Why
your child
Lost interest in studying?
Dear parents of first-graders! Question about educational motivation schoolchildren worries many of you. Your concern is understandable. After all, his success and self-realization in the future depends on how interested a child is in acquiring new knowledge from the very beginning of his educational activities. adult life. In today's article we will talk about the reasons that can cause a loss of interest in studying.
So, reason one- the child is only used to game form classes. Difficult for a first grader to master compulsory subject, if his study is not as interesting as he would like. Many schoolchildren tend to get real pleasure from studying a subject on which they are completely focused. Otherwise, interest in school among such students noticeably fades away already at initial stage training. It ends with the fact that the inquisitive by nature and capable child falls into the category of C students for a long time.
Reason two – individual characteristics child's psyche. The division of children (and adults) into “left-hemisphere” and “right-hemisphere” is widely known. Children with a dominant left hemisphere of the brain prefer step-by-step analysis of the acquired knowledge, which must be received sequentially. They successfully cope with the study of material that comes in small portions, their attention is focused on details that only gradually form a holistic understanding of the subject of study. Difficulties for these children arise when an adult demands a quick understanding of the main meaning of the text read, general idea about the problem being solved. Children with a dominant right hemisphere of the brain are characterized by synthesis individual parts information arriving simultaneously. These children easily comprehend scientific, mathematical, and humanitarian principles, but sometimes it is difficult for them to reconstruct the course of their reasoning; they lose during tests because they have difficulty consistently describing what they quickly and holistically “grabbed.” If they want to get good mark, then they just have to “cram.” Very often they are unsure of themselves, despite their bright expressed ability figuratively represent information about the surrounding reality. Thus, if a teacher does not take into account the way a student processes information, the student may lose interest in learning.
Reason three– individual characteristics of the child’s personality. Each student's nervous system reacts differently to the problem of solving a problem. Active and impulsive children strive for quick solution. They reach out and try to answer the teacher’s question without even listening to the end. Even if they answer incorrectly, teachers praise them for actively participating in class. Phlegmatic and melancholic people are more likely to not shout out the solution to a problem that immediately comes to mind; they will slowly, quietly and calmly come to the correct answer to the question. But most teachers are impressed by more active students, whom they constantly praise. However, if phlegmatic children are usually calm about the fact that someone is ahead of them, then melancholic children lose confidence that they will ever be able to do everything quickly, like a choleric person, and carefully, as such a child wants. As a result of the emerging competitiveness in children with weak type nervous system self-esteem decreases.
Reason four– features of raising a child in a family. If parents make strict demands on the behavior of a preschooler (especially before three years), then at school such a student perceives the situations in which the teacher puts him as data, does not try to find his own way of solving problems, waits for leading questions, fearing to go beyond the given situation. And children who are independent in learning try to interpret any situation in their own way; they like problematic and creative tasks. An adult can focus only on the passive or only on the active part of the children, which can also cause a loss of interest in school.
Cause heel I – the child may not be satisfied with the organization of the learning environment, ranging from too many (or few) classmates to artistic elements class design.
We talked about the main reasons that can cause a first-grader to lose interest in studying. But this is far from full list. Your child may have other reasons. Therefore, each specific case must be studied by a psychologist and a school teacher. Do not delay your visit to specialists. You cannot do without their help.
Understand and help
Sometimes it all starts with seemingly insignificant things that parents don’t pay attention to. It could be slow pace work, and difficulty remembering letters, and inability to concentrate. Something is attributed to age - they say, I’m not used to it, I’m small; something - for education; something - to reluctance. This misses a very important point - the beginning of difficulties. While they are relatively easy to detect, they can be corrected quite easily and without consequences; one difficulty does not lead to another, a third... It is at this moment that parents should not only be especially attentive, but also be ready to lend a helping hand to the child and support him . The later you pay attention to school difficulties, the more indifferent you are to your child’s failures, the harder it will be to break them vicious circle. Constant failures discourage a child so much that difficulties “creep” from one really difficult subject, which is bad, to all the others.
