Practice Doesn’t Always Make Perfect

Most things in life get better with practice.  A learning challenge is not generally one of them.

• A 10-year-old with a 1^st grade reading ability
• A perpetually distracted student
• A teen who studies like a maniac but never fails to fail his tests
• A child who constantly says, “Huh? What?” Who is falling behind in school because she can’t seem to understand what the teacher is saying

These are among the many, many learning and attention challenges that will not typically go away with time, tutoring, or special education.

Why Tutoring and Re-Teaching Leave Parents Discouraged

When students struggle in school, parents turn to special education, traditional tutoring, and hours and hours and hours of parent support and re-teaching at home.  And at some point, most parents become discouraged.

Why aren’t things changing?  Are they going to be paying a tutor forever?  Will the parent have to sit right next to their child and go through school all over again in order to get them through?

If Not Practice, Then What?

All the supports that we can put in place for our children are great.  We should pull out all the stops to help them.  But when smart, otherwise able students struggle in school, support is not enough.  They deserve and are capable of MORE!

If we want to get to the more, we have to get to the root of the problem.

The Underlying Skills Behind Learning

There are numerous underlying processing/learning skills that support a person’s ability to learn academics and perform at their potential in school.  These are skills such as memory, attention, auditory and visual processing, neurodevelopmental visual and motor skills, language comprehension, processing speed, and executive function.

These skills are not addressed at school or in tutoring and it is assumed that these skills are in place when kids start school and that they continue to develop at an appropriate pace.

When these skills are weak or inefficient, even very bright students will struggle – having to work harder and longer than they should.

Permanent Change Is Possible

To make permanent changes in learning or attention challenges so that students can become comfortable and independent learners, we must identify and develop the weak underlying skills that are at the root of the problem.  Once these skills are working as they should, the brain can get the information that it needs to learn and retain the academic skills.

At Stowell Learning Center, we do not want your child to need help forever.  We do not want smart children and adults spending a lifetime compensating for their learning or attention challenges.  The brain research in the last 30+ years and our experience with thousands of students has proven that most learning and attention challenges can be permanently corrected by developing the weak underlying skills and remediating the affected academic areas.

Students with learning and attention challenges CAN get up to par without hiring a tutor forever!

If you’re wondering why this keeps happening even with help, we’ve written more about why tutoring doesn’t work for kids in this situation.

Quick Answers

Does practice help a learning challenge?

Not generally. These learning and attention challenges will not typically go away with time, tutoring, or special education.

Why do smart students struggle even with tutoring?

The underlying skills such as memory, attention, auditory and visual processing, and processing speed are not addressed at school or in tutoring. When they are weak or inefficient, even very bright students have to work harder and longer than they should.

Can learning and attention challenges be permanently corrected?

Most can be permanently corrected by developing the weak underlying skills and remediating the affected academic areas, so students can get up to par without hiring a tutor forever.