Struggling students need and deserve all the support we can give them. But families going through such an experience for the first time often feel helpless. Without a background in education, they sometimes feel reduced to just giving words of encouragement and hoping for the best. Not that encouragement doesn’t matter – it’s vital to the student’s success – but most parents want to do more.
But after some research and a lot of effort, parents and even siblings can help a student who is seemingly stuck in failure turn around their performance in school – and perhaps, in life. Here is a list of steps that will make a difference.
IEPs, 504 plans, and accommodations
Individualized Education Programs, or IEPs, and 504 plans are two of the best tools schools have to assist struggling students. An IEP details the special education services the school will provide to support a student with a disability. These individualized programs can include specialized instruction, accommodations, and services such as speech therapy. Only students with certain disabilities can get an IEP. A 504 plan aims to remove barriers that prevent a student with a disability from succeeding in a general education classroom, but it does not include specially designed instruction.
For most parents, 504 plans and IEPs are bewildering, frustrating, and intimidating. However, they are necessary to get your student the accommodations they need. Lawrence Kloth, co-founder of Reading Success Plus, calls them one of the “foundational pieces.”
“A 504 plan will give the student crucial accommodations – extra time for tests or assignments, a reader or a scribe, maybe a quiet room,” Lawrence says. “An IEP is necessary if they need extra services, such as speech or occupational therapy, a self-contained classroom, or materials specific to a disability, such as braille materials or audiobooks for a student with dyslexia.”
Also, IEPs and 504 plans can provide students with assistive technology such as adaptive furniture, text-to-speech and speech recognition software, and screen readers. Likewise, low-tech but effective solutions including pencil grips, graphic organizers, calendars, and highlighters, can be provided.
“For our students, who struggle in almost all aspects of school and often have anxiety because of it, accommodations are essential,” Lawrence says. “Things like reduced homework or extra time for homework can make or break them, and you can’t get those accommodations without an IEP or 504.”
For more information about IEPs and 504 plans, check out our blog, “IEP or 504 plan: Which do you need?”
Tutoring
The other foundational piece in student support, Lawrence says, is tutoring.
“Our students have severe weaknesses that are not going to be filled without the proper teaching and remediation,” he says. “They are always going to have those holes unless they are taught the way they learn best, learn how to digest and understand the material, and do it consistently over time.”
Tutoring programs at Reading Success Plus are research- and evidence-based. They teach by engaging students with visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and tactile methods that match their learning style.
“It does take a commitment of time and money,” Lawrence says. “But if you can do it, that would be huge for your student’s success in the classroom.”
Other interests
Can playing soccer, studying ballet, or starting a garage band contribute to classroom success? Yes, Lawrence says, if such an activity builds self-confidence.
“I have dyslexia and ADHD and struggled terribly in school,” he says. “But sports saved me. It gave me self-confidence that I didn’t have in school.
“Students who struggle in school have their self-confidence knocked down every time they get a bad grade or have to read out loud in class. They develop anxiety, depression, and just bad self-esteem because they see everybody else doing well, and they’re not doing so well.”
Parents can help turn that around by encouraging their child to find something they enjoy – sports, theater, music, robotics, even gaming. Give them a chance to find success outside the classroom.
“We want them to pursue their passion,” Lawrence says. “If they don’t, they will not have the self-esteem that gets them through the tough times in school. Personally, if I didn’t have those positive outlets for me to be social and to build skills that needed to be built, I might not have been able to get through high school and eventually graduate from college. Every child should have those opportunities.”
Working together
A struggling student will have more confidence if they know they’ve got a team behind them. For a struggling student, that team usually begins with the parents. They need to be on the same team, even if the parents have split. Consistent positive messages from both parents — “You can do it, Johnny,” or “We understand that you think a little differently, Susie, but we believe in you” — have a huge impact on a child’s self-esteem.