We focus on the difficulties of learning to write and read Special attention precisely because they begin to seriously lag the child behind, loss of interest in learning and self-confidence. If at the same time the teacher is punished - with a deuce ( approx. - we start giving grades only in the second grade) and parents (by reprimand or more drastic measures), then the desire to learn disappears for a long time, and sometimes forever. The child gives up: he begins to consider himself helpless, incapable, and all efforts as useless. Loses interest, which means the lag deepens. Psychological research showed that learning outcomes depend not only on whether a person is able or not to solve the task assigned to him, but also on how confident he is that he can solve this problem. And if failures follow one after another, then naturally there comes a moment when the child says to himself: “No, I will never succeed...” And if never, then there is no need to try! Abandoned by mom or dad by the way: “Well, how stupid you are!” - could make matters worse. And not only a word, but also simply an attitude that you demonstrate (even if unintentionally...) with a reproachful look, intonation, gesture. Heavy gaze and firmly pursed lips when you check homework, sometimes the child is told more loud words. Sometimes parents make excuses: “I don’t scold him for his grades, but he can’t turn around in class?!” The fact is that for a child it is not so important what you are dissatisfied with, what you scold him for, what you reproach him for - for bad grades or for bad behavior, for fidgeting in class, or for not understanding how to solve an example. The meaning is the same - they scold me, it means I’m bad, good for nothing, worse than everyone else...
You probably already understand: it is unlikely that you will find at least two children who have exactly the same difficulties. Even for the same reasons appearance school difficulties may be different. For example, in children with disabilities sound-letter analysis When writing, there will be not only errors in the form of substitutions individual letters, permutations, merging of prepositions, but also poorly formed handwriting, slow writing. In addition, the development of reading skills is also difficult: children will “stumble,” rearrange and confuse letters, and therefore have a poor understanding of the meaning of phrases and texts.
The same reasons can make learning mathematics difficult, especially from the moment when you need to read and understand the terms of the problem yourself.
The main thing for you- understand as early as possible what is the cause of your child’s school difficulties. If possible, it is better to seek advice from a doctor, speech therapist or psychologist in order to correctly diagnose and determine correction methods. If this is not possible, try to figure it out yourself - of course, with the help of a teacher. But don’t rush to conclusions, watch carefully. Very often, the whole range of school difficulties arises seemingly for no particular reason, but simply because the child is unable to cope with the pace and intensity of the class work. And the child works great at his own pace! Unfortunately, the teacher does not always have time in the classroom to help such a child and maintain his pace of work.
What can parents do if school difficulties arise?
First- do not consider them as a personal tragedy, do not despair, try not to show your grief. Yours the main task- help the child. Accept and love him for who he is, then it will be easier for him at school.
Second- you have a long time ahead collaboration(one child cannot cope).
Third- your main help: maintain the child’s confidence in his abilities, try to relieve him of the feeling of tension and guilt for failures. If you are busy with your own affairs and take a moment to ask how you are doing or scold you, this is not help, but the basis for new conflicts.
You should only be interested in doing homework when working together. Be patient. Working with such children is very tiring and requires the ability to restrain yourself, not raise your voice, calmly repeat and explain the same thing several times - without reproaches or irritation. Parental complaints are typical: “I have no strength...”, “I’ve exhausted all my nerves...”. Usually these classes end in tears: “I can’t hold back, I scream, otherwise I’ll crack.” Do you understand what's the matter? The adult can’t help himself, but the child is to blame! At the same time, all parents feel sorry for themselves and no one for the child...
For some reason, it has long been believed: if you have difficulties in writing, you need to write more, if you have difficulties in reading, you need to read more. But these difficult, unsatisfying activities kill the joy of work itself! And therefore, do not overload your child with what he cannot do. It is very important that nothing interferes with you during classes, so that the child feels that you are with him and for him. Leave interesting magazine, don’t even watch TV with just one eye, don’t get distracted, don’t interrupt your classes to talk on the phone or run to the kitchen.
Never rush to force your child to complete a task on his own. First, take everything apart, make sure he understands what and how to do.
