| It is always concerning to a parent when they | | | | learner understands the assignment. The teacher |
| discover that their child is falling behind in the | | | | might provide a "study buddy" or "peer tutor"; often, |
| classroom. When this happens, it is best to | | | | children would much rather work with another |
| systematically consider possible causes. One common | | | | student in their class rather than with the teacher or |
| cause of a relatively sudden decline in academic | | | | instructional aide. Parents may offer additional support |
| performance is vision or hearing loss. It may not | | | | to their child by monitoring homework sessions and |
| occur to either teachers or parents that a child | | | | helping students prepare for tests. They may seek |
| cannot now see the board, where they were once | | | | the services of a private tutor for a couple of |
| able to. The change might have been so gradual that | | | | sessions each week. |
| the student does not realize it either. Even if they do, | | | | Designing Instruction |
| they may be reluctant to mention it to their parents, | | | | When designing effective instruction, be mindful that |
| primarily because they don't want glasses! So, if your | | | | very few students learn easily from information that |
| child suddenly experiences difficulty, a vision and | | | | is presented in a lecture format. Focus on teaching to |
| hearing assessment might be in order. | | | | a variety of modalities. For visual learners (which |
| If a child's hearing and vision is adequate, it may be | | | | most children are), use pictures, videos, graphic |
| time to visit the pediatrician. These medical | | | | organizers, charts, graphs, tables, and time lines. For |
| professionals can assist with identifying attention | | | | auditory learners, use songs, music, lectures, |
| problems and can provide referrals for others who | | | | discussions, and debates. Nearly every child can |
| might be able to evaluate your child for a learning | | | | benefit from kinesthetic, hands-on activities. Isn't it |
| issue. Ultimately, a pediatrician can rule out any | | | | much more meaningful to learn about anatomy |
| organic condition that might be causing your child to | | | | through frog dissection, rather than reading a chapter |
| have difficulty learning. | | | | and answering questions about anatomy? |
| If everything checks out well from your child's | | | | Implementing Effective Instructions |
| medical evaluation, it is wise to consider enlisting | | | | Besides designing well-conceived instruction, some |
| some one-on-one help, combined with an effective | | | | practices will make instruction even more effective. |
| teaching system. Luckily, there are some effective | | | | First, provide frequent breaks for students. There is |
| strategies or teaching practices that can be | | | | no point in asking a student with attention difficulties |
| implemented by teachers, tutors, and parents that | | | | to sit for a long period of time and to focus on a |
| can help learners who struggle in academic areas. | | | | single task. At home, parents should help students |
| These strategies involve setting up an appropriate | | | | break their study time into segments in order for |
| learning environment, providing adequate support, and | | | | students to be able to engage efficiently in a task. |
| designing and implementing effective instruction. | | | | Teachers, parents, and tutors should assist students |
| Setting Up a Learning Environment | | | | with focusing on essential information, not trivia. For |
| When considering the best ways to set up an | | | | example, when studying about the Abraham Lincoln, |
| appropriate learning environment, we should likely | | | | the most important information is related to his |
| keep in mind the things our mother used to tell us. | | | | presidency and his influence on the outcome of the |
| Find a well-lit, well-ventilated location. Work or study | | | | Civil War, not the name of the theater in which he |
| at a table, where there is ample space. Do not | | | | was assassinated. In addition, one way to ensure |
| attempt to tackle a reading assignment while lying on | | | | that students will retain information is to review |
| the bed or on the couch. Most importantly, find a | | | | often. Rather than beginning to prepare for a test |
| location that is distraction-free. Attempting to learn | | | | two days prior to it, students should be encouraged |
| the causes of the Civil War is difficult to do while | | | | to do distributed practice - intermittent sessions of |
| watching a reality show on TV! | | | | study for more than a week leading up to the test. |
| Providing Adequate Support | | | | This prevents "cramming", and allows students ample |
| When students are struggling with a particular | | | | time to learn the information well enough to recall it. |
| academic task, the worst thing is for them to feel | | | | Students who have difficulty often do not simply |
| isolated. Many are reluctant to ask for help from the | | | | "pick up" on strategies or techniques that help them |
| teacher. After all, when the teacher asks, "Are there | | | | learn. They need to have these directly taught to |
| any questions?", is anyone actually going to ask one, | | | | them by teachers, tutors, and parents. These tips |
| in front of everyone? There are many ways to | | | | are easy to implement and teach to students. The |
| provide additional support to a learner. For example, | | | | best part is that not only students who have |
| the teacher might do a "progress check" from time | | | | difficulty will benefit from these tips - all students will. |
| to time during an assignment, to ensure that the | | | | |