By Ben Smith, the CEO and founder of Gnosis IQ
Is your child falling behind in school or struggling with their academics? As schools across Arizona reach the mid-point of the academic semester, it is important to check in with your child and have an honest conversation about how they are performing in school.
Making these conversations a routine can help you stay on top of your kid’s education and provide insight into where they are excelling or where they may need support.
Here are some ways you can develop awareness of the challenges your child faces in school that will help you understand when to intervene and make sure they get the help they need.
Start Early
Whether your child struggles with a certain subject in school or experiences difficulties with time management, it is key to recognize these challenges early on before grades are affected. The earlier these issues can be identified, the sooner you can work with your child to prevent them from falling behind or performing poorly on a test.
Offer Support
Making sure your child understands they are not alone and being a supportive parent can help boost motivation and morale, so your child is encouraged to find solutions to the issue. This support can come in the form of helping them juggle the everyday stress and responsibilities of school, sports, and social life.
Encourage Them to Ask for Help
It is also important to emphasize that encountering learning obstacles within one or multiple subjects is normal and that asking for help is okay. Asking for help is also a great way for students to learn self-advocacy, which can improve their chances of academic and emotional success in the future.
Have a Gentle Conversation with Them
You should approach a check-in conversation lovingly, as some kids may not be as comfortable asking for help or discussing school problems. Therefore, you should not ambush your child but instead find a time when they are not busy or stressed to have a normal conversation about how school is going. If your child is always busy and constantly seems stressed, you might consider scheduling one-on-one fun time without outside distractions. When you talk to your children, you can ask questions like:
- How do you think the school year has been?
- What do you think of your teachers?
- How do you feel like you’re performing?
- How are you feeling?
This conversation is not meant to determine what grade your child is getting within a class but to identify the areas where they need support. Once the problem is brought to light, you can work with them to find the best fix, like tutoring or online programs.
Set up Tutoring if Needed
If your child struggles to grasp a concept in one of their classes or has trouble understanding the material, tutoring can be a great solution. One of the most significant benefits of tutoring is that it offers an individualized lesson plan unique to the student. Through tutoring, kids can prepare for upcoming tests and better understand what they are learning in school.
Utilize Online Resources
In the age of technology, many online resources are also available that can improve a child’s skills and knowledge. You can find several tools on the internet that focus on specific concepts and even how to manage their time efficiently. If you find that their struggles are impacting their mental health and you are not equipped to support them, free resources are available that include notMYkid (www.notMYkid.org) and Death2Life (www.d2lrevolution.com). These Arizona-based organizations offer free peer support services by experts trained to support the daily social and emotional struggles teens encounter.
Request for Gnosis IQ at Your Child’s School
If you are interested in predicting a student’s academic performance and outcomes, you can request that the school or district get Gnosis IQ, a free artificial intelligence software designed to track and predict a student’s performance.
While tutoring sessions and online resources can assist students in receiving additional support with their schoolwork, a parent’s involvement in the academic journey is paramount for success.
About Ben Smith:
Ben Smith is the CEO and creator of Gnosis IQ, an artificial intelligence software that predicts students’ future performance and tracks students’ emotional status throughout the day. The platform also provides students, parents, teachers, and administrators the ability to intervene and help academically struggling students before it becomes a significant problem. Smith designed Gnosis IQ during the pandemic as he saw the impact remote learning and social distancing had on students’ emotional and academic performance. For more information on Gnosis IQ, visit https://www.gnosis-iq.com/.
