Concerns about your child’s progress at school

Early Elementary

To say “it’s not like it used to be” is no exaggeration. State and school expectations have changed, yet child development has not. You’re spending way too much time on homework that your child seems like they’ve never seen before, or you’re pulling out your hair fighting with your partner as to who “gets to do homework” tonight or read.
My best advice here – back it off. Again, we all know, that play is the best form of learning for reading and math skills at an early age. So, save your sanity, and your child’s desire for learning, and if they struggle with an assignment over 10 minutes, write a quick note on the page, sign it, and spend time with your child instead. Reading to them will be a better outcome in almost all areas. Have them imagine the story in their head as you read to them. Put puzzles together, draw or paint together. Exercise together.

If you get the call from the teacher about academics in class, then look at what strategies they’ve already attempted. Have any of those worked? Never agree to taking away recess. Everyone needs a break! In class, I love taking a folder, cutting it in half across the mid-section, and having a student complete the top half now, break, then bottom half. This reduces the visual over-whelm that students see when they have a full work page in front of them.
Find out if difficulties are in one subject or all subjects. Different times of day? Different teachers? Asking some good questions often leads to quick answers.

Again, sleep, appropriate food fueling the body, vision/hearing, fresh air and safety/friends are all things that dramatically impact a child’s learning.

Most schools have a Tier system of academic concerns and interventions. Find out where child is on the Tier system and what should happen next.

School is limited, but education is a lifetime.