School failure is a frequent problem in children and adolescents that can have various causes, medical, psychiatric, psychological, social, environmental, etc. Children with school failure should not feel marginalized if their problem is treated on time. When the problem of school failure in children arises, the origin must be carefully searched because often when it is treated or corrected, the situation can be significantly improved.
Although all the experts agree on one point: the problem emerges in Secondary school, but originates in the first years of primary school, they are children with learning problems, who do not advance at the pace of others and present difficulties especially with understanding reader and mathematical calculations. If you do not pay attention and support, both inside and outside the center, every time they go worse and there comes a time generally, in 6th grade they can not continue and throw in the towel.
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An inadequate breakfast: Although the feeding of children is generally adequate in our environment and situations of malnutrition are not frequent, sometimes relative malnutrition can occur in children who do not eat breakfast properly. So many hours go by from dinner to lunch without food. This can cause lack of concentration, fatigue and disinterest in the morning classes. It is important to supervise the breakfast of the children, reserving enough time and that way they take enough calories, not only sugar or pastries that are absorbed quickly, but also proteins like ham, egg or cheese, besides milk, juice or fruit and bread, cereals or slow-absorbing carbohydrate crackers.
Sleep problems: Children who go to bed late or at irregular hours, or who sleep in noisy environments may be excessively tired to perform at school the next day. Also, children with obesity who snore excessively suffer many short periods of apnea during sleep, that is, they stop breathing in the middle of snoring, and then wake up briefly. Although they do not realize these awakenings, during the day they are tired and lack of concentration. This problem is detected by a sleep study and should be corrected. By correcting snoring improves sleep and concentration. Also children with asthma that gets worse during the night have interrupted sleep and may suffer from problems of energy and concentration.
The medication: The use of some medications against asthma, allergies and epilepsy and excess caffeine can also affect energy and concentration. In adolescents, the abuse of drugs such as marijuana can produce not only problems of concentration, but disinterest, apathy and pasotism, as well as decreased self-esteem and reduced expectations. The presence of marijuana can be detected in urine with a simple analysis.
Anemia and diabetes: Other medical causes of school problems and concentration can be anemia and endocrine disorders such as diabetes or thyroid problems, so it is useful to perform a blood test to rule out these problems.
Sight and hearing: It is also important that a child with school failure receives an evaluation of sight and hearing, since problems in these areas are easy to solve.
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Lack of motivation: With failure comes demotivation, loss of self-esteem, disinterest. We can see that in the adolescence stage, fundamentally, many students suffer a drop in academic results, which in turn leads to nervousness and insecurity. Sometimes, an escalation of cumulative school failure is entered as the courses progress. Seen this way, motivation is the cause and, at the same time, the effect of school performance.
Sociocultural and family environment: Linked to the previous factor, we must not forget the importance of the level of knowledge acquired, the learning style and the goals set by the student. However, both in the Primary and Secondary stages, students can not be separated from their sociocultural and family context, on which they depend to such a degree that they often become victims of the serious imbalances prevailing in both environments. To this we must add the negative influence of social media, video games and other electronic mechanisms that unduly distract from the time that should be devoted to study.
The school: Currently, the school has become a source of social and family problems, which always tries to solve without fully counting on the necessary means of support. Students always deserve special attention, and more those who live in more underprivileged sociocultural sectors. This task becomes a titanic struggle for the teacher due to all the aforementioned conditions, in addition to the high number of students per classroom and the lack of sufficient social support. The teacher, magical engine of passions, can not always, not already instruct, but what is fundamental, educate.
Failure is only the opportunity to start anew more intelligently. Henry Ford
And it is precisely the effort, the discipline and the desire to learn, more than the intelligence itself, essential skills to achieve school success. In this game of learning to learn, another of the most important factors is, as we have explained above, a familiar environment in which discipline, order, a welcoming climate, and security prevail. An environment in which parents create an awareness of stimulation, of personal demand, giving the importance it deserves to school activity, culture, caring for the aspirations of their children, in a sincere and serene dialogue, taking daily interest in their study, attending the meetings of the center, not disavowing the work of the teacher, praising the task well done, helping them in the practice of personal effort and in the cultivation of reading.
This positive disposition must be accompanied by the preparation and firm follow-up of a realistic schedule throughout the day and week, in which the development of leisure activities is also taken into account.
It is convenient to keep all the subjects up to date, even recovering during the weekend the study of the subjects that could not be done in depth previously. Periodically reviewing the subjects will be the best exercise to prepare unhurried exams.
Regarding the study of each of the subjects, it is essential to acquire good techniques: follow the strategies of pre-reading, reading comprehension, underlining, making schemes, summaries and memorizing, that is, knowing how to study. All the above, together with the acquisition of the study habit, the willingness, the motivation and undoubtedly the power, will be the best guarantee of success.
