Tips to Help Your Struggling Learner at Home

A student may fall behind in school for many reasons. For example, they might have a physical disability that makes it hard for them to hear, see, sit in, or attend their lessons. They may also have a learning disability, such as dyslexia. Students might be diagnosed with behavioral, developmental, or neurological disorders like Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) or Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Or, they simply are not being taught material in a way in which they can comprehend it.

Regardless of the reason behind their struggle, falling behind in school is a frustrating experience for both students and their guardians. When this happens, it is crucial for caretakers to take action at home, so their children can get to a place where they can succeed academically. However, many parents and/or guardians do not know what ways to begin assisting their students.

Here are some tips to begin helping your struggling learner:

• Promote healthy habits: Including new and healthy habits into your student’s daily schedule–such as reducing screen time, getting to bed early, cooking nutritious meals, and drinking sufficient amounts of water–can kick-start their growth. This will give them more time and energy to focus on, prioritize, and accomplish their goals.

• Stay updated in your child’s academic life: This can include taking some time to review what assignments they need to complete, talking about which subjects they are struggling with, taking an interest in what they are learning about in class, and checking their grades monthly. When you begin
  to see where your child is struggling and make it a priority to help them, students will feel validated and will see you care about their educational growth.

• Instill consistency with learning: Setting aside a consistent amount of time towards working on improving your student’s skill sets will help them see that continual practice will help them make progress in their learning. For example, you may make sure that every night, an hour before bed, your student practices their multiplication flashcards.

• Play educational games with your child: Games will keep your child engaged and entertained while still improving their learning skills. Examples of games may include UNO to teach your student colors or Scrabble to help them remember words for their spelling test.

• Tie in learning with their interests: Getting students to see how they can apply their academic lessons to their hobbies will make them motivated to master a certain subject. It also helps them retain information. This could be done in many ways: choreographing a dance to remember vocabulary, reading a football book, or even writing a story based on a historical event.

• Provide your student with encouragement and affirmations: Kind words go a long way, especially for struggling learners. Reminding students you’re proud of them, acknowledging their accomplishments, or even verbally motivating them will make them feel supported and help them muster up the confidence they need to advance in their learning.

• Implement tutoring: Having a tutor come in a few days a week to help your student will help them learn more strategies to approach their schoolwork. This is because tutors, especially those at Kidz Solutions, create their sessions to target the student’s specific academic needs. Our tutors use applied behavioral analysis and multisensory learning approaches to help students learn. Kidz Solutions also has four learning programs – Standard, Premium, All Access, and All Access ± that have individualized lessons to teach students at any level. Academic assessments are available to find where your student is and how we can help them. You may learn more about our programs here.

It may be difficult to see a child struggling, but with these tips, a student can begin to grow. These tips will help them flourish in the way they need to, so they can achieve their best potential!