It is equally important to decide who is better to work with - mom or dad. Mothers are usually softer, but they often lack patience, and their emotions run high. Dads are tougher, but calmer. Try to avoid situations where one parent, losing patience, calls the other to take over.
Your impatience, even if you don’t say: “I don’t have any strength anymore!” - already a reproach for the child, confirmation of his inferiority. And this is exactly what we agreed to avoid!
What else should you consider when preparing your homework? Only in rare cases will the child know what is being asked. But there is no malicious intent behind this. The fact is that homework is usually given at the end of the lesson, when the class is noisy and the child is already tired and cannot hear the teacher. Therefore, at home he says quite sincerely that they were not asked anything. Or he still doesn’t know how to write down the assignment, doesn’t have time - and is ashamed to admit it.
What can be done? Ask about your homework school friend, tell him why your child did not have time to write down the assignment (this is very important!).
When preparing homework, try to reduce the volume as much as possible. written works(mechanical writing, especially repeated rewriting, is very tiring, and the benefits are minimal). It is better to leave time for special (corrective) activities, for your favorite activities and relaxation.
Total duration continuous operation should not exceed 20-30 minutes. And don’t forget - pauses after 20-30 minutes of work are required.
Do not strive at any cost and “sparing no time” (one mother proudly told us: “If necessary,
sometimes we work until eleven, and sometimes later”) to do all the homework.
Do not consider it shameful to ask the teacher: ask the child only when he volunteers, do not show everyone his mistakes, do not emphasize failures. Try to find contact with the teacher; After all, the child needs help and support from both sides. Work only on positive reinforcement: in case of failures, encourage, support, and highlight even the smallest success.
The most important thing when helping a child is reward, and not just in words. Unfortunately, parents often forget about this. It is very important that parents reward the child not according to the results of work, which cannot be good, but according to the work expended. If this is not done, the child will start work with the thought: “There is no point in trying! I still won’t get a good grade and no one will notice my success!” There should be a reward for the child at the end of each week. For example, going to the cinema, visiting the zoo, walking together... This brings him a lot of joy and shows that his work is also appreciated and rewarded. Just please don't use money as a reward.
Children with learning difficulties need a measured and clear daily routine. This is discussed in detail in a special article. We must not forget: such children are usually restless and uncollected, which means that it is not at all easy for them to adhere to the regime.
Do not start the day with lectures or quarrels, and when saying goodbye before school, refrain from warnings and warnings such as: “Behave well”, “Don’t fidget in class”, “Make sure they don’t complain about you again”, etc. When meeting after school, it’s better to say: “It’s good that you’ve already come, we’ll have lunch,” than to ask the traditional: “Well, what are your grades today?”
Perhaps the most hard time- in the evening, when it's time to go to bed. Parents strive to put the child to bed as quickly as possible, but he is playing for time as best he can. Often this ends in a quarrel, tears, reproaches, and then the child cannot calm down and fall asleep for a long time. In such cases, it is especially important for children to relax. Therefore, it is better if dad or mom caresses him “like a little one” and, putting him to bed, sits next to him for a few minutes, listens, and dispels his fears.
Never work with a child school subjects during holidays! (Note: I can’t completely agree with this point. It seems that half an hour of classes every day during the holidays will not harm the child. The main thing is that the classes bring joy or, at least, do not upset. It is necessary to give the child not difficult tasks, with mandatory success in their implementation. Help, but suggest that he did it himself. As a rule, there is not enough time for such “successful tasks” during studies.) Vacations are for relaxation, not for settling “debts.” Children need rest and freedom so that their failures can be forgotten. Go on a hike together, send your child to relatives, think of something else... The main thing is to change the environment so that nothing reminds the children of school.
So, attention and understanding- the greatest help you can give to a child. Despite failures in his studies, he must feel support at home and believe that he will always be understood here. Do not overestimate the need for your presence while preparing lessons. It’s better to explain everything, plan the work, and then do it yourself. After all, experience is very important and necessary independent work! Do not stand over your soul - by doing this you only convince the child of his helplessness. Don’t constantly make comments (“Don’t rock on your chair!”, “Don’t chew on your pen,” “Sit correctly!”) - they distract and create a feeling of discomfort and uncertainty. Do not distract from lessons with questions and requests, do not rush.
