How to Help Slow Learners in the Mainstream Classroom

As a parent, there isn't a thing much more heartbreaking than watching your child struggle in school. If your child is a slow learner, chances are he has a learning disability and needs a bit of help to survive in the mainstream classroom.

Instructions

Difficulty: Challenging

1. Talk to your child. If she is bringing home a poor report card and she hasn't already warned you she isn't doing well, you need to ask her how she feels about her performance. Bad marks are never something to be mad about. If your child becomes frightened or ashamed of their learning ability, they will hide it from you and resent your intervention.
2. Meet with the teachers. If your child has a learning disability, you need to communicate this to the teachers he will be with at the start of every academic year. If you don't have time to go to the school, find the school's website and email each teacher. A good teacher will make the efforts required to help your child and will appreciate your participation.
3. Have your child assessed. Your school district will have a psychologist in place to perform assessments. She will be tested on things such as perception, retention and processing information skills. This information will help you and the teachers know where your child's weaknesses are. Once weaknesses are identified, you can start helping.
4. Be discreet. Your child has enough to deal with every day with the social pressures of school, and kids can be very mean. By keeping conversations about their learning challenges within the family and the teaching community, you respect their privacy. Ask the teachers to do the same. If your child has to have extra time to write exams, this can be done without the rest of the class knowing by having her write in another room or at a different time.
5. Help with homework. Be prepared to put in the time every night to help your child keep up. It isn't easy, but it isn't easy for them either and the rewards are spectacular. If you make homework a team effort, your child can learn how to learn from you. Plus, commiserating over an excruciating assignment will definitely bring you closer together.
6. Be willing to be your child's advocate. Sometimes the wrong teacher can ruin a child's progress. That doesn't mean that there is a fault with the teacher or the student, but if your child really feels they would do better with another teacher's curriculum, see if you can get them moved to another classroom. This can be done professionally and discreetly: talk to the school counselor first, usually they can expedite these moves. Explain that it is a learning issue rather than bashing the particular teacher, you will likely have no problems obtaining the transfer.