One of the most painful experiences as a parent to to see your child suffer. It can be overwhelming when we send them off to school each day only to watch them struggle in an academic environment. There are some really practical steps you can taken if you feel your child is not receiving the support they should in a school environment.

Advocate For Your Child

No one will advocate for your child like you will, and sometimes it pays to be the squeaky wheel. Start by asking a lot of questions. Connect with your child’s teachers. Find out how they are doing in the classroom, both academically and socially and emotionally. Take a long look at their grades, find out what their teacher believes their strengths and weaknesses to be. Talk with the school counselor and start asking about what is being done to help your child.

Understand the School System

Having a base knowledge of how public or private schools work can be so beneficial. Do you know that in most public schools they won’t flag your child as a struggling student unless they test at least 2 years below grade level in a subject? I don’t know about you, but I didn’t want my child to fall 2 years behind before we started to address some of their needs and issues. Understand your rights and what your school or district will or won’t do for you. Ask for assessments and what the school needs to start putting accommodations in place.

Outside Testing

Each state is different, but many of them will not test for dyslexia or other learning specific issues in school. You may find yourself at an impasse and need to find testing outside of the school, so that you can take a report back to the school and have legal access to accommodations or 504 plans to help support your child. Do some research in your community and figure out where you can get your child tested or screened. Make sure they are going through a formal assessment and will come out with the appropriate documentation needed to take back to the school.

Then go back and advocate again! Trust your parent intuition or instincts, no one knows your child like you do. If something seems off, follow your gut and follow up!

If you have more questions or to schedule a free reading consultation or a formal reading assessment today head to https://www.thebrainbreakthrough.com/contact-us/