And “one more, final reminder: timeliness measures taken increases your chances of success! If possible, consult your child with specialists and follow all recommendations.
Your sincere desire to help the child and joint work will definitely bear fruit.
Something happened to our little schoolchildren - the children don’t want to study, they began to get tired faster, they appear more often Bad mood and baseless whims, apathy and drowsiness become frequent guests, constant colds do not allow life. And in the notebooks - my God! – ridiculous and stupid mistakes and typos. And the handwriting, which was once quite decent, is a completely separate thing. sad story! “It’s spring...,” we sigh, “there are few vitamins, the body is growing, rebuilding itself—hormones are making themselves felt, and the intricate complexity of school programs is going through the roof—where does normal health and condition come from?” That’s for sure, the song about the first grade, which is “like an institute,” has long ceased to be a joke and has become a universal parental groan.
It’s hard to argue, all this really takes place - spring with vitamins, programs with integrals, and hormonal changes in growing organisms. But not all children are susceptible to spring school vitamin deficiency; some have enough “powder in their flasks” to get to summer. And the children seem to be the same age, and the programs are the same, but the parallel class looks completely different.
And then the teacher’s personality appears from the shadows, how much depends on it! What becomes more important for him – annual tests, monitoring, reports, assessments, results, or the timely and smooth development of his students? The teacher does not always have the ability to feel, correctly assess the situation, the ability to defuse the atmosphere and quickly gather a team; he does not always have the sensitivity and ability to give up some things in favor of harmony.
It seems that this is not only a matter of professionalism and experience, but something else, but the topic for an important conversation will be precisely the situation itself: when a teacher teaches “from the start,” looking around and taking into account only indicators and standards, and not living little people.
What should parents do? We will not discuss radical measures such as transferring to another school or another class. Let's think about how parents can help their little students avoid stress, maintain their health and - which is also important! – desire to learn. Very important role The parental attitude plays here. As they say: “if you can’t change the situation, change your attitude towards it.” Let's try to see the positive in the problem that has arisen and overcome it as easily and with humor as possible.
Tip one:"I - balloon" Light and flighty, who does not fly away from problems, but hovers ABOVE them (at the same time he sees, notices little things and solves problems - easily and playfully). This is a mantra for mom! In big red letters on the refrigerator or above the bed: “school is only PART of life!” Don't get too hung up on it! Education is certainly an important, responsible, absolutely necessary thing. But not one yet educational program did not make “a small leg, a big soul,” but a student healthy and happy. This is not the most important thing, although it is an important part of life - a mother should convey this to the child, and not tragedy, fear, despondency and universal sorrow. Everything is almost like during pregnancy: the mother is tense - the child is tense, the mother is irritated and scared - the child is irritated and depressed, the mother is annoyed - and the child is no longer able to cope with this flurry of emotions, he is more vulnerable nervous system than his mother, so he doesn’t care: desire develops into reluctance, apathy appears (laziness, in our parental language), aversion to studying, and then, how defensive reaction, and health problems. Therefore, we look for lightness and humor in ourselves (in ourselves!) - this does not mean at all that we are moving away from real difficulties and problems.
Tip two:“You and I are from the same football club!” And since we are one team, it means we will overcome all difficulties. Important point– we do not oppose ourselves, along with school subjects, to the child. On the contrary: we “cheer” for the child, together with him we oppose these “boring” rules (but they make sense - we’ll forgive them this tediousness!), harmful examples and tricky tasks. And we will definitely defeat them! This attitude will give the child much more more power and confidence than the usual attitude of an explanatory and instructive adult.
