Every parent hopes for their children to be top scorers in school. They want them to get good grades without struggling too much. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. There are some children who will get poor grades even when the teacher is putting in a lot of effort. So, what should a parent do when their child is a slow learner?
Handling Slow Learner in Primary School
- Check for learning disabilities: Before you start handling the situation, you should talk with teachers on doing a test for learning disabilities. Your child could be having conditions like dyslexia/reading disorder or ADHD that makes it difficult for them to catch up with their classmates. In most cases, it is usually caught in pre-primary school, but it can be missed.
- Use different learning modes: It could be that the child is more of a visual learner and is finding other forms of learning boring. Invest in online learning games to complement what they are learning in school.
- Hire a tutor: There are some children who need extra work and attention. They tend to perform better if they are getting that one on one interaction that when they are in a classroom setting. Get a tutor who is experienced in teaching the particular age group.
- Go with an incremental approach: Do not overwhelm the child with so much information at once. Build things slowly. Ask them what they learnt in school, and then try to build on that information before introducing something totally new.
No matter what you do, you should never make the child feel like they are stupid or something is wrong with them. Working with slow learners requires a lot of patience. Do not get frustrated when they forget what they have been taught. Remember positive reinforcement tends to work better for primary school children.