Seeing Improvement in Your Children’s Academics, Behavior, and Emotions Takes Time

Photo: Flash cards by Crayola. Reading Comprehension Worksheet by Parents Building Prodigy Kids.

There are times when our children experience difficulty with their academics, behavior, or emotions. Helping our children learn how to overcome these challenges usually takes a lot of time. We live in a fast paced world, so we are used to getting things right away. While getting things done quickly is convenient, most things in life take a lot of time to become accomplished successfully.

Children have a lot of needs. As parents, we can make a decision to do our best to support them. One thing we need to remember is that improvement takes time. We have to give strategies a chance to work. Sometimes after we have given an ample amount of time for a strategy that isn’t working, we may have to choose a different method if necessary. This should be done only after we have given the previous strategy enough time to see if it really is effective.

Teachers apply this concept in the classroom. Some children need extra support academically, behaviorally, or emotionally. They may receive a plan with specific goals, action, and progress monitoring in order to help them master the skill that they need to improve on. The first couple of times when the teacher is working with the student, it may not seem like the child is improving. But with consistent practice and time, the positive results gradually present themselves. Then after looking at the recorded data, you can see the progress that took place. This can only work if you are committed to put in the dedicated time and work necessary to accomplish it. You can’t expect to get desired results without putting in the necessary work and time.

I believe that little by little we can accomplish things. Sometimes we put so much extra pressure on ourselves that we get overwhelmed before we even start. There are things you can do with your kids in small amounts of time each day that will add up over time and show successful results. I’m going to share some possible scenarios that some children experience difficulty with and provide examples of methods to try at home. I hope this will inspire you to look up ideas, so you can help your kids when they need it.

Math Scenario

A dad notices that his daughter is having a difficult time with multiplication. His daughter understands the concept of how to multiply, but it’s a challenge for her to remember her multiplication facts fluently. He decides to come up with a plan. Each night they set aside 10 minutes to focus on practicing multiplication. He decides to have her trace a set of math facts each night because he learned that writing things down helps us remember things. Each night he has his daughter trace/write a set of multiplication facts. He writes the facts on a piece of paper and she traces them so she can remember.

On Saturdays she completes a worksheet with a mixture of multiplication facts. He also plays multiplication songs from his phone, because he learned that children can learn through music. They decide to consistently continue this process for 3 months and will check to see if there is improvement in her multiplication fact fluency before deciding whether or not they need to try a new method.

Reading Scenario

A mom has become aware that her son is having trouble with reading comprehension. He can read very well fluently, but he does not always understand everything he reads. His mom decides to use resources to enhance his comprehension. She decides to purchase a comprehension workbook online. They will set aside 15 minutes each day for him to read the passage and answer the questions.

The mom has committed to checking over her son’s work and helping him with the questions that he doesn’t understand. This is doable because the workbook they purchased has the answer key included. So all that is needed is for her to dedicate time to read over the passage first and then discuss it with her son after he has completed the work. They decide to regularly implement this process for at least 2 months before making a decision of whether or not to find a different resource to use. They might also come to the conclusion that this is something they want to add to their routine schedule because it is working so well. And they have learned that reading comprehension gets more challenging each year for children.

Handwriting Scenario

A dad observes that his son is having a hard time with writing his letters legibly. He decides to have his child trace his uppercase and lowercase letters each night in order to master this skill. He sets up a Pinterest account which provides them with an abundance of handwriting resources and ideas. He prints out the handwriting pages for his son to practice tracing each night so he can become proficient in his handwriting. They commit to 10 minutes of handwriting practice per night. The dad will check to see if there is any progress in his son’s handwriting after 3 months of dedicated practice.

Behavior Scenario

A mom sees that her daughter is having difficulty with keeping her hands to herself. She has been hitting children at school. The mom decides to purchase a behavior incentive chart online. Her daughter can put a star on it each time she comes home with a good report from school for not hitting any classmates. She learned that visual and tangible resources are good for kids to use when tracking their progress.

Every morning the mom will have a talk with her child, letting her know that she is loved and that she was created by God to be a well behaved child that is kind and does good things in the world. She decides to have her daughter stop watching a TV show that she thinks encouraged her to start hitting others. The mom also tells her daughter that she will lose a special privilege if there are days where she misbehaves at school (e.g- favorite toy will be taken away for the day, screen time lost for the day, etc). The mom decides she will check for growth after a month to see if this strategy is working or if they need to add something else to what they are currently doing.

Emotions Scenario

A mom and dad notice their daughter has been very sad lately. She doesn’t feel good about how she looks. She has been comparing herself to others. The parents decide that they will be sure to remind their child every morning and every night that she is beautiful and made in God’s image. The parents will remind her of her wonderful talents and strengths. Affirmation posters will be put up in her bedroom as visual reminders. The parents will figure out what caused her to start feeling negative about herself. Maybe it was a classmate, a book she read, or a TV show she watched. The parents will intentionally find positive resources to uplift their daughter.

Closing

As parents, we have the task of helping our children overcome their academic, behavior, and emotional challenges. My teaching experience taught me that it’s so important for parents to be there for their children. Children need guidance from their parents to help them. It’s hard and sad for a child when they don’t receive support in areas they are struggling with. In general there are no short cuts to helping our kids .Yes, every now and then you might get a day that appears to be easier than most. But for the majority of the time hard work, time, and patience are what is needed to help our children achieve.

In life there will always be something we need to work on to improve. That’s just how it goes. Everyone goes through things even if we don’t see it. I hope you are encouraged to help your kids improve in the areas they are having difficulty. Whenever you feel stuck, pray to God and He can help you figure out what you need to do.