PLEASE HELP US OUT WITH THIS PROBLEM WE ARE HAVING WITH MY 15 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER SHE COMPLAINS THAT HER GRADES ARE FAILING IN WORLD HISTORY HONORS, ENGLISH HONORS AND CHEMISTRY. SHE SAYS THAT SHE UNDERSTANDS THE WORK AND THEY ARE HER FAVORITE CLASSES BUT SHE CAN’T APPLY WHAT SHE HAS IN HER HEAD TO THE PAPER TO WRITE IT. SHE STRUGGLES MISSERABLY WITH TESTS, NOT QUITE SURE IF SHE PANICS OR JUST STRESSES IT SO MUCH AS WE GO OVER HOMEWORK WITH HER AND SHE DOES IT ALL JUST FINE BUT THEN IT COMES TEST TIME AND SHE GETS D’S OR F’S.
WE REALLY DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO AND THIS FRUSTRATES HER SO MUCH THAT EVERY TIME WE SIT DOWN TO TALK WITH HER SHE STARTS TO CRY AND GETS HER POOR SELF SO WORKED UP THAT SHE BECOMES NAUSIOUS. SHE HAS A’S IN HER OTHER CLASSES, P.E THEATRE, AND ALGEBRA 2 BUT THE THREE MENTIONED ABOVE SHE IS STRUGGLING WITH. ANYONES HELP OR SUGGESTIONS ON THIS WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED. THANK YOU SHERMAN
Re: DAUGHTER STRUGGLING WITH APPLYING LEARNED MATERIALS
Is this a new problem or one she has always had? If it is new, stress might be the issue. Depression also might be the issue, as it can follow stress in some people. Does she say she can’t concentrate? Has she recently lost or gained weight? ANy sleeping problems (too much or too little), is she irritable? These could all be depression signs.
testing difficullties
When you look at her failed tests in world history etc., what do you see? Has she filled in any answers? is she leaving everything blank? If not, are her answers way off base or slightly off base?
You need to take a look at those tests to figure out what’s going wrong for her. How good is her writing in general? Does she write comfortably and can she write her own papers without difficulty?
Regardless of the answers to the above questions, I’d consider having her tested.
Good luck.
I’m sure your kid is real smart and all being in all those honor courses, but maybe it is too much for her. I remember back in the 17 century they asked me if I wanted to be in, I think they called it, Accelerated Biology. And I did not. I think in the back of my mind I thought that I would be happier being the at the very top of an average class than doing ok in an accelerated one. So maybe this is the case with your kid, though maybe she didn’t realize it when signing up. I am guessing this is one of those hard driving schools, top kids and all and there is a lot of stress. Racheting back on that might help. I know it might look like failure but I think you can tell her that you don’t care if she is in the top classes, just want her to be happy and get along in the world.
I’m guessing her math maybe good enough for the chemistry but maybe she doesn’t understand as well as you might think. I’m not sure if anyone has a resource here for you.
This really doesn’t sound like a learning disability at this point. It MIGHT be, but it sounds like a kid doing poorly in high achievement, high push classes. I ended up being a pretty decent writer and had not even all that much success in HS.
She can certainly get into a good college without all that.
PS, please turn off the caps lock!
—des