What to do When You Can't Move Forward: Ask for Help!

It happens, often catching us off guard. Typically, it arises in the middle grades: high school looms in the distance and we still can’t get past fractions, decimals, and percents. Or perhaps our student is struggling to read a novel and write an essay. It’s that “Oh no!” moment that sneaks up on us while we are busy with other children and life in general. It’s that panic moment when we ask:

Have I done permanent damage? No. Everything is fixable.

Will they ever catch up? They will if they are motivated to.

Do we have to go back to 3rd grade math or writing? Probably not.

Am I bad at this homeschooling thing? No, and there are ways to help prevent this going forward and empower both of you for success. Every situation is different, but the situation is not abnormal, and it’s okay to ask for help. Our Curriculum Consultants are here specifically for this need. We have access to materials to help move you forward and many of us have been in this place ourselves. It’s going to be okay. Let’s start at the beginning.

At this point, it is likely more productive to ask, Where are we? and Now what? instead of dissecting how it happened. Either way, we are here now. Let’s move forward. When we talk with parents in this situation, we first want to get the vitals. We might ask what you have used for math or composition to get a sense of what has or hasn’t worked well for your student. Ask yourself: What has my child responded well to? What sort of instruction tends to stick? This can possibly lead to new methods to try.

We will also want to know if there are any learning struggles playing into the equation. Maybe writing with a pencil is difficult, and therefore handwriting got set aside, perhaps along with composition. Is there a reading comprehension issue? Do your students like to read? What do they read when given a choice? Has math always been a challenge, or is this something new? All these answers can provide helpful context moving forward.

If your child has been doing school online, that might also be a factor. It can be very easy to believe that a child is doing fine when they are, in fact, struggling. They might be guessing or messing around, or maybe they truly are giving it their best but just need more personal interaction and instruction to thrive. Occasionally, at the emotional age that middle school is, it can be helpful to bring in a third-party instructor (online or in person) if there is parent/child conflict affecting their learning. This doesn’t mean you have failed. It means you are in tune with your child’s needs.

Do you need something succinct? Something with more practice? Something incremental? There is no one pat answer to this question. It is going to be a lot of work to get there, for you and for your student. But it is possible! We are here for the process, and we want your success too! Contact the Curriculum Consultants with questions M-F, 8:30am – 5pm CT. ~Sara