A week ago, my 7-year-old nephew asked me a question that made me laugh, and also got me thinking. He said, “Enny, why do I have to go back to school?” His facial expression was so serious, that it made me laugh even harder. He reminded me a lot of myself, whenever resumption day gets close again.
When I was younger, I hated going back to school after the long holidays because I always felt so clueless. The whole idea of moving into another class, and not having an idea at all of what to expect, or having anyone to prepare me was always very scary. Even if I went back to my notes from my former class, I would still be confused because I’d literally been playing for 6 weeks😂.
I’m older now and of course out of school, but this feeling comes with being a student. That’s what’s on the mind of most students this season. Now, not to sound mushy or anything, I love working at Gradely so much because we solve real problems, like this one. We want your child to be resumption-ready and confident to go back to school in no time, and I know you want that too.
So what do you do when your child doesn’t want to resume school?
1. Listen.
The first thing you can do is listen. There are a lot of reasons children may not want to go to school which can range from bullying to self-esteem issues, to general difficulty with understanding what is being taught, all leading to poor performance. It is important that instead of bulldozing your way through, you approach them with the intention to listen to their worries, as this will make them more likely to open up to you. Sometimes, a listening ear is all they need to get them out of their funk.
2. Identify Triggers
The next step is to identify the possible triggers. Sometimes, your child may not be able to accurately pinpoint the origin of their feelings. Therefore, in order to help them out of it, you have to find what the cause is.
You can do this by asking them pointed questions and helping your child notice the situations that usually prompt their feelings.
An article by Healthline states that sometimes anxiety has physical responses like:
- pounding heart
- upset stomach
- shakiness or dizziness
- sweaty palms
By identifying these physical responses, you can identify the uncomfortable situation that prompted them.
3. Solve The Problem
Finally, you need to find ways to solve the problems your child has raised. Sometimes it is an easy fix. For instance, if they did not want to go to school because they don’t like their lunches, that can be helped by simply giving them a good, healthy alternative. But sometimes when the issue is more mental, like fear of a particular subject or feeling bad because they did poorly the last term, it may take a while to fix. And these are also the kinds of issues that have a huge impact on their performance in school, and how they relate with their friends or classmates.
Don’t try to force it.
Remember, your goal for them is better learning outcomes. So do the only thing that can help you find the problem and guarantee you results. Get them special #backtoschool counselling.
Book a free 30-minute call with our academic experts to discover the best ways to prepare your child for an excellent academic session.
You’ll get:
- professional insight into factors affecting your child’s performance
- recommendations to help them improve in as little as 2 weeks
- guidelines to create an efficient academic support system at home
It doesn’t matter what class your child is in, they are eligible and there’s an expert waiting to attend to you both whenever you’re ready.
Let that time be now. Click this link to book your special #backtoschool counselling call right now.
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Eniola Makinde
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