Unlocking Potential Beyond Grades: How to Help Students Find Merit in LearningYou know your child is not stupid. They have so much potential. But your child doesn’t apply themselves. Are they being lazy? Or is it something bigger? Time is running out. You can’t protect them forever. You can only protect them for as long as they are in your house. So you need to teach them how to survive adulthood, NOW! What if you could turn things around for your struggling student? A way to change negative thought patterns, the homework situation, and finally help your child succeed? WITHOUT DOING THE WORK FOR THEM! In this post, I am going to discuss what merit is, how it affects the struggling student, and how you can help your child succeed without hindering their progress. Stay tuned until the end where I give you my Mindset Shifts for Student Success worksheet to help you lead your child to success. What is Merit? Redefining Success Beyond GradesWhen I looked at thesaurus.com, it told me words like:
These words made me feel all warm and fuzzy. Like a hot cup of cocoa on a cold, winter day. The traditional concept of meritocracy often focuses on grades and test scores as the sole measures of success. However, this approach can widen the achievement gap between students from different socioeconomic backgrounds. How the Pressure of Merit Affects the Struggling Student’s SuccessWhile striving for excellence is important, the pressure to succeed in a competitive meritocratic system can be demotivating for struggling students in middle and high school. A middle school student is pressured to build a strong learning foundation and have intrinsic motivation when they are transitioning from elementary to high school. They aren’t sure whether to be a kid or an adult. A high school student is pressured to figure out what they want to do with the rest of their life and know the exact steps to get there. If they struggle with taking tests, the thought of college could terrify them. When a student struggles for too long, they start to feel the opposite of merit with feelings such as:
These words make your struggling student feel awful. If these words enter into the mind of a struggling student, they have developed a hole in their heart for learning. In addition to a learning gap! That’s when you feel they are being lazy and not utilizing their potential. Your child has LOST HOPE! Instead they need to foster a growth mindset. Struggles happen to everybody, but they are only temporary and can be fixed. You can help your child focus on their growth rather than their grades or test scores. Empowering Your Child: The Role of a Supportive ParentThis is where you come in. You are your child’s first teacher. There’s a saying that says “Those that can’t do, teach!” When your child was a baby, you couldn’t make them walk or talk, but you did teach them. As your child gets older, it becomes harder and harder to teach them because your family gets busier and busier. You may feel inadequate to teach them educationally because you didn’t learn it right the first time. By focusing on effort, progress, and the joy of learning, parents can create a more equitable learning environment at home that empowers their children to reach their full potential, beyond just grades. Equip your child with the tools to overcome challenges. Download the 'MINDSET SHIFTS' worksheet now! Do’s and Don’ts of Coaching Struggling Students: Fostering Confidence Beyond GradesDO focus on the process: By focusing on the process of life, you understand that the outcome/grade might not always be what you first thought it was going to be. But the process is what is important. DO focus on a growth mindset: A growth mindset is the belief that intelligence and abilities can be developed through effort, learning, and perseverance. DO identify learning obstacles: Grades are only one measurement tool and really don’t tell you the why. By focusing on finding the learning obstacles, you can figure out the why behind the grades. DO support your child: Just because your child is struggling with learning doesn’t necessarily mean they are unreliable in other areas such as responsibilities at home. Your child may not understand why they are struggling or how to fix it, but by supporting them with positive support, your child can feel hopeful that you can figure out the problem and solution together. DO show them how it’s done: Be a good example for your child and show them how to positively approach problems. DON’T focus on grades. Grades are demotivating for struggling students. Mastery of skill is what matters most. Grades just show your child hasn’t mastered the skill or something else is going on. Check out my MINDSET SHIFTS worksheet which offers affirmations to help students value their effort and progress. Get it now! DON’T find replacements for struggles: When a student struggles, the go-to solution is to find something else they are good at and focus on that instead of solving the problem. Learning in this way teaches your child to run away from problems instead of facing them head on. DON’T focus on a fixed mindset: A fixed mindset means that you can’t develop intelligence. For example a student with a learning disability might think that they will always struggle with learning. This is not true. Students with learning disabilities are able to learn how to get around their disabilities as long as they use the correct STRATEGY. My MINDSET SHIFTS worksheet helps students take a challenge and reframe it so that it has actionable steps to take for solving the problem. Get it NOW! Helping Vs Hindering: Fine Line Between Support and EnablingHelping Hindering
You mean well. We all do when we try to help. But what you mean for help, may not be helpful to the child who is struggling. Before you try and “help” your child ask yourself these questions:
Instead focus on mindset shifts to help your child work through their problem. My Mindset Shifts for Student Success Worksheet helps you:
Ready to help your child develop a growth mindset and unlock their full potential? Download the 'MINDSET SHIFTS FOR STUDENT SUCCESS' worksheet today for free! Get your copy today!
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