Siblings can be part of the team, too, but parents likely will have to take the lead. When children realize that a sibling is doing poorly in school and needs extra help, their reaction often is teasing, not sympathy. Or, they may be jealous of the extra time and resources that parents devote to their sibling. “Why do you spend so much time with Johnny? I need help, too.” “It’s not fair that you won’t drive me to my friends because you have to take Susie to tutoring.”
With that dynamic, Lawrence says, you must level with the children. “Tell them their brother or sister is having difficulty because of dyslexia, or ADHD, or something on the spectrum, and they need extra help to get through it, and it will be easier for all of us if we work together and support each other,” Lawrence says. “When you approach them correctly, most kids will rise to the occasion.”
A child who is doing poorly in school often feels alone – the teacher seems to be picking on them, other kids are making fun of them, and they feel like they can’t do anything right. They need a lift from their team.
“Having that support behind them can be the difference between a child who gives up on themself and one who believes in themself and has the confidence to make that difficult journey to learning. And someday, they can say, ‘I really did it. I really was dedicated to tutoring. I was really dedicated to my studies. And look where I am now.’”
A positive, nurturing environment makes great things possible.
“We understand it takes a lot of time and money, as well as patience and emotional support. But these kids are so bright and so worth it. It’s incredible to see the light go on for them, to see a child who was struggling become successful. It looked like they would fall through the cracks, but not anymore.”
Thinking differently
Most of the children we work with at Reading Success Plus are visual and kinesthetic learners. Unfortunately, our schools teach through readings and lectures. That likely is how parents were taught, and for many, it is hard to imagine schools operating any other way. But these practices don’t serve visual learners well, and few will thrive under them.
“These are super-smart kids,” Lawrence says. But the educational system usually won’t let them show that because it’s based on textbooks, lectures, readings, essay questions, and written reports. These students are capable of understanding the material inside out, but text-dominated instruction is a barrier. Likewise, the system often treats characteristics of ADHD as behavioral issues, not traits associated with a mind that works differently.
Homework time
If our students generally hate school, they dislike homework just as much. Parents can do a lot to support their child and to make homework more productive and less stressful. Setting a consistent time for homework – perhaps shortly after school for younger students, and after extracurricular activities for the older kids – creates a routine and avoids the time-management difficulties that often are part of the child’s learning disability. Parents can set up rules for homework time – where to do it, whether or not music is allowed, or if a phone can be in the homework area. Again, this creates consistency and helps the child to be productive and comfortable.
Most of our students struggle to get their work done on time, whether at school or at home. High school students with learning disabilities can stay up until early morning pushing through assignments that their peers finished in a third of the time. That is another reason that IEPs and 504 plans are so important; accommodations in a student’s plan may allow shorter homework assignments that are still representative of the material.
Help is available
Parents need support, too. Reading Success Plus wants to be a resource for parents, whether they have a simple question or need more complex services such as family coaching or an educational advocate.
For example, RSP can serve as the parents’ advocate in meetings about IEP or 504 plans or provide parents with the tools they need to be their own advocates. “We want to give them all the tools possible,” Lawrence says. “It’s a lot of work to advocate for your child and to be well-researched. But we’re here to help you, and I know other places can help you, too.”
The key, Lawrence says, is that “it’s really important to us that the child gets the help that they need to be successful. If there’s any way we can truly help, we will certainly do that.”
Make dreams come true
Parental support for a struggling student will make a huge difference in the child’s success. The more parents become involved in tackling their child’s learning difficulties, the better they will understand how their child’s mind works and help the child deal with their disability. That, in turn, will build the trust necessary to get through stressful times.
“You can help your child understand how they learn, because that’s difficult for a younger child to grasp,” Lawrence says. “Then, give your child the space to figure that out.
“If you guide them in the right direction and give them the help and support they need, they’ll flourish. Maybe they won’t be the most perfect child ever, but they will become more than you ever imagined.
“That will give the kids the strength to become whatever they want to be. That’s what we want to do — have these kids fulfill their dreams.”