Education is one of the most important aspects of a child’s life, and for many children, it is also one of the most stressful. When home education is not an option and a child spends nearly 40 hours a week in the classroom not counting extracurricular activities, struggling in the classroom can affect many facets of your child’s life beyond their academic career. If you have noticed that your child seems more withdrawn or is reluctant to talk about school lately, this could be a result of numerous issues in the classroom, including academic struggles, social isolation, or bullying. Even if they are having trouble with things outside of academics, it is likely for these factors to lead to poor academic performance.
Here are 3 warning signs that your child is struggling.
Refuses to Discuss Their Day at School
If your child usually shares details about their day away at school and is suddenly reluctant to do so, this could be an early sign of trouble. While it is possible that your child might not want to talk about school after a bad day, if they are consistently refusing to discuss school or tell you about their day at all, you might reach out to their teacher to see what’s going on.
A Change in Attitude
Many young children are excited about going to school. If your child has previously displayed positive signs of enjoying his or her day, talks openly about friends in the classroom, or displays excitement about extracurricular activities and suddenly stops, this is a problem. The two most important attitude problems to watch out for are anger, which might indicate a social issue like bullying, or boredom, which is often mentioned by children who don’t understand what is going on in class and are falling behind.
Physical Symptoms
If you suspect your child might be struggling in school, watch out for physical symptoms as well as changes in their mood or attitude. This can include sleepless nights, changes in eating patterns (most common eating less or being unable to eat at all), or physical pain like headaches which often accompany stress. Be sure to keep an eye on your child and seek help if they begin displaying physical signs of worry. If your child shows signs of an eating disorder, you may look into the different residential eating disorder treatment options that can help. Monte Nido West Linn offers state-of-the-art, evidenced-based residential programming for eating disorders and co-occurring presentations.
What Can You Do?
While solutions depend on the specifics of what your child is struggling with, talking to their teacher or other school administrators is a good place to start (especially if your child is not open to discussing school with you at the moment). Once you are able to identify the issue, you can act accordingly. A child experiencing social issues like bullying might be referred to a school counselor who can speak with them about their emotions and try to help. If your child is falling behind in the classroom and struggling academically, you might seek outside help from a tutor or a program like Frog Street to help them get caught up. Catching the warning signs of trouble will allow you to get help for your child ASAP to get them back on the path to success both in and out of the classroom.
