Not all children can succeed academically. It’s not because some kids are less smart than others, but it can also be due to factors like motivation or not having the same resources and opportunities that other kids have.
For instance, some children may find reading enjoyable or have the means to study their lessons at home in a fun way, whereas other children may be less motivated and prefer to watch Disney Princess movies in order, the entire weekend.
Although you could try to remedy this by scolding your children and forcing them to study, studies have found that negative reinforcement rarely works on children or it gives an unintended consequence. So instead of being harsh to your children to get them to study and get their grades up, here are more effective ways of addressing their academic performance.
Send Your Children to a Tutor
Some students struggle because they aren’t getting enough attention in the classroom, which results in them not being able to learn. A study from the Department of Basic Education found that the Learner-Educator Ratio for public schools in 2018 was an average of 35 students per teacher for primary schools and 28 students for secondary schools.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, however, found that classrooms with more students become less conducive for learning. When a teacher has to deal with 28 students to teach a new topic, there’s a chance not everyone will be able to keep up with the lecture. But teachers won’t have the time to repeat it or give personal attention to one of these students.
Because of this, it may be necessary to hire tutoring services for high school students. After class hours, your child can receive private tutoring to help them keep up with the lesson. One-on-one sessions provide your child with a tutor that has all their attention on your child. On the other hand, tutorial sessions are more affordable. Although there are other students, there are only a limited number to ensure their tutor has more time to pay attention to your child compared to their teachers.
Help Find a Way to Help Them Study
Your child’s grades may be slipping because they do not feel motivated to learn or the learning methods they had used in the past are no longer as effective. A study from Columbia University found that when you improperly motivate your children, you’re putting unnecessary pressure that encourages them to stay within their comfort zone of learning. If this is the case, try to help them find another way of learning or motivate them to study.
In this day and age, studying isn’t confined to reading textbooks. Take advantage of videos, pictures, interactive presentations, and anything that can help your child learn more effectively. Motivate your children not through money, sweets, or bribes, but through their interests and finding a way to use that to help them study.
Find Out If Something is Affecting Them
If your child had good or average grades before their grades took a sudden and unexplainable drop, try to see if there is anything affecting them. Has a family member or loved one recently passed away? Did they hear or see you and your partner fight or separate? Are they being bullied at school? A number of reasons could affect their motivation to study.
As a parent, the best thing you can do is to foster open communication between you and your children. A good relationship can greatly motivate them to tell you if anything is affecting their studies. From there, you can do whatever you see fit as a parent to try to remedy the problem so that they can once again be driven to study and perform well in school.
Falling grades are not necessarily a sign that your child is bad at school. Providing them with the means to catch up or a way to communicate with you about their problems that could be affecting their performance.
