Transitions are difficult for many of our students, and none is more difficult than the transition from summer vacation to school. Ideally, with Labor Day behind us, all the summertime distractions over, and a few weeks of class gone by, students should be settled in and down to work. But children who routinely struggle academically don’t always adjust so easily.
Fortunately, there still is time to lay the groundwork for a successful school year – maybe even a productive first marking period. Here are our suggestions to help your child get on track. While these are intended for the early weeks of school, always keep them in mind. They will be helpful year-round.
Get accommodations in order
In many schools, your student’s IEP or 504 plan was established as early as last spring. If that’s your situation, great – now make sure that plan is being followed and that your child is getting all the accommodations they need and to which they are entitled.
“Talk to your kids and make sure the school is following through with those accommodations,” advises Lawrence Kloth, co-founder of Reading Success Plus. He recalled his years in high school as a struggling student with dyslexia and ADHD.
“I remember a situation where my plan wasn’t being followed. I had to ask, ‘Where are my accommodations? We had them set up early.’ They were like, ‘What?’
“It was all straightened out, but it shows how you have to constantly watch out for your child and be their advocate. And if you’re in high school, or even more so in college, you have to start advocating for yourself. Especially in college, because mom and dad won’t be there to help you. You have to stand up for yourself.”
If you don’t have your IEP or 504 plan yet, Lawrence says that must be at the top of your list.
“That’s the No. 1 thing, without question,” he says. “School will be incredibly difficult for your child otherwise. The proper accommodations will create a level playing field and give your student the chance to achieve their full potential.”
Once the learning plan is in place and the accommodations are available, the student must take advantage of those resources. “Use your accommodations. Don’t be shy about that,” Lawrence says.
“I remember some students back in the day who did not want to use them because they didn’t want to feel different. But you’re only hurting yourself if you don’t use them. It’s going to be a lot tougher to survive. Your parents fought for them, and the school gave them to you, so use them. You’re just hurting yourself if you waste the opportunity.”
Routines and schedules
If any remnants of summer were lingering in your family’s schedule, Labor Day should have ended them. That’s the final signal that it’s time to get back to work. Enforce those earlier bedtimes (it’s not light that late anymore). Get your homework routines back on track.
Returning to school also means returning to extracurricular activities, which can quickly become a heavy load on your calendar. Sports, music, drama, scouting, clubs, and other enrichment activities are all kicking into high gear. We encourage our students to pursue anything that interests them. For struggling students, school is too often a losing battle that must be fought every day. This erodes the child’s self-esteem, potentially creating a cycle of failure.
However, when a child finds a non-academic activity that they enjoy and do well at, their self-esteem climbs. These activities can also help them socially; a youngster who doesn’t fit in the classroom may be right at home on the volleyball court or on stage. The benefits to the child almost always outweigh the parents’ burden of schedule-making and transportation.
Still, families must balance outside activities with homework and tutoring. Homework isn’t going away, but after struggling for a few weeks to make everything work, it may be tempting to set aside tutoring. Resist that temptation.
“If you’re doing outside services such as tutoring, do not pause it when you’re doing sports or such things,” Lawrence recommends. “Instead of saying ‘We’re going to take a break until football is done,’ just scale the tutoring back.
“I get it,” he continues. “I played high school football, and that was very important to me. And it was really intense. We started practice at 3:30, and I probably didn’t get home until 7:30. It’s really tough to do tutoring during that.”
Ideally, look for a way to continue tutoring, even if you reduce it to once a week. You want to avoid the inevitable backsliding that happens when the student stops lessons completely. A reduced tutoring schedule may slow progress, but your student is still moving forward.
“And if you do have to totally stop,” Lawrence says, “set a firm date as to when you will resume and let us know when you’re planning to come back. It’s a way of holding yourself accountable, and, from our perspective, it allows us to plan for your return”
Stay in touch
Set the tone for the school year by establishing positive communication with both your child and the school. Part of that means monitoring your child’s IEP or 504 plan and checking accommodations. But even if your student does not receive such support, you can still stay in touch with teachers to get a sense of what’s going on. Regular communication with the school builds relationships that can help keep the student on track throughout the year. That’s better than introducing yourself to the teacher in a frantic phone call during a crisis.
Likewise, start a conversation with your child about the new school year now, not when the first-quarter grades are posted. Ask them about their classes, what they’re excited about, what they’re worried about. Get an immediate sense of how your child feels and what kind of support they need.
“Try to create a healthy mindset,” Lawrence says. “If you’re seeing some warning signs that something’s not right, you have to intervene. You can say, ‘You know, you’re not acting like yourself. Is everything OK?’
Above all, offer encouragement. Your child needs to know that you’re in their corner.
“Give them positive feedback,” Lawrence says. “Let them know that you believe in them.”
“You need to be an advocate for them, and you need to understand what they’re going through. It’s a lot for a struggling student to be different from the other kids. And if you need help with bullying or any other kind of emotional support, don’t be afraid to ask for it.
“Providing tutoring, setting up healthy and productive routines, making sure the child is taking advantage of accommodations – all those things create the healthy mindset they need to succeed.”
Reading Success Plus has offices in Grand Rapids and Troy. It offers one-on-one tutoring online or in person in reading, math, and writing, as well as personal and family coaching. You can get more information at readingsuccessplus.com. To contact us, call 833-229-1112 or go online to readingsuccessplus.com/contact.