What To Do When Your Kid Has Poor Grades

Parents are their child’s first and most important teacher. This is why parents and teachers ought to be involved in their children’s schools and children will do better and have better feelings about going to school. Studies have also shown that what the families do is more important to a child’s school success than how much they spend on the kid or make or the education they have. The truth is that kids that have been doing good at school before may begin to do poorly at their grades at times. These may be due to several reasons like:

1. Bullying

This can tremendously affect a kid’s grades because bullying can be so physically, emotionally and psychologically damaging. When a kid is being bullied for being a straight A student or for other kids of reasons, he or she becomes very disturbed and will it hard to continue to do or be his very best. If people keep condemning you for being smart, you might just end up being dumb purposely in order to avoid the bullying. This happens to kids a lot, especially when they are left alone to handle the situation with no adult help from parents or teachers.

2. Alcohol intake

The news that high school kids drink, should not come as news to you. It has been published in the Journal for Health and Social Behaviour that alcohol consumption leads to increased social stress and poor grades.

3. Overworked

Sometimes this can be due to being involved n so many things at the same time. For high school kids, they tend to take on more than one odd job and this causes them to lack sleep. The effect of lack of sleep results in poor concentration and inability to learn or absorb information which leads to poor grades.

4. Lack of excitement again

Some kids may find school boring because they probably know what is being taught already and do not feel challenged. They tend to just relax and not read anymore, however, this reflects on their grades. Sometimes it may be due to vision or hearing problems which will affect the kid’s concentration. It is also seen that students who like their teachers perform better than those who don’t.

5. Death of a loved one

Students that have experienced the death of a close relative are likely to pay less attention to their studies. Likewise, students from broken families, where parents often fight or are divorced will most likely underperform at school and at times even to college.

There are so many reasons why kids grades are poor but below are tips on how you as a parent or guardian can help them improve on it.

1. Meet your child’s teacher

When the school year starts, find a way to meet your child’s teacher. You should let the teacher know that you are concerned about your kid’s education and want him to learn. Make it clear that she or he should contact you if there is any problem with your child.

2. Set to know those that work at your kid’s school

Some parents hardly know about any other staff in the school except their child’s school Principal or Head Teacher. And the only time they get to know another staff is at the point when the child misbehaves and is asked to come along with their parent. Before this occurs, learn to identify people at your child’s school who are there to help him or her learn, grow socially and emotionally too. This means that you know the teachers, administrators and if possible the district staff.

3. Find out how your child is doing

You need to know how well your kid is doing because it is on this basis that you will be able to know his or her weak points. If your child is not keeping up with a certain subject or some subjects, ask what you or the school can do to help. It is vital that you act early before it is too late. If your child is having a problem with learning due to a disability, he or she may receive help at no cost.

4. Make sure homework is done

You need to let your child know the importance of homework by emphasizing it and urging them to go do their homework. You can help your kid with their homework if you have a clue about the subject matter but if you can’t then make sure to provide a conducive learning place which will be dedicated for studies and homework. Create a regular time for homework and remove distractions like television, phones, games etc during homework time. No matter what, a parent should not do a kid’s homework for him or her; this won’t help in the long run.

5. Prepare your child for the test

Some kids panic before a test due to fear. However, it is the responsibility of the parent to always motivate the kid and reassure him or her that it is going to be fine. Make them believe in themselves, that they are capable of writing that test in peace.

6. Ask questions

If you discover something that concerns your child’s learning behavior and this affects you, just ask the teacher or Principal and seek their advice? Some of the questions that you may ask them are like “what specific problem is my child having with reading?’ or ‘what can I do to help my child with this problem?’ and any other question that may be related specifically to your kid’s learning technique or approach. By finding out about these things, you are able to get a better stand at tackling your kid’s problem effectively

7. Learn about your rights

Knowing your rights helps you to also know the privileges your kid enjoys and also the limitation to these rights. Your kid might be entitled perhaps to a special service which you might be oblivious to and therefore making your kid unable to enjoy that package.

8. Monitor your kid’s entertainments

Make sure that you make it a priority that they complete any school work before turning on the T.V or using the internet because these things take time and make a kid lose concentration easily.

Helping your child control how much time he or she spends on the television or other gadgets like smart phones etc, really goes a long way to improving his grades.

9. Talk to your child and encourage your child to read

Talking and listening play a major role in children’s school success. It is through hearing parents and family members talk and by responding to that conversation that young kids begin to pick up language skill. Children who do not listen carefully often have a problem following instructions and paying attention in class. It is important that you show your kid that you value what he or she has to say.

Encourage them to use the library and read a lot. Helping them to read gives them the ability to understand all other subjects. Besides, reading is a life-long skill. To promote reading, help your kid find a good library where he or she could spend some time reading and getting new information. Libraries are often quiet places that are just perfect to do school assignments too because of the abundance of resources.

10. Encourage active learning

Active learning involves asking and answering questions, solving problems and exploring interests. So, you could take your kid on a field trip, go out to places where they could see new things and explore. Listen to what they have to say and respond, allow them to freely express themselves without fear.

In conclusion, the parent is the most effective teacher a kid can have and if a parent puts in their best effort, they will see their kids succeed. Kids need to be loved, encourage and provided resources that will improve their academic performance and well-being in general.