Getting help if your child is struggling
If your child’s grades are slipping or remain unsatisfactory, that means he or she needs help. Poor grades can be caused by a number of things: a lack of basic skills, poor study habits, tension at school, trouble with peers, or difficulties at home. Whatever the cause of the
problem, here are ways to get help for your child:
• Talk with the teacher or your child’s guidance counselor. If your child is older, you may want to have this meeting with your child present.
• Come away from the meeting with a plan. Once you understand why your child’s school performance has dropped or continues to be at a
low level, decide together with the school what steps to take next. Does your child need a better structure for doing homework? More assistance and monitoring from you and less time watching television and talking on the phone? Less time at his after-school job? Limits on
school-night activities? More sleep? Tutoring or outside support services? A professional evaluation by a learning specialist? Have a plan that everyone has agreed on. It should include specifics on when your next meeting or meetings will take place.
“Everyone who succeeds in school does it with the help of many other people—teachers who taught them and showed them where to find things, relatives and friends who helped when they got stuck and sat with them when they were worried. We’re all in this together, as a family and a community.”
—Barney Brawer, school-success expert
Read next: Getting help if your child has learning difficulties
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