Why is my child not doing well in school? (Part 2)

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In the second part of the series on why your child is not doing well in school, we will continue to explore more reasons why and how as a parent, you can help.

Tip #2 Do you know enough about your child’s learning environment in class?

The environment in class plays a huge role in determining the outcomes of teaching and learning. As parents, there is a need to ask your child about how his or her class is like. Unfortunately, if discipline is poor in the classroom, teaching and learning cannot take place. If your child is in a class where majority of their classmates are keener to play than to learn, it is likely that as much as up to ¾ of precious lesson time will be wasted on the teacher trying to maintain the discipline in class (shouting at the students, correcting students’ behaviours, giving repeated reminders etc.) rather than teaching relevant content. In such cases, it is thus impossible for effective learning to take place, much less to speak of good results. If you find that your child is learning in such an environment, you may wish to speak to the teacher or the school about such an issue, and if the school is able to make alternative arrangements such as splitting and banding the class into two such that it is easier to manage the students, it will be much more beneficial for your child’s learning. Otherwise, if nothing can be done and such is the general school climate, you will have to turn to tuition to compensate for the poor learning environment in school.

Tip #3 Do you know enough about your child’s online socialising habits?

Many students nowadays are addicted to their phones and social media, particularly Snapchat and Instagram. It means a lot to them in terms of how others view or talk about them online, as well as how the lives of their classmates or schoolmates are portrayed online. As adults, we may have forgotten about the teenage puberty stage of life where we easily become self-conscious and hyper-sensitive at the slightest remarks that others make about us. If you have a teenage child, they are precisely at this stage of life now and thus it is not difficult to understand why their image and social circle currently mean the WORLD to them. Many students that I know stay up late at night browsing through social media platforms, eyes intently reading and watching the latest posts and comments (I do wish that they can be half as hardworking when it comes to studying though). A small online comment that injures their ego is enough to cost them the whole night of sleep, and some may even take it as far as lashing it out on the classmate or schoolmate (who flamed them online) the next day in school. Naturally, with their minds so disturbed, it is a tall order to expect them to focus during lesson time. If your child is as preoccupied with social media as some of my students are, it may be high time for you to sit down and have a good talk with your child on regulating his/her phone usage. I am not suggesting that you cut off your child’s phone usage entirely unless you are prepared for World War 3 erupting right off the grounds of your home, but what you can do is to limit his/her phone usage. For example, having an agreement with your child that you will keep their phone right before they go to bed so that the phone does not distract them from a good night’s sleep and disturb their mental clarity for school the next day. Sleeping well goes a long way in helping your child to secure good results, because it keeps them awake in school and thus better able to absorb and process most of what is taught in school for effective learning to take place.

Bottomline: The learning and social environment play a determining role in helping your child achieve the desired grades. As parents, we can intervene tactfully when the situation calls for it to alter and improve such environments for our child.

To a better future for our children!

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Yours Sincerely, Mr Kenneth Lim Your highly qualified and experienced math teacher and tutor