The last academic session was a roller-coaster. We had to adjust to physical classes while dealing with the very present threat of the pandemic. For some children, adjusting to this new reality was a lot more difficult than we envisaged, and we are seriously hoping that we don’t have to go through another upset like this.
Mrs Adetayo, a mother of two boys says, “Yes, learning during the lock-down was a bit difficult. It was a new trajectory for us and we had to overcome issues like electrical supply, poor network service and so on, but my sons were able to learn at their own pace. I loved that I was there to guide them through their learning process. It helped me see and understand better how they learn and how I could really help them with that process. Now they’re back in school, and I am honestly not able to be as hands-on as I was with them during the lock-down.”
New challenges with learning have arisen, and we have had to adapt to them as quickly as possible in order for the children to have the best learning experience possible. But sometimes, despite our best efforts, the children are not able to catch up as well as they should, and who can blame them? Schooling is hard enough without all the ups and downs that they have had to face recently.
An article from Future-Ed shows that every year, thousands of students simply refuse to go to school because of anxiety and depression, a phenomenon that psychologists call school refusal. It also showed that because of the pandemic, there has been an almost 300% increase in the number of children affected by this phenomenon all over the world.
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 self esteem issues or bullying, it may take a while to fix. The important thing is that you ensure that they can always come to you when they feel down.
It is important to ensure that you make school resumption as easy as possible for your children, especially because they are currently living in one of the most difficult times ever to be a student. And if you are like Mrs Adetayo who wants to be able to accurately measure her child’s progress to ensure that they are learning, Gradely is the best way to do that.
Gradely is a personalized learning web-app that helps your child to identify their academic struggles through a diagnostic test, and then gives them customized assessments and video lessons all aimed at fixing these problems. This season, Gradely is launching a discounted #Back2School offer with Gradely CatchUp! for your child going back to school to simply prepare them and give them a head start for what’s to come. The package consists of:
- 50,000 recommended assessments for their daily practice
- 5,000 recommended video lessons to watch
- Daily and weekly improvement reports to track progress
The discounted subscription plans are:
N15,000N10,000 for a year access (comes with a free #Back2School gift delivered to your doorstep)N1,500N500 for a month’s access
Get your child resumption-ready and confident to go back to school in no time with Gradely here. The offer lasts for September only, so click the link below so you can get started right now.
We wish you an amazing session!
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