Report Card Woes! Educational Coaching, Part 1

"I can't show you my report card. It's still in litigation."

-Cartoon by Johnny Hawkins

The end of a marking period is upon us!

While many parents know in advance what lies within the envelope, other parents are suprised that their intelligent, articulate children are failing (or underperforming in) all of their major subjects. The reason for this can be a variety of things, and it's not always as simple as it appears. The student may not be completing assignments, may be losing asignments, or may just not bother turning in completed assignments. Students also may not know how to break down long term assignments, study effectively for tests, or organize their materials to ensure that they are able to maintain their academic progress.

In cases such as these, parents are often at a loss because there isn't a specific subject to target to help the students improve their overall GPA. Most students actually don't have any trouble at all with the actual content of the course...just the skills that allow students to be successful in school. Additionally, many students who fit this profile have ADHD or other executive functioning differences that make these tasks that much harder for them in the long run.

There is a solution, though. Educational Coaching, like tutoring, can help a student improve his or her ability to suceed academically. Educational Coaching targets three main areas of student development:

1. Organization

2. Time management

3. Study skills

When working with an Educational Coach, students can expect to

1. organize materials

2. set short and long term goals

3. learn active reading strategies

4. practice different note taking methods

5. create daily, weekly and monthly do-to lists and calendars -and-

6. prioritize assignments

Educational Coaches are able to provide students with the instruction, resources, and tools to change the way they function at school. If started soon, Educational Coaching will allow the student to see improvements in his or her grades by the time the next report card arrives. If you are interested in learning more about Educational Coaching or beginning the search for an Educational Coach, please contact us.

Please stay tuned for next week's entry Relationship Woes: Educational Coaching, Part 2, when we will talk more about the negative impact that executive functioning differences can have on familial relationships and how to alleviate the resulting stress and pressure.