Indeed, your child’s educational journey is like a relationship. And like any relationship, some issues when they arise can be worked out.
However, for some others, you just need to make the tough choice to move on.
Here are 5 telling signs that it’s time to move on and change your child’s school include:
1. Your Child Is Stagnant Or Regressing Academically
The reason you sent your child to school in the first place is to learn and progress, intellectually, morally, and socially, in ways you think would be difficult for them to achieve at home.
Therefore, when you notice that your kid has stopped progressing in any of these areas, it is not out of place to think that this is because their current school is no longer challenging them enough to force them to grow.
Ps: This can be especially concerning for fast learners or gifted students.
Other times, it is because meeting your child’s needs is difficult due to one factor or another.
In some cases, you can resolve this issues by placing your child in a more advanced or different classes, within their current school.
But sometimes either of those suggestions just won’t cut it.
And yes, staying put may be the easy thing to do, but it likely isn’t the best.
When your child stops progressing, brace up and begin searching for a new school. Ensure the school can better encourage them to continue to progress and grow.
2. Your Child Consistently Resists Or Tries To Avoid Going To School
It’s normal for kids to occasionally grumble about going to school, especially in toddlers and school-aged children.
But if your child consistently shows signs of anxiety, or continually stalls or finds ways to avoid going to school, that should be a cause for concern.
Watch their behaviour from Sunday evenings; it may give you a clue.
If they are overly anxious on Sunday nights, consistently dread Mondays, or just won’t dress up on Monday morning, that could be a sign of something more serious.
Try setting an earlier bedtime and prep for the next school day by laying out clothes and packing their backpacks the night before.
If you’ve tried getting more organised and making sure your child gets more sleep, and the situation doesn’t improve, that might be all the signs you need to know something deeper might be the cause.
Really, that is a time to go ahead and start looking for a more conducive school for your child.
3. Your Child Is Unhappy
What is your child’s countenance like on a school morning –sad, cranky, or happy enough?
Do they enjoy going to school?
Are they excited to tell you about their day, and about what they’ve learned?
Do they come home deflated, or beg you to stay home even when they’re not sick, or feign sickness to get their way?
Have you read: How To Discipline Toddlers
All of these can be signs of an underlying problem that is holding your child back from being the best student that they can be.
Also it may point to concerns that you should take action to start school hunting in earnest.
Because no parent wants their child to be unhappy; especially unhappiness revolving around their education, it is essential to get to the bottom of what is happening so that you can rectify the situation before it spirals out of control.
If you have noticed that your child is truly unhappy at school, it may be resulting from social concerns like bullying, peer pressure, and other challenges that may be coming into play.
Basically, you can resolved these issues by partnering with your child’s teachers and school.
However, sometimes, parents will need to take action and remove their child from the situation completely by switching schools.
A new school may be the needed fresh start for your child to be truly happy.
In such cases, make sure you evaluate new schools specifically based upon how they would handle a situation similar to the one your child is currently in.
If your child is being bullied and harassed, for example, look into the new school’s policies on bullying.
This will ensure you are making a switch that will actually lead to a positive outcome for your child.
4. Your Child’s Current School Is Not Just A Good Fit
If you start to notice that your child just isn’t progressing at their current school, it’s important to do your findings and try to understand why.
You may discover that it is something going on at home, or with friends, that is causing your child to be distracted or otherwise not perform to the best of his/her ability.
It could be that there is an underlying cause that can be addressed and that, once resolved, leads to improvements in your child’s performance.
But other times the answer won’t be so straightforward.
It may be that there’s nothing wrong, per se, the school just isn’t a good fit for your child’s talents and needs.
The environment may be too distracting or your child learns better when a different teaching strategy is used.
Perhaps there are social aspects at play within your child’s peer group that is causing disruptions.
You may also find this article: How To Develop Good Parent-Child Relationship helpful
In such cases, it is often in the best interest of the child to find a school that is better equipped to meet your child’s unique educational needs.
If your child learns better through action than dictation, for example, look for a school that emphasises hands-on learning.
Also, if your child is a creative soul and their current school doesn’t offer many creative outlets, move them to a school that encourages creativity and curiosity.
If you’ve got one adept at memorizing facts and figures, but have a hard time integrating lessons between classes, seek a school that specialises in thematic learning.
5. Your Family’s Living Conditions Change
Family circumstances almost never remain constant.
One of the parents might get a job in another city, or lose one.
The presence of new siblings and other lifestyle changes can affect whether a school will meet a family’s needs.
For instance, if your child currently attends private school, a job loss could necessitate a switch in schools. Likewise, when you get a higher-paying job and can afford better schools for them.
Nevertheless, even if a school change must occur mid-year, do your best to ensure your child’s transition to a new school goes smoothly.
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