Help your child achieve

Parents who have children already in secondary school or at the university must are only too aware of the agony of looking for a school that may not satisfy the child’s academic needs. Your child may not be an under achiever. Probably he or she is lazy and needs a push, motivation or encouragement. Some of these children have the ability to excel. They may even have an 1Q of 120 and above and yet still perform poorly in school.You need to know that academic excellence requires intellectual ability, as well as self-discipline and self motivation. A child may have the abilities to excel but if they lack the self discipline or self-motivation, it is easier for them to become an under-achiever. Parents need to recognise the fact that learning requires hard work. This means that the child must understand what the teacher has taught. Concentration on any given task and internalising issues is also important.The child also needs the skill of remembering what was previously taught. Doing homework or any assignments should not be done in a hurry as if to say “good riddance.” No, it should become a progressive culture. Assignments do not stop in school. They continue even in the work place and in our homes. Both parents and teachers need to give the best support they can to their children. The reality with under achievers is that they struggle with negative emotions. A critical response to their poor quality work causes an additional pain to their already staggering self-esteem. The under achiever can be helped in the following ways.l Be keen at what the child is doing.l Be supportive in the child’s self-discipline.l Help them to make a study time table at home.l Supervise homework consistently. l Motivate the child by using rewards and praise. The writer is a lecturer at the Institute of Teacher Education Kyambogo (ITEK) ends