Gifted Children and Bad Grades

What do you do if your gifted child’s grades start slipping, or if the great results you previously enjoyed begin dipping to a level of average or below? Has the child lost his spark? Are the parents at fault? Is the school letting him down? Any of these could be the causes, but the most common reason for gifted children to lose interest in their studies is that they are not being challenged in the right way. Gifted children are easily bored with the pace of normal school learning and either tune out or focus on “fitting in” so that they are more like their peers.

Parents Need To Take Control

Having a gifted child can be intimidating for the parents. They want to offer support and encourage but are afraid that their efforts will not meet the child’s expectations or needs. Because of this, they often allow the child to make his or her own decisions and channel energies and interests where they want to. This can be a big mistake. A gifted child is still a child and needs adult guidance. Allowing a child to chart his or her own academic course is giving too much power and placing a huge burden on a mind that is not mature enough to handle the pressure.

Children Need To Be Challenged

For a gifted child, underachieving is easy. He can put his feet up and match what his peers do. If this continues long enough, the innate ability will be blunted and the desire to achieve will be lost. All children are naturally curious and willing to accept challenges. However, if the challenge is too easy, the interest is lost. Schools, with large classes, must cater to the needs of the majority of the students. This means that, even with the best of intensions, there is no time or resources to create the challenges and learning paths that gifted children need. As already said, parents are often afraid of stepping in to fill the gap and if they do, they are usually not equipped to provide the special learning support that gifted children need. Instead of finding fault with the school system or indulging in guilt at not being able to do more for their children, parents need to find an effective solution to the problem.

The Tutoring Solution

A tutoring or learning center is an ideal way for a gifted child to regain his edge and reach his true potential. The individual attention and teaching by expert professionals will provide the child with the focused direction that he needs. The child-specific challenges that the tutors can offer will stimulate the child to start to excel again and this desire will carry over to the school where grades will once again rise to the top. If you have a gifted child whom you feel is not performing to his or her full potential, get in touch with a reputed, professional tutoring center that can offer the support and challenges your child needs to get back on top. Professional tutors will be happy to discuss a child’s specific needs with the parents and work on ways to meet those needs.