Even the best students in the world, the straight A prodigies, will admit that their schooling was split into the subjects they enjoyed and the ones they tolerated. For most of us, who have the occasional lower grades and may even have failed a class once or twice, the split is more pronounced. It’s generally accepted that all of us have our stronger subjects and then the Achilles Heel ones, the kryptonite subjects that made each week of learning a little less enjoyable.
It’s not a weakness to admit that there are elements of a learning schedule that make you a little more uncertain. Great mathematicians might struggle with literary analysis. Super linguists often draw a blank when they’re supposed to be drawing the periodic table. The question we need to answer is this: Do we accept what we can and can’t do, or do we try to overcome our perceived limitations. And for those parents who are trying to educate and motivate their kids, can we help them overcome the struggle subjects?
Figure out why it’s a struggle
There are countless reasons why someone might not perform as well in a specific subject. At one end of the scale, we may not enjoy it as much as we do others. If you are into self-expression and prose, then languages will excite you more than physics, where there is always a correct answer and you have to find it. In other cases, it might be because there is a genuine developmental block such as dyslexia or dyscalculia that makes the subject incomprehensible. Ask questions – of yourself or of your child – that seek to get to the bottom of why a subject isn’t sinking in.
Get extra help
Most subjects have some way of being unlocked, which makes them much easier to learn when you have it down. Understanding how a language is structured, or the core principles of a science, can make everything make sense when it didn’t before. Skilled specialist tutors are able to understand where the pain points are for someone struggling in a subject, and can show them how to get over their misgivings. This can be invaluable in breaking down a barrier that seemed insurmountable.
Set realistic goals
There was a time when it was assumed that people with dyslexia just couldn’t read, or people who had problems with numbers would just never be able to handle math. As time goes on, it becomes clear that there are actually ways in which these challenges can be overcome, but going from 0-100 right away is not a realistic goal for anyone.
Working your way up is important. Someone who struggles to read words on a page should not try to start with War and Peace, obviously. By starting small, a person with a struggle subject can gain not only confidence, but coping techniques that allow them to reach understanding. It doesn’t matter if these techniques are unconventional; the result is what matters, not how you get there.
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