Of course, every parent as a desire to see their children succeed in academic endeavors. However, for some kids getting good grades in school is a challenge for a variety of reasons. It’s important to know that poor test scores or a bad report card doesn’t always reveal a student’s real capacity to learn.
As parents, if your teen is struggling with poor grades, there is a lot you can do to help them. First, off you’ll need to be sensitive to the challenges that your child may be facing such as issues making friends at school or changes within the home. You may find these suggestions particularly helpful.
Monitoring Their Grades
In the last few years, technology has allowed parents to have instant access to the teacher’s online grade book. Online school administrator software has given parent’s a front seat in they’re children’s classroom providing them the opportunity to view their grades, assignments, attendance and disciplinary referrals in real time.
Yes, it is a known factor that parent engagement leads to higher student achievement. Being able to monitor your child’s teacher online grade book gives parents an opportunity to calculate the grades along the way as well as plan ahead for upcoming projects and tests. Often, school management software alerts parents, when they’rea child’s grade, falls below an unacceptable threshold.
Review Homework On A Daily Basis
Just think. Kids engage in many different activities throughout the school day. In fact, a typical day consists of sitting through math, English, science and other courses. Along with being in a class full of they’re peers, it’s easy for children to get distracted and not focused as much as necessary in they’re classes.
Sitting with your teen for about twenty minutes a day to practice homework assignments can be helpful since practice makes perfect. He or she might discover during these sessions that they missed something that had been discussed in class.
Therefore, reviewing homework and other assignments on a daily basis is perhaps one of the most effective methods of further instilling what they learned throughout the day. This is also an opportunity to identify a problem before it becomes bigger and look for ways to help them overcome it. Whether your child is having increased difficulty in a particular subject or maybe you’ve noticed signs of a learning disability. However, knowing what the issue is early on allows you to get them the help they need.
Teach Organizational and Studying Skills
You’ll find that good organizational and study skills aren’t often a part of the school curriculum. Parents can teach they’re children how to master the skills of organizing and using their time wisely in order to see they work all the way through.
Parents can instill organizational skills by purchasing binders, dividers, notebooks, and folders that are separated by subject. You can use a calendar to schedule upcoming assignments that way they won’t miss important deadlines. Don’t forget to include non-academic commitments, this will further teach your child to plan they’re time accordingly.
Be Sure to Make Studying Fun
While developing study and organization skills is essential it can be a bit boring for young minds. So you’ll want to try and make things enjoyable by having their favorite snacks during study sessions and providing incentives when they are making progress.
Be sure to set goals or give them something to look forward to. These goals should be in small milestones that are achievable. Once they reach these goals your child will have more confidence in their ability to do well.
Develop A Relationship with Teachers
If your child is struggling to maintain decent grades in school than you’ll definitely want to contact their teachers. A parent-teacher conference is necessary to get at the root of the problem. You can request a parent-teacher meeting in person or over the phone. During this meeting, you can go over specific homework assignments and tests. In addition, requesting advice on what you can do to help your child will be beneficial.
On the other hand, if you feel that the teacher isn’t providing enough support to your child or making themselves available to answer your questions than the next step is to contact the guidance department. Be sure to keep a record of written correspondence with the teacher in question that way you’ll be able to give the school guidance counselor a complete picture.
Get Professional Help
Sometimes things are just out of your hand. If you find that you can’t help your child than it’s time to get a tutor. Tutors can provide professional academic support and can help them improve their grades. There are some tutors who work for free but you should be prepared to pay a fee.
You can find a tutor online or you get recommendations from your child’s school. Some teachers offer tutoring lessons or academic assistance to students who are struggling in school.
Find Out If There Is A Deeper Issue
Sometimes poor academic performance is an indication that there is a deeper issue. Find out if your child has been dealing with bullying at school or some other social problem. As your child grows into puberty you can expect teen related issues to present itself. Low self-esteem, difficulty making friends and struggling to fit in with their peers are some common issues that teens often face. Oftentimes, helping your teen through this phase can be helpful in giving them enough confidence to excel in the classroom. Perhaps there is an issue within the home that needs addressing. Once the problem has been resolved you’ll find that their grades will improve.
Be Optimistic
Of course, you’ll want to be optimistic. Your child needs to know that you have faith in their ability to do well Putting to much pressure on your teen to succeed will undoubtedly stress him or her out because this can also impact their academic performance.
Offer positive encourage and let your child know that you are there to provide whatever support they need.