February/March 2010
The Growing Years ~ 11 to 16
 

 
Pregnancy & Birth > 0 - 2 > 3- 5 > 6 - 10 > 11 - 16 > Special Kids


Help Them Turn The School Year Around
By Cindy Goldrich, Ed. MD.

The second quarter marking period is over and your child’s grades have taken a turn for the worse. It’s time to regroup and evaluate where the school year is headed if no changes are made. You’re both feeling frustrated and anxious about the months to come. You’ve tried bribes, maybe even used some well-thought out consequences. But nothing until now has made a significant, lasting difference.  Something is just not going well and before the rest of the year slips by, you want to pause and plan how you can help your child pick himself and his grades back up. 

So where do you start?  At the source: your child.  Now that he’s reached the preteen and teen years, he must be more personally invested, aware and responsible for his own education.

Begin by planning a time to talk with your child about how you’d like to help him to improve his grades and school performance.  As you approach your conversation, try your best to convey that you’re curious about what’s behind the struggle and that you want to partner with him.  Being disappointed and judgmental will likely shut him down from communicating and not produce many positive changes.
            Together you can turn the year around. But first read the sidebars for the possible causes behind your child’s academic issues and some solutions.

Cindy Goldrich, Ed.M., is a parent and teen life coach, specializing in families who struggle with ADHD, Executive Function issues and the challenges of the teen years.  She provides individual coaching and parent coaching workshops.  Visit www.PTScoaching.com for more information.

The Root Causes

Various causes can be contributing to your child’s difficult year.  Here are some areas you may want to investigate:

  • Has there been a substantial change in the difficulty of work?  Is she taking too many highly challenging courses?
  • Are social pressures intervening?  Maybe he’s spending too much time socializing?  Is he perhaps showing signs of depression?
  • Is she having difficulties with teachers?  Perhaps there’s a personality or teaching style conflict that needs to be addressed.
  • Perhaps he has hit the wall in terms being able to manage the workload effectively.  Many children first become diagnosed with ADHD or Executive Function deficits when they reach the middle years since their raw intelligence is no longer sufficient to help them compensate for other weaknesses. 
  • For children already receiving special education services, is the plan in place providing sufficient support?  Are their modifications and accommodations are being effectively implemented.  Especially for children who are taught that it’s disrespectful to question a teacher, learning how to advocate when truly necessary and appropriate can be uncomfortable for some children. 
  • Is your child having trouble advocating for herself? 

They Can Advocate for Themselves:

  1. Help him truly know himself better as a learner.  Is he having trouble taking helpful notes in class?  Would moving his seat help him concentrate better?  Would some diagrams or other visual aids help?   What else might help?
  2. Help prepare to speak to her teacher.  Perhaps you can role-play or review what she wants to request. 
  3. Encourage him to go to extra help to feel more comfortable speaking with his teacher.  This is often a great opportunity to have a quick conversation about his requests for support. 
  4. Remind her that teachers are people, too.  They can’t read her mind and don’t always know her concerns or intentions.

 


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