Many parents excitedly usher their child through these last nine months of preparatory education and find that they have to confront the not so rosier reality of required courses that are difficult for their child to pass.
It happens more often than you think and parenting experiences, especially those concerning teenagers, are best shared. The most important reason they are best shared is that it provides other parents who may be at wits end with much needed insight. Insight necessary for the sake of strengthening or improving the relationship you have with your teen.
Recent department of education reports indicate that 17 of our nation's 50 largest cities had high school graduation rates at lower than 50 percent. Overall only 70 percent of U.S. students graduate on time with a regular diploma. While a staggering 1.2 million students drop out annually according to data collected through the No Child Left Behind Act.
A clearer understanding of the unique set of challenges your child faces at this critical time in personal development makes you all the more equipped to teach your youngster the all-important lesson of never accepting failure as final.
How do you perceive the comments on your child's progress report? Ever notice most teachers will not attempt a comment? Well, some parents have learned to view comments as self-fulfilling prophecy, therefore, it would behoove you to pay close attention to the wording used by the “educator” to rate your kids' performance.
“Not meeting promotion standards” is a critical comment to focus on during this graduation season. Many a parent can easily be thrown into a spin of frustration and worry over their child's matriculation all because of this unsettling sentence. The teen years are the threshold to a young person getting a solid footing in their awareness of self and various self=esteem issues can surface during this time.
While a lot of attention has been given to the negative influences of “peer pressure” many parents will testify that “negative peer pressure” is most likely to happen when a child
Is given more freedom, so to speak, than they can actually handle. When you're meeting the needs of the child to the absolute best of your ability the reward is often a parent-child bond
that is conducive to raising a child with a positive self-image and healthy work ethic.
If you are certain you r student is doing all they possibly can to “catch on” in the classroom yet to no avail, then a parent -teacher conference is certainly a good place to start. As your child's first mentor meeting with the high school counselor to express your interest and concern as well as seeking suggestions/recommendations will help to keep things on the right track for your student. Criticizing and/or threatening your child ultimately does more harm than
good in these cases. Wisdom advises that it is best to keep a cool head and take a lovingly supportive and pro-active approach.
The cause may lie in the perception the “educator” has about the ability of the student to “get it” and that is a very serious matter. It's a matter too big for a youth to deal with alone. It is of the utmost importance for a youth to have a supportive and concerned parental figure.
With the use of laboratory mice scientific studies have proven that participants perform according to the treatment and expectations of them. Therefore, a “teacher” who has little faith in her students' ability is most likely to meet her expectations. Mandating extra credit work be given
so that the student can earn points needed to increase the grade to a passing “D” is satisfactory as it will allow the student to walk across the stage, earn needed credits and participate in all of the festivities associated with graduating high school.
If you find the “educator” difficult then strongly suggest that your child be given an incomplete until all extra-credit work is completed and checked off. It would be a good idea to follow up with the Vice-Principal and give them copies of all extra -credit work being turned in and more importantly to keep the Vice-Principal well-informed about the agreements made. Every child deserves a fighting chance.
Teachers will usually be more compliant when they know THEIR evaluator is monitoring the situation. Especially when they could have done more to help the student improve to begin with. A high percentage of failing students in a class are an indicator that the educator is missing the point somewhere.
There are too many other points and strategies to name that would also prove useful. Adult School and courses taken at a Community College are great ways to foster your childs confidence and willingness to correct the situation.
