What to Do If Your Child Has to Repeat a Grade

Well the end of the school year has finally arrived, and parents are now getting the final test results and the report cards. But what do you do if you have been informed that your child has to repeat a grade? Obviously you will be disappointed, but before you begin taking your disappointment out on your child you need to find out why they are being held back. The first thing to do is arrange a meeting with your child’s teacher.

Since most teachers often continue working at least up to one week after school has ended for the summer you should be able to arrange some type of brief meeting. At this meeting you will want to find out exactly why your child is being held back. Of course I am sure that the teacher will have already sent home plenty of notices warning you that this may happen. What needs to be done at this point is find out if your child has some type of learning disability that may be causing the problem.

No one should ever assume that their child is just lazy. Most of the time this is not the case. If a child has a hard time understand a particular topic that will not just voluntarily tell you or anyone. Most kids are afraid of appearing stupid to their peers. If after talking to the teacher you have not been able to pin point the cause, try talking to your child and find out what the problem is. If they are truly having a hard time understanding the information you may be able to sign them up for some summer courses. This may not help them move on to the next grade, but it may help them the following year. There are however some summer courses that are offered by the schools so that your child will not have to repeat the grade. If this is available then you should enroll your child immediately. You may also want to look into hiring a tutor to work with them through the summer months, so that they can successfully pass. In addition to helping them understand the information from this year you will want to also make sure they are prepared for the following grade as well.

If you find that your child does have some type of learning disability, then you want to reassure them that it is nothing to be ashamed of. Reassure them that they will get the help they need and now that you know what the problem is you will be able to help them through the following year. If however you find that your child is just not doing the work and has possibly fallen in with the wrong crowd, then this is something that you will definitely want to put a stop too. It may mean a little tough love, but it will definitely be worth it in the long run. If you do not take the necessary action then there is a good chance that your child will not make it too High School. If that happens they are guaranteed to have a very unsuccessful life. So make sure you don’t waste anytime and pinpoint the problems now.