I Want My Happy Child Back!

I HATE shrimp – especially the tiny ones used to make shrimp cocktail.  I hate how they look, how they smell, how they feel in my mouth, and how they taste.  I have a visceral reaction to shrimp, and needless-to-say, as an adult, I NEVER eat them.

At our Parent Information Night last week, a parent shared that her smart, athletic, social 10 year old has a visceral reaction to learning. He HATES anything related to reading, writing, math, or schoolwork.

Why Smart Kids Come to Hate Learning

So what is it all about when an otherwise capable, accomplished child or adult responds this way?  Is this laziness? Stubbornness?  Defiance?  Lack of motivation?  Most likely not.

Smart kids who struggle with learning or attention know they are struggling – even at a young age.  They can look around the classroom and see that everyone else is finished before they are; that their grades are not as good; that while others get to go out to recess, they have to stay in to finish their work, or have to spend their lunchtime getting help from the teacher.

For some students, the effort that it takes to look at and perceive the words on the page, to figure out words when reading, to formulate their thoughts, to write, or to understand and organize math is so great that they dread those kinds of tasks and begin to avoid them at all costs.

Repeatedly, I hear from parents, I just want my happy child back!  I want him to feel confident.  I want her to love learning and feel like she can do anything.

Confidence Comes Back First

Increase in confidence is one of the first changes that we see with students as we begin to develop the weak underlying skills that are at the root of their learning challenges!

What Learning Depends On

Success in reading, writing, spelling, math and all those academic subjects taught in school, rests in large part on many different underlying learning/processing skills that allow the brain to get and organize the information needed for learning.  It has been traditionally believed that if you have dyslexia, learning challenges, or attention problems, you just have to learn to live with them – to compensate or get around them.

The truth is that most learning and attention challenges can be dramatically improved or completely corrected by first identifying and developing the underlying skills that are not supporting the learner well enough, and then remediating the affected basic academic skills.  We have see this thousands of times over the last 30 years and the brain research in the last 25 years has proven that the brain can be retrained.  Our bright but struggling students do not have to hate school or resort to coping strategies to survive it.

Does your child struggle with learning or attention? Hate school?  Avoid learning tasks?

Quick Answers

Why does my smart child hate reading, writing, and math?

Smart kids who struggle know they are struggling, even at a young age. For some students, the effort it takes to perceive words, write, or understand math is so great that they dread those tasks and avoid them at all costs.

Is my child lazy or defiant if he avoids schoolwork?

Most likely not. Laziness, stubbornness, defiance, or lack of motivation are most likely not the cause.

Can learning and attention challenges be corrected?

Most learning and attention challenges can be dramatically improved or completely corrected by first identifying and developing the underlying skills that are not supporting the learner well enough, and then remediating the affected basic academic skills.