My child has difficulties at school: what are the solutions?

When their child encounters difficulties at school, many parents wonder: "How can I tell if he's really struggling? Is it just a temporary lack of interest, a rough patch, or a sign of a deeper learning disability?" Clearly identifying these difficulties is the first step to effectively helping your child.

How can we recognize what constitutes academic difficulty, understand its various causes, and identify appropriate teaching and care solutions? Here are a few avenues to explore to help each child rediscover self-confidence and the pleasure of learning.

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How can I tell if my child is having trouble at school?

In our society, it's a worry that grips many parents: is my child having difficulty at school? The "to succeed in life, you have to succeed at school" schema is still very much entrenched.
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In the traditional school system, parents often have a strong signal: the famous grades, whether they're numerical, literate or colored, for that matter. And then there's homework: if it's not going well at home, it may be because the child is having trouble at school. 

In some private schools, such as Esclaibes International Schools, parents have no grades to refer to. If this is the case, how can we, as parents, know if our child is experiencing difficulties at school? 

On the other hand, as parents, we can tend to tell ourselves that our child's difficulties are temporary and that things will get better in a while. Because we rarely want to project ourselves into a real learning problem.

Generally speaking, certain clues at home, combined with the teacher's valuable advice, provide clear answers.
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First clues: what you can see at home

Even before the school sounds the alarm, there are a few signals that can alert parents at home. They deserve careful observation, as they often reveal a malaise or difficulty with learning.

You can pay particular attention to :

• unusual resistance or anxiety when doing homework or talking about school;
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• a clear drop in motivation, or even a sudden lack of interest in learning;
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• recurring physical symptoms such as excessive fatigue, stomach aches or stress before going to class;
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• real difficulty in retaining lessons and memorizing the spelling of words, despite regular homework;
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• writing difficulties;
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• frequent failure to gras p certain school concepts or systematic forgetfulness of recent learning.

If you spot several of these signs over an extended period of time, it's likely that your child is experiencing real difficulties at school. In any case, it's important to be concerned to prevent this from leading to school phobia.
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The teacher's key role in identifying difficulties

Even if they observe their child on a daily basis, parents don't always have sufficient hindsight to accurately assess their child's learning at school. This is where the teacher's role comes into its own.
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The teacher is often the first person to spot a specific difficulty in a child, since he or she sees the child evolve in a structured, collective learning context. By observing the child's behavior, the way he reacts to new concepts, and his interactions with his classmates, the teacher is able to determine whether this is simply a one-off difficulty, or whether outside help needs to be considered.
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It is therefore essential to establish a regular dialogue with him/her to better understand the origin and nature of the problem encountered by the child. An open parent-teacher exchange enables :

• to validate or not your own observations at home;
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• better understand the school situations in which difficulties arise;
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• implement initial strategies for appropriate pedagogical support.
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However, if despite this exchange and the specific support provided at school, difficulties persist or worsen, it would be useful to consider consulting a specialized professional (speech therapist, school psychologist, occupational therapist, psychomotor therapist...) to obtain a precise and complete diagnosis.

Some lesser-known specialists can also provide invaluable help: orthopedagogues or graphoeducators for handwriting difficulties.

In this way, you will be able to obtain a precise diagnosis, better understand the origin of the difficulties and choose the right support for your child.
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Why is my child having trouble at school?

Before taking action, it's essential to understand why a child is experiencing difficulties at school. These can have several origins: a lack of motivation, an ill-adapted learning method, or an undiagnosed specific disorder. Analyzing these reasons enables us to better choose solutions.
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A lack of motivation or a blockage related to the meaning of learning

Very often, difficulties at school stem from a loss of meaning: the child doesn't understand the purpose of the notions learned at school. They may then drop out or lose interest in what they're learning, seeing it as abstract or useless.

Guillaume Bousquet, founder of Pédagovie, insists on the need to give meaning to learning to encourage motivation in children. In his view, linking learning to the child's daily reality helps to rekindle interest.

For example, explaining the etymology of a word to a child ("equinox" comes from the Latin æquus, equal, and nox, night), or asking them to physically experience a concept (walking between two chairs to understand "between" in English), totally transforms their relationship to learning.

Guillaume Bousquet also talks about the pedagogy of the spoken word: children verbalize what they have understood in their own words. By putting what they've learned into words, they take ownership of what they've learned and relate it to the concrete. This pedagogy not only strengthens their understanding, but also their motivation.

To overcome this blockage, don't hesitate to :

• linking learning to your child's daily life ;
  
  
• encourage concrete situations and hands-on activities: doing math while cooking is a much more powerful way of learning naturally than you might think;
  
  
• encourage verbalization: ask the child to recount or explain what he has just learned in his own words.
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A learning method unsuited to his profile

Every child is unique, and conventional teaching methods are not necessarily suitable for all. Indeed, every child generally has a preferred learning style, which may be :

• visual: retains through images, colors, diagrams;
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• auditory: he memorizes by listening, repeating aloud or singing;
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• kinesthetic: they learn best by manipulating and experimenting concretely.

Ideally, the learning process should combine all three. In particular, a child with a kinesthetic bent may run into difficulties if the teaching he or she receives is exclusively abstract and passive. To be fully effective, learning should ideally mobilize several senses at once. The more senses (sight, hearing, touch, movement, etc.) are used simultaneously, the more effectively the child encodes information. This in turn facilitates comprehension and memorization. This is what we call multisensory integration.

