subject: School Problems - 6 Tips To Help You Deal With One Problem Scenario [print this page] School Problems - 6 Tips To Help You Deal With One Problem Scenario
When my cousin got into trouble at school my uncle and aunt took the fairly predictable route of defending their son to the hilt and blamed the school, the teachers and the poor headmaster! That is fairly typical behavior of many parents when they are confronted with school problems. There could be a problem with the child about to fail his exams or just a mere behavior problem as was the case with my cousin.
The second thing that other parents do which is equally wrong is to blame themselves for the whole mess and feel guilty that they had not spotted the problem and were completely unaware of it. The second tip is not to go there.
The third tip is to put the child at the center of the problem and forget the peripherals because the child is the one who has to make the grade when there are school problems.
The fourth tip is to find out what the problem is. There may be a learning disability or some other problem which is causing the difficulty. This means meeting the teachers and headmaster and finding out how you can both work together to resolve the issue. There could be a learning disability, an eyesight or hearing problem or emotional problems connected with bullying or an unhappy atmosphere in the home.
Very often children criticize teachers and I know I did when I was at school. I thought that some of the teachers were slightly crazy and there was one that made me stand in a chalked circle on the floor. But that situation is a reflection of the real world where people behave strangely, are downright difficult or uncooperative or just awful.
The fifth tip is not to join forces with the child in criticizing the teacher. This is after all a very biased view and you would need to get the teacher's view to get a balanced account. In any case, there is no point in badmouthing the teacher because he has to get along with her, just as we all have to do with difficult colleagues.
It may be simply that your child is lazy and he needs to be supervised while doing homework so that an eye can be kept on him. The sixth tip is to make sure that the homework is done and that you are only there to help but not actually do the homework! That will not teach your child that taking responsibility for his learning and progress at school is essential. That will be key in preventing other school problems arising.
These are just six tips to approach one problem scenario but there are many other school problems which will be difficult to deal with. That is why using a child behavior program can really help here. It can tell you how to deal with each and every problem as it crops up. It can also give you great strategies for getting routines, behavior standards and other behavior management techniques in place. Certainly you will not be able to turn your child around overnight but you will be able to see gradual progress. That is so rewarding and is always well worth the effort.
