LEARNERS
Many things can impact on learning and daily life. Understanding is key to unlocking learning.
Every child is different - a complete individual, filled with potential but often encountering challenges that impact on their academic progress, relationships and daily life.
Whatever the difficulty is we need to understand what part of the skill or process is causing that difficulty. It may be one thing or a combination. A weakness in working memory or processing can be a blockage to showing high verbal skills if that difficulty is not understood and supported in the right way.
Without looking at the root cause additional help can be just a sticking plaster over the problem.
Labels are like umbrellas under which hide the learner’s unique profile. The label doesn’t give the complete picture which is why understanding the individual and communicating their needs is key for informing teaching, intervention and strategies that make a real difference.
What you observe is key. Do you see any of these?
- Poor concentration
- Anxiety
- Difficulty with reading
- Written work does not match verbal skills
- Fear of maths
- Poor handwriting
- Poor balance and coordination
- Disorganised
What are the signs of a difficulty with learning?
- Unwilling to do homework
- Sleep problems
- Anxious about going to school
- Avoiding and delaying
- Wanting your help all the time
- Finding the work set is too hard
- Not knowing where to start
- Negative self talk
- Fearful of getting work wrong
Learner profile
By exploring all aspects of learning and understanding the unique challenges advice and guidance is personal and actionable. It provides a formulation with advice for home and school with onward referral if it is appropriate.
Executive Functioning Skills
These important life skills develop through childhood and the teenage years. Knowing where your strengths and weaknesses lie enables you to build skills for learning and life.
Coaching and support
Being a parent of a learner who has challenges can be lonely, difficult and overwhelming. Working through your challenges together will help you to put in place a plan and enable change.
“We found her combination of hands on experience, deep knowledge of learning difficulties and knowledge of the available ‘educational support’ to be of great value in guiding our son through the emotionally difficult years of 7-10.”