• Does your child take hours to do homework that should take minutes?
• Is homework a nightly battle at your house?
• Does your child bring home decent grades on homework and then bomb the tests?
• Is your child scoring poorly on standardized tests?
• Does your child seem to “forget” how to do tasks for school?
• Are your child’s grades pulled down by missing work or low test scores?

These are all signs that something is not right at school! It’s not just your imagination, and your student is not likely to outgrow it, in spite of what the teachers or school might tell you.

One way to address these problems is to step up the support. This means monitoring homework, studying, and test scores more closely and finding ways to change your child’s approach to the work. Tools like online grade books and planners with assignments written in them can help.

Another step is to ask the school for more help. Ask the teacher for suggestions. Request that the student be evaluated to make sure they have grade level skills and knowledge that will allow them to be successful. You have the right as a parent to ask for (and receive) additional help for your child in some form.

Finally, consider tutoring for your student. A good tutor understands the grade level expectations and knows what foundational skills are needed for success. He or she should be able to conduct an in-depth evaluation and hone in on strengths and weaknesses with laser focus. The tutor can plan and implement remedial activities to fix the underlying problem.

Some tutors also can provide support for homework and study habits that will help boost grades while your child is playing catch-up. But remember, if the tutor is spending all the time helping with late homework assignments, little is getting done to address the underlying weaknesses. Consider continuing tutoring during vacations and the summer months so the student can begin to close the gap between what they know and what they need to know!

Need more information about my evaluation, tutoring, and consultation services? Visit the Tutoring Page for more information!