Is your kid performing poorly and having a lot of stress lately? Most parents relate good performance to good grades in school, but that’s not right. Overall performance is much more than just scoring straight As in academic subjects. Have you ever wondered about the reasons why your kid is performing poorly? What if your kid is anxious or uncomfortable about anything? Maybe, it’s the teacher’s teaching methodology that they are not satisfied with or the monotonous lessons! No matter if your kid is performing well or poorly, the class lessons will continue even if your child is lagging. But this is just one of the many reasons why your kid is performing poorly. Multiple other issues need to be eradicated from the root to improve children’s overall performance.
Here are few of the reasons why your kid is performing poorly and undergoing stress:
1. Spoon Feeding
More often than not, students get instructed to learn concepts in a fixed and restricted manner. It is an outdated teacher-centric system called spoon-feeding, where children rely on teachers for everything. Spoon feeding fails to stimulate the passion for learning in students and leads to a lack of effort made by them to learn new concepts. As a result, children develop a habit of getting answers without making many efforts and thus, fail to become independent learners. Gradually, it induces a lack of confidence in students, which prevents them from believing in their knowledge and judgment to solve a problem. One of the primary reasons why children fail to develop vital problem-solving skills is the easy availability of solutions to their problems. The absence of enough opportunities for them to learn and experiment on their own makes them lazy and disengaged.
Learn more about how Spoon-feeding is harmful to learning.
2. Limited Learning
Many schools still follow the traditional learning methods where the chalk and talk method is applied, which limits the learning process and ends up caging the capabilities of children. Growing children need to explore different fields and learn skills that align with their interests. Sitting at the desk and listening to the teacher will not help students acquire crucial skills. In schools, the focus is on reciting and memorizing content which helps with fetching good grades, but that is it. There is no room for understanding and exploration of different concepts. As a result, the children either lose interest or develop a fear. They fail to see any value in what they are learning and lose all the motivation to add something to their knowledge. Many vital life skills like problem-solving, decision-making, creative and critical thinking, etc., cannot be learned from textbooks. Traditional teaching methods in schools are taking a heavy toll on the growth and development of children.
3. One size fits all
The teacher leads the students through the lessons with the same teaching methodology. Students have different learning styles, and the system of receiving knowledge is different for every child. Some learn better through audio and visual cues, some by verbal methods, and others by kinesthetic or solitary learning styles. In most cases, teachers only aim to achieve curriculum objectives in time. This practice often leaves no room for in-depth doubt-clearing sessions and critical thinking skills. Several factors like distraction, no student input, no cognitive development, etc., are some of the disadvantages of the “One size fits all” approach. Along with the traditional teaching methodologies, a rigid curriculum that does not change with time and gets updated as per need is bound to fail the education system and hinder the learning process.
Learn more about the different learning styles of children.
4. Objectification of kids by parents
One of the major issues of concern is the concept of “Trophy Kids” in today’s time. To make their children “Perfect” parents start putting too much pressure on them. This practice induces stress and feeling of unhealthy competition among children. The expectation to perform well continuously give rise to mental illnesses and increases the likelihood of unfair practices. Since the focus is always on being the best in every activity they participate in, many children start shying away from participating when they believe they cannot achieve perfection in the said activity. In cases where children believe that they failed to meet their parents’ expectations, they start to feel guilty. Guilty gives rise to self-doubt in children, and they start underperforming in activities where they had excellent performance. Another trait that harms the self-esteem of children is the habit of comparison. It induces shame in children and makes them doubt their self-worth. Parents and teachers should understand that children have different competency levels.
5. Driven by examination fear
No doubt that examinations help greatly to measure the progress of children. But it also has negative consequences. A great deal of emphasis is laid on the performance in exams. These days, most children only aim to perform well in examinations and score well. It is because most teachers promote the practice of rote learning in beginner grades to make their students score well in the exams. As a result of going through this repeated pattern year after year, children get used to it and start giving importance to only getting good grades in exams. Ultimately, this practice harms their learning journey and does not add value to their lives. It leads to the illusion of being proficient in a subject. Children need much more than good grades to stand out in a crowd, but unfortunately, the education system measures intelligence through grades and defines a successful life as one with academic success.
Read: Do exam results really define the worth of a child?
How to improve a child’s performance?
1. Track the progress
To make the most of a child’s capabilities, teachers should create the learning profiles of all the students. These profiles will help teachers keep a tab on the learner’s weaknesses, needs, strengths, attention span, etc. Parents can act their part by asking teachers to share their child’s learner profile or progress report at a regular basis. This is because all these personal details will help the teachers make a detailed learning plan and keep the parents and learners updated about their learning pace and how well they are doing to reach their goals. Achieving positive outcomes would be easy if teachers get to know the process of drilling down the abilities of their students.
2. Skill-based learning
Gone are the days when having fancy degrees guaranteed a successful career. In the modern era, people with relevant skills are accepted and given priority over those with nothing but only a degree. Parents should emphasize the overall development of their kids more. Preparing them only for the sake of academic success will hinder their growth and prevent them from gaining essential skills. Good grades do not guarantee a successful and happy life. To feel content, children need to explore their interests and find their true passion. They should be motivated and encouraged to learn appropriate and related skills to live the life of their dreams. Additionally, organizations do not demand degrees, they demand skills. And workforce only accepts those who bring value to the system. This is why learning different skills are more important than just scoring good grades.
Explore latest skill-based topics and learn how to master them.
3. Learner-specific methodologies
It is vital to understand children, their points of view, and how they perceive different concepts. Each child has a unique learning style. The need of the hour is to customize the lessons and learning plan as per the learner’s strengths, interests, weaknesses, needs, and skills. Teachers should help students take ownership of their learning by setting long-term and short-term goals. The learning environment should be comfortable for the children and should be designed depending on how the learners learn best. Teachers should help and encourage their students to speak up about what they find interesting. After all, learning motivation should not be driven by fear of not performing well in the exams, but by learning and mastering something new.
4. Personal Attention/Interactivity
No one can deny that personal attention allows children to learn freely. Undivided attention helps children overcome the hurdles in their learning journey and produce positive results. It is the key to identifying the talent of students, taking out their true potential, and providing them with due credit. No matter the ability, every student requires attention from teachers. The focus and interest in a subject or topic increase when children understand the concepts clearly. It only happens with the help of an attentive teacher who instils a sense of confidence within the students.