Montessori pedagogy, like other alternative pedagogies, often proves beneficial for these profiles, since it uses concrete and manipulative methods to learn, for example with Montessori materials that materialize concepts.

The link between the hand and the brain plays an essential role in learning. Maria Montessori already asserted that "the hand is the privileged tool of intelligence". Today, neuroscience confirms that manipulation directly activates the cerebral areas involved in comprehension and memorization. Manipulating concrete material enables the brain to associate a physical action with an abstract notion, thus facilitating comprehension and long-term memorization.

Manipulation, the concrete introduction to a concept, is ultimately suitable for the vast majority of children. It also mobilizes senses such as sight and even hearing, depending on the activity. 

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Difficulties at school: what if a learning disability was the cause?

Persistent difficulties, despite pedagogical adaptations, may reveal an unidentified learning disability. The most common are :

• dys" disorders (dyslexia, dyscalculia, dyspraxia, dysphasia, etc.), which interfere with the acquisition of written or oral language, coordination or everyday gestures;
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• attention deficit disorder with or without hyperactivity (ADHD), responsible for difficulties in concentration and organization;
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• autism spectrum disorders (ASD), which strongly influence social relationships and communication, thus impacting learning.
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For these disorders, it is necessary to consult a competent professional: speech therapist, school psychologist, neuropsychologist, occupational therapist or neuropediatrician. An early diagnosis will enable appropriate treatment to be put in place, thus restoring your child's confidence in learning.
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How can I help my child cope with difficulties at school?

Difficulties at school can therefore have several origins. To overcome them effectively, in addition to the medical and paramedical care sometimes required, several educational solutions adapted to the child's profile are possible. Here are some concrete ways of helping your child, both at school and at home.

Improving the working environment at home

Creating a calm, pleasant environment conducive to learning is the first step to consider. Ideally, children should have a dedicated, organized and comfortable space in which to concentrate effectively.

Guillaume Bousquet also reminds us of the importance of movement in facilitating learning, particularly memorization. Some children need to be on the move, adopting unlikely positions to concentrate. Sitting in a chair is not for everyone. You can therefore suggest : 

• recite a poem while walking or completing a short route;
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• review concepts during a walk in the neighborhood: ask them to tell you what they know, what they've learned. It's an opportunity to mobilize a pedagogy of speech and movement, during an appreciated shared time.
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Identify your child's learning profile to tailor homework assignments

As we've seen, everyone has their own preferred way of learning: by listening, by seeing or by moving (kinesthetic). Certain disorders can also hinder learning. Once we have this data in hand, we can adapt homework or classroom activities accordingly.


However, whatever method is chosen, it remains essential to always give meaning to what the child is learning. Guillaume Bousquet insists on this point: children need to understand why they are learning this or that notion, and how it relates to their daily lives and real-life experience. Giving meaning helps to reinforce motivation over the long term, and facilitates a more natural assimilation of knowledge.
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For example: 

• For a child whose memorization is more aural, or who suffers from dyslexia, poems and lessons can be recorded so that they can listen to them as often as they need.
  
  
• If your child has difficulty with handwriting (e.g. dyslexia or dysgraphia), allow him to type the words on the computer or spell them out to you orally. The aim is to avoid the feeling of failure associated with handwriting, and to enable him to concentrate solely on spelling the words.
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• You can also turn a conjugation lesson to be reviewed for the umpteenth time, into a fun and interactive activity, whether with a self-correcting online educational game or a game with homemade dice: one die proposes pronouns, the other 6 verbs and possibly a third die, the conjugation tenses. The child must write down the result of the combination of the 3 dice.
  Je / dire / passé composé : I said.
  
  
• And if your child needs to adopt a position lying on the floor to read the text or with his feet up against the wall, let him. The important thing is that he reads and concentrates.
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Don't hesitate to talk with the teacher to find possible adaptations together, to help your child not get discouraged.
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Valuing progress to boost children's confidence

Faced with repeated difficulties at school, a child can quickly lose confidence. Guillaume Bousquet insists on the need to change the way we look at intelligence. Rather than focusing on results, always value the efforts made, however modest. This helps children understand that their abilities are not fixed, but can be constantly developed.


Everyone progresses at their own pace. And it's part of our respect for children to offer them a pedagogy that enables them to achieve regular success, without comparing themselves to others. In any case, this is our pedagogical vision in the international schools of the Esclaibes International Schools network. We have implemented an active pedagogy, work plans and personalized follow-up: each child can thus engage in learning according to his or her personal needs. And these needs differ between a 6-year-old who is already a reader and one who is not, for example.

To reward progress, you can :

• encourage children to verbalize what they understand rather than simply asking them to recite a lesson by heart;
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• always emphasize its progress: what it does better today than yesterday, regardless of the numerical result;
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• change your vocabulary from "you can't do it" to "you can't do it yet", because nothing is irremediable when it comes to learning.
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Overcoming academic difficulties with the right approach

Difficulties at school are never inevitable. Every child has unique potential, which can be unlocked by choosing the right teaching approach.

Whether it's creating a more suitable work environment at home, choosing active pedagogies like the Montessori method, or using talking pedagogy to give meaning back to learning, the solutions exist and are many and varied.
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At Esclaibes International Schools, each child benefits from personalized support that respects his or her rhythm and values his or her progress. By offering adapted teaching, where children manipulate, verbalize and progress at their own pace, our schools provide an ideal environment for regaining confidence and the pleasure of learning.

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