Tip three:“Let's stand on our heads!” Sometimes things go so far that the very sight of a school table with a white notebook on it brings nauseating despondency to the student. This turns on the associative memory, whispering: “don’t expect anything good from this picture.” This means it’s time to diversify the associative series, change the angle of view and scenery. Sit down to do some homework on the sofa or on the floor, do not write examples in a notebook, but lay them out from cards, matches, nuts. With a book to read, move to the balcony or even to the park. The techniques are funny and absurd at first glance, but it may very well become easier, and workplace will no longer be perceived as hard labor and evoke melancholy.
Tip four:“Let's rest!” A best vacation, as you know, is a change of activity, as frequent as necessary for the child. We alternate mental, active, sedentary, creative activities, returning to the incomprehensible and unresolved after such a break. Is there a need to do this after every task? So, that's it for now. Over time, the child will be able to concentrate on one activity for longer. By the way, a wonderful release is helping around the house. Often, parents of schoolchildren try to protect their child from household chores, considering this an extra burden. In vain! Of course, everything is good in moderation. For example, dusting, washing a couple of plates, washing your socks - this set is not suitable for poor Cinderella, it takes a little time, help for mom, and the child gets the joy of helping mom plus a break.
Tip five:“Man is a creative being.” It is his natural state. We support you in every possible way children's creativity, hobbies, hobbies - not to be confused with entertainment. However, pleasant trifles in reasonable quantities, helping to distract and redirect attention - cute purchases, a trip to a cafe, balloons, ice cream, attractions - this, perhaps, is also sometimes not bad, such “candy” is given for a while good mood And emotional release. But we are talking specifically about creativity, there is a completely different principle here: to create means to give: your energy, strength, thoughts, ideas. Moreover, do it with joy and pleasure (since a person is passionate, this is implied by itself). And the more you give, the more you will receive - the law of Nature, fair and unshakable. If a child is interested in something – great! We support you and are not afraid to harm your studies. It happens that parents, when there are some problems in school life child, they prohibit their son or daughter from attending their favorite club or studio, hoping that the ban will encourage the student to achieve academic feats. Big mistake! Not only will it not encourage you, but it will also deprive you of the opportunity to express yourself and destroy trust in your parents.
AND final advice, what we thought of first of all: “Night, street, lantern, pharmacy.” In our case: “a walk, good nutrition, healthy sleep, vitamins.” It is also useful to maintain not only the morale and attitude, but also the body of our school “warrior”. ABOUT healthy treatises have been written on life and a reasonable regime, so we will not dwell on such obvious things.
Let's hope that these tips will help you cope with spring school “depression.” We start with ourselves (as, indeed, in any other business) and help us get in the right frame of mind little student. And then that's it school problems we won't care!
“Learning is light,” teachers and parents told us year after year. But our school has long been left somewhere behind. Now we repeat these same words to our children. But not all schoolchildren agree with this statement. Some children study with interest, bringing home A's, while others do not want to take up textbooks at all. Why does a child lose interest in learning if everything was fine at first?
For the first few grades, parents spend time doing homework with their child, and this is normal. This is how, gradually accustoming a small schoolchild to independence, it is possible to accustom him to independent study. At first you have to control the whole process completely, helping and instructing, then you need to little by little leave the child alone and just check what he has done and whether everything is correct. And so on step by step until grades 4-5. By this time, students have already become quite independent and constant monitoring dont need. But if threes and twos, as well as comments from teachers, begin to appear in your diary, it’s time, as before, to take everything into your own hands. This indicates that something went wrong with your student. And the task of parents is similar situation not in providing full control over execution homework, but in finding out the reasons for what is happening and eliminating them.
A child may lose interest in learning if he does not understand something; in the next lesson this misunderstanding becomes even greater and so on, progressively, until it reaches complete indifference to learning. Why study and try to do the homework if it still doesn’t work out? If the reason is a lack of understanding of the subject or topic, you will easily see it. Your help or tutoring will be needed. It cannot be said that it is easy to improve a child’s skills in any subject. It is especially difficult if we're talking about about teenagers 12-14 years old, who often experience absent-mindedness and lack of attentiveness. You will need a lot of patience and time. And most importantly, do not scold a young student for not understanding what you are explaining. Do not compare him with anyone, do not focus on excellent students. This will only lower the student’s self-esteem and make the problem worse.
