Did you know that, when it comes to reading, most barriers to learning are only picked up after grade 4? From grade 1 to 3 children are learning to read.
From grade 4 onwards children must read to learn. Reading includes more than just fluency. If there is a barrier, comprehension does not come naturally and children will begin to struggle around the grade 4 mark.
However, the problem starts much earlier but isn't always picked up in the foundation phase. This article takes a look at a few tell-tale signs your child might need remedial education, and what you can do about it:
Spending too much time on homework
Have you noticed that your child is taking forever to complete the work sent home by teachers? As a rough guide, multiply the grade of your child by 10 minutes to see how long they should be taking – on average – to complete homework.
For example, a grade 6 student should be spending around 1 hour (60 minutes) on work they’re sent home with. If the same student is taking hours to complete their homework, they could be struggling with the workload their mainstream school expects them to complete.
Sudden refusal to talk about subjects
Having too much homework for their capabilities is one thing, but what about in the classroom setting?
If your child shrugs off conversations about how their lessons are going at school, it could be a sign that there is an issue – either with their comprehension of the course material, or with their school-going experience.
This could also be limited to only the subjects they are struggling with, in which case remediation in these areas might be necessary to get their level back up to that of their peers.
Their teachers have expressed concern
Often, in cases of educational remediation, the catalyst is the student’s teacher. They teach the same course material to all of their students, and are usually the first ones to identify learning barriers in children.
Regardless of whether or not a teacher’s assessment aligns with your own beliefs regarding your child, it’s important to listen to, and follow up on, the concerns being raised – and remediation suggestions being put forward.
They’ve developed a bad attitude towards school
Has your child been complaining about school more than usual lately? Perhaps they constantly complain about how bored they are at school or while doing homework.
A bad attitude towards school, and boredom associated with education, can often be indicative of learning barriers, where a child loses interest in school and schoolwork because they don’t understand it or can’t perform at the same level as their peers.
Other common signs remediation could be required:
1. Struggling to write in various ways: making sentences, writing coherently, struggling to form letters, and writing over several lines across the page. These writing challenges can be signs of learning barriers.
2. Phonetic awareness, phonological awareness, phonemic awareness, rhyming, segmenting, blending, and decoding strategies (or a lack thereof) are all important foundation phase indicators if a child will experience learning barriers in higher grades.
3. Reading skills development includes phonemic awareness, fluency, listening comprehension, reading comprehension, and broadening vocabulary as reading intricacy progresses. A problem with mastering any of these steps might indicate barriers to learning and the necessity for remediation.
Remedial private schooling in Pretoria & Cape Town
EduExcellence is a private remedial school in South Africa. We have two physical campuses in Noordhoek, Cape Town, and in Pretoria. Our remedial school classes are limited to 12 learners, and we live up to our ethos of offering truly personalized private education.
EduExcellence Satellites is our online school, where we offer the CAPS syllabus to any students across South Africa who want to transition to online education. Get in touch with EduExcellence to book a coffee and chat with one of our principals.