Learning challenges can be caused by a variety of different reasons. A child might have a learning disability, difficulty paying attention, low motivation, other processing difficulties, or simply need glasses!
It’s really important to pinpoint the cause of a child’s academic struggles so they can receive appropriate help and support.
Learning disabilities occur when there is a mismatch between a child’s abilities and their learning. A child can struggle in one area (ie reading, writing or math) or experience multiple challenges academically.
When a child has difficulty reading, there can be a number of challenges – from being able to sound out the parts of a word (called phonemes) to understanding what has just been read. These different types of reading challenges require different interventions. Struggling writers may feel overwhelmed with the act of writing or may easily be confused by the writing rules (i.e. grammar, spelling). There can also be difficulties in generating new ideas or putting one’s thoughts together in a way that will make sense to others. Math challenges range from recall of math facts to applied math problems (i.e. word problems, complex math problems that require multiple steps or reasoning).
The great news is that there are many interventions that schools can use based on your child’s unique type of challenges. Depending on your child’s specific profile, there are also many activities you can do at home as a parent. Wouldn’t it be great to know what the *right* thing was to help your child? Wouldn’t it be great to avoid the tears and fights over homework?