It’s another matter if the reason is not in the subject, but in the student’s personal problems. If he quarreled with a friend, fell in love, or lost the title of leader in the class, worries about what is happening will come to the fore, pushing his studies into the background. In this case, you will have to somehow find out the reason for what is happening, find out what exactly is bothering the young schoolboy. After that, try to help him find the most the right way out from the current difficult situation, To solve the task. If you can’t do it yourself, go to a psychologist. Sometimes relationships in the classroom take on such forms that even parents cannot cope with such tasks, let alone a child.
The third reason is general mood in the classroom or even at school. If class leaders demonstrate their disregard for learning and pull all other students along with them, you will have to make a lot of effort to convince the child not to follow the lead of such people. Proving yourself and not following the team is very difficult, and it may even happen that you have to change schools. When solving this problem, you need to be especially careful, because by inciting your child to study, you can turn the entire class against him. Alas, modern schoolchildren are simply something incomprehensible and sometimes scary. Be careful, think through every step carefully.
As you can see, there are many reasons, and the most important thing for you is to understand your child correctly, to find him weakness and make it stronger. After all, if the diagnosis is made correctly and accurately, then half the battle is already done.
It's over summer rest. The children had a rest, tanned, improved their health, and now it’s time to study. The first two weeks are relatively calm. Then the load increases, becomes larger, and circles are added. The child really gets tired, it is very difficult for him to learn so much material.
Most often, such problems appear in the sixth grade. This disturbing behavior should not be ignored. The problem will not resolve itself.
First of all, parents need to find out the reasons for this and bring bad grades. Hidden problems that are troubling your student are sure to come to light. You shouldn’t scold him, punish him, much less beat him. All these terrible methods will not bring results, and it will definitely get worse.
Main reasons for refusing to study
The main reason for refusing to study is weak motivation or its loss. Children, due to their inexperience, do not yet understand that they need knowledge for life. They cannot figure out why they should study these uninteresting subjects or do difficult tasks. After all, it’s more interesting to throw a ball with friends, go to the river or play computer games. The problem is more acute among high school students. If the guys see people with higher education, or even two who work hard for pennies, then of course young people begin to think that studying is not the main thing.
Plays a great role school teacher. Only he can interest the children and instill a love of learning and books. If the teacher himself is truly passionate about his subject, then the students will begin to share his interests. And the most important thing is the relationship between teacher and student; children respect strict and honest teachers. Now school program very difficult, it forces the children to look for material on their own and think deeply about the lessons. It's really hard for a child.
And probably the reluctance to learn comes from the environment. Ask your son or daughter about relationships with friends. Perhaps there are conflicts in class with friends or teachers. Younger students are now often offended by older students; they can beat them and take their pocket money. And the guys will be afraid to complain to adults. Or perhaps it is a conflict with the teacher. If the atmosphere in the classroom is tense, the child is constantly afraid and this affects his studies. Talk to the teacher, explain the situation, and perhaps together you will find a way out of the problem.
Or maybe the reason lies in your family. Think about how you communicate, how homework is done, and take a closer look at the atmosphere at home. Maybe the problem is coming from home.
But it may also be that the child is really tired. Not only is there a lot of homework, but the child is also burdened with additional mugs and classes. Very often, children want to be the best in the class and the more effort they put in, the more they become mentally and physically exhausted. In this case, contact a psychologist, a specialist will refer you to the right direction, and you will forget about the problem.
What interests should be taken into account in a child’s studies?
It is imperative to take into account the child’s natural abilities and interests. Perhaps he really is not interested in mathematics, but he has a gift for writing poetry. Be sure to send him to a circle of interest, so, in the company, his studies will proceed easily and naturally.
Never, under any circumstances, humiliate a child, do not tell him offensive words, which you will soon regret. By doing this you lower his self-esteem. There are parents who give money for good grades. This is absolutely the wrong way to get out of this situation. Thus, the student will never understand the true pleasure of learning.
Try to understand your child and together you will overcome all difficulties.
