulting with the school counselor or an outside mental health professional.
When a child is processing information differently than his or her peers, a deeper approach that directly addresses problems with attention, memory, problem-solving, or self-control is often needed in order to help the student succeed.
And when it's a motivational issue, parents and teachers need to team up and find ways to help kids make connections that increase the relevance of school for them.
Implementing the wrong solution can be costly not only in terms of money, but also in terms of the time lost when children could be getting the right kind of help for their needs. "That's why assessing the reasons for the underperformance is so important," Holmberg says. "Many parents that I speak with have already spent a small fortune on traditional tutoring or other programming, and when their child is properly assessed, we discover that the child needs a deeper approach."
The key to an effective solution is to find the solution that best addresses the causes of the child's academic difficulties. "We turn away a number of families from our program because after we assess the child, we determine that what the child needs is traditional tutoring, counseling, or another solution that is a better fit for the child's specific needs."
A good fit is everything.
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