Wisdom Wednesday: 4 Tips to Overcome Learning Difficulties

How to overcome learning difficulties. This can be a challenging and overwhelming one for both the parents and the child. So, in this month’s Wisdom Wednesday, I’ve got 4 tips for parents to help your child or young person easily overcome their learning difficulties.

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Hi and welcome to this month’s Wisdom Wednesday I’m Zoe Buckley from Learning Boosters. Today we are looking at 4 tips parents can use to help children to quietly overcome learning difficulties.

Learning these days is different. Children are challenged to sit still and absorb information among endless distractions and increasingly busy parents.

Learning difficulties are on the rise, but parents have the power to guide their children through these challenges for positive outcomes. It simply requires a positive outlook and a structured approach.

1. The education system and common learning difficulties

Education and the need to participate in structured learning programs started in the industrial age – writers and readers were needed to perform crucial jobs in society. Today, society’s needs have changed more drastically than our schooling system has managed to facilitate. As a result, school-based learning has become a one-size-fits-all.

Let’s face it, children don’t work that way.

A growing number of children find the methods in which the learning content is delivered, difficult to understand. This is due to no fault of the school, the teacher, or even the child. It is simply a reality we need to adapt to. As parents, having a child who battles academically can feel daunting.

With the right support system in place, along with a great tutor, parents can ease the pressure on the system and position their children for success by following a few basic steps.

2. Releasing guilt and shame will help to overcome common learning difficulties

When our children experience learning difficulties, it is easy to take that as a sign that you have failed them. This can lead to feelings of guilt and shame. A child’s inability to perform well is not a reflection of anyone’s parenting skills. It simply means the child has encountered an obstacle and is battling to overcome it.

By releasing all the preconceived notions that tell us this is shameful, we are able to embrace the situation and face it with a positive mindset. Be careful not to downplay the immense frustration your child is experiencing – let them feel heard and ensure there is no guilt or shame.

3. Rewriting negative thought patterns to beat learning difficulties

Many adults try to shame children into achieving. “You should have mastered this by your age” or “it’s actually quite simple” may feel like encouragement, but they’re harmful.

Behind every learning difficulty, there is a negative association with that subject. Research indicates that children who are shamed for failing to understand are less likely to try.

We see this over and over.

Breaking these negative associations is difficult but necessary to achieve success. Encourage your child, if you find it difficult to get involved without getting frustrated, acknowledge that those feelings of frustration are your own feelings, they are not caused by your child.

Your child can only push buttons that already exist. In these situations, it is immensely helpful to involve a third party.

4. Make a happy brain to improve information retention

Positive associations to learning will increase the brain’s ability to retain information. There is a very simple explanation for this: When we are stressed or under pressure to succeed, the body is in fight or flight mode.

The sympathetic nervous system is called to action to help the body survive.

Adrenaline is released, the heart rate increases for more oxygen to the lungs, and the thinking part of the brain, the frontal cortex, takes a backseat.

Think about it like this: How likely are you to understand math when you’re being chased by a lion?

A child who is stressed and under pressure at school may be sitting still in their

chair, but their brain and body have undergone the same chemical processes as if they were being chased by a lion.

They cannot understand the lesson being taught even when they are desperately trying. It is a natural reality.

This is why it is crucial to get your child’s stress levels under control in order to engage the brain and allow it to absorb information.

Positive outcomes and greater academic success are achievable. These four guidelines are but the tip of the iceberg. The modern-day understanding of neuropathways gives us a variety of methods to address learning disorders.

Allow your children to attain their full potential beyond what you could have envisioned.

There are great benefits to talking to us. We can reassure you and set your child on the right path.