In our previous two articles, we focused on your child’s view of a learning problem and on our investigation of the source(s) of the problem. In the event you still do not have a reasonably clear course, we can here consider a few more likely possibilities.
Does your child believe s/he “can’t” succeed versus their more calmly persisting by telling themselves quite convincingly that they “can” persist? Increase odds of more success perhaps with extra help from you and/or their teacher and a tutor.
If the problem seems to be test-related, your child can try meditation or yoga or other relaxation techniques, before, or during actual or practice tests. Further, previously taken tests should be examined thoroughly to highlight subject areas of mastery as well as, in detail, those needing more work.
You may want to ensure any failure is not even remotely interpreted as a sign of basic overall lack of success, or even worse, a total failure, rather than a limited temporary series of problems meriting more calm effort by a still worthy imperfect person as a person.
Another related possibility is that your child is for the first time being challenged as material becomes more difficult and advanced. This often occurs in the freshman year at college with a student who was easily outstanding in high school studies.
Yes, it is very complex but shouldn’t we continually challenge these irrational beliefs; such as that we “can’t?”
