Most parents who have recognised a strong academic future for their child are keen to ensure that potential continues to be fulfilled. If your child is confident, happy and apparently performing well at school, it can be difficult to judge whether everything is as good as it could be, or whether it’s time for extra help.
When a child’s self-belief and confidence decline, progress at school can quickly enter a downward spiral. You may notice your child starts to talk negatively about their teacher or a particular subject. They may seem constantly confused about homework or become frustrated and angry when working on it. Sometimes a child will carefully hide the problem, to avoid upsetting the family, then one day it just becomes too much and you find them in floods of tears, refusing to go back to school.
As a parent, you want your child to do the best he or she can in life. Whether it’s about academic, sporting or cultural interests, it’s normal for parents to have aspirations for their children. But when does support become pressure? And how does pressure affect a child?
When we think of gifted and talented children, we think of kids with high abilities, accelerated learning and exceptional performance. However, the truth is that gifted children can present complex challenges for parents. While gifted children have huge potential and exceptional prospects, the expectations of performance can result in problems.
Whether they’re facing practice exams or the real thing, most teenagers feel increased pressure as assessments approach. This can create added stress for students and others in their household. If left unmanaged, it may continue to build for some children, undermine achievement and, in the long-term, possibly cause health problems.
Here are some ideas for parents who want to support their son or daughter during the year as they prepare for exams. Most are written as suggested tips for students, so you can share them with your teenager and find out which tips they think would be good for them.
