SCHOOL SUCCESS 101 – Checklist of impediments to learning

Dear parent(s),

The following is a checklist of possible impediments to learning. Discovering the thing that is impeding your child’s motivation and learning and dealing with it could be the key to life-long success for your child in every arena (school, career, money, relationships). This could be really important stuff!

Impediment Where to go for help

Lack of study skills Addressed in School Success 101

Lack of organization “ “ “ “ “

Lack of motivation “ “ “ “ “

Also, see guidance counselor about career

planning and connection between school

success and pursuit of dreams. Finally, see

“Stress,” below.

Difficulty grasping concepts which Get tutoring in the specific subject.

are specific to each subject

Difficulty grasping concepts from Get tutoring in whichever of these subjects

“the 3 Rs” (building blocks of all (math, reading, writing) the student needs

subjects) help. Learning Centers, such as Sylvan,

specialize in this area, but any teacher who teaches the “R” in question may help.

Learning disability (e.g. dyslexia, See a guidance counselor, speech

ADD, ADHD, speech or processing pathologist, or other specialist in learning

problem, Asperger’s syndrome) disabilities for testing, if you suspect this. Also, see my site in the future for a report

on possible causes and solutions to learning

disabilities. I expect to publish some

thoughts, outside of the current

mainstream, that may be extremely helpful

for you and your child. I expect it to be of

minimal cost.

Stress* See a guidance counselor, or other

professional.#

Academic subject(s) is/are not in the Perhaps changing expectations (from an “A”

areas of the child’s gifting (how many to a “B” or “C,” for example) would be

people do you know who are good at more appropriate and helpful.

everything?)

#Also, you may wish to see a pastor, priest, rabbi, etc. (it sometimes helps the parent or

child just to talk to someone and “get a problem off of their chest”). This is inexpensive

therapy, as with the guidance counselor. Pets and best friends can be good for this too!

*Stress:

Stress can be the result of any of the following stressors:

Not feeling safe in a significant relationship

Bully at school or in the neighborhood

Peer who snubs or makes fun of your child (even a “friend” of the child)

“Boyfriend” or “girlfriend” problems or concerns

Conflict with a teacher, even when caused by the child’s disobedience

Conflict with a sibling

Conflict with a parent, even when initially caused by the child’s disobedience, especially

when or if the child feels that he or she is under “performance-based acceptance”

(PBA). A child (or adult) feels this when an authority figure fails to “separate the sin

from the sinner” (when they criticize the child instead of the negative behavior).

Stress can produce the following emotional responses:

Anxiety

Anger

Discouragement

Hopelessness

Low self-esteem (again, it’s important to criticize negative behavior instead of the child)

Lack of interest or motivation

The following physical symptoms can be associated with the above emotional states:

Insomnia

Frequent urination

Lack of focus or ability to remember things

Headaches

Breathlessness/asthma-like symptoms

Bed-wetting

Obsessive-compulsive behavior

These physical symptoms can impede learning by affecting focus and motivation. They can also function as good tests or indicators of stress in the life of your child.

The following behaviors can be related to the above emotions and physical symptoms:

Anti-social behavior, argumentativeness, violent behavior

Suicidal actions, self-mutilation

Disobedience^

^This behavior can be related to the above emotions and stressors. I don’t think the

relationship excuses or justifies the behavior.