Learning difficulties in elementary school
Dyslexia and dyscalculia: what is it?
Does your daughter struggle to recognize words she has read? Does your son get the numbers wrong when doing arithmetic? Every child develops at their own pace and initially these mistakes in elementary school are no cause for concern. However, if the difficulties persist or increase over a longer period of time, they may be symptoms of a reading and spelling disorder (dyslexia) or a dyscalculia. Read here how you can recognize the signs and where you can find advice and support.
Learning difficulties can be overcome with targeted support
Parents quickly become worried about the future when they notice that their child has pronounced difficulties with reading, writing or arithmetic. Sometimes there is even disappointment. But learning difficulties have nothing to do with intelligence or talent. And your child can often greatly improve their skills with targeted support.
It is now important to develop suitable learning strategies and measures in close contact with teachers, medical specialists and therapists.
Here are more tips for parents of children with a learning disorder:
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Reduce pressure to perform
Reduce the pressure to perform. Stay patient when practising with your child.
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Encouragement
Encourage your child again and again. Unconditional affection and support from the family are particularly important. Show your love for your child - regardless of their performance at school.
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Promote self-confidence
Give your child self-confidence and make them aware of other strengths. Enable your child to experience success in other areas of talent.
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Praise progress
Praise your child for their efforts and every little step forward - without the pressure of expectations and without looking at grades.
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Openly address learning disorders
Talk openly with your child about their learning disorder and make it clear that they are not alone with their problem. Many famous people are among those affected, even Albert Einstein is said to have been dyslexic.
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Cooperation with teachers
Keep in close contact with your child's teachers and work together to find solutions for the best possible support. Many schools offer targeted support programs for children with learning difficulties.
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Check compensation for disadvantages
Consider whether you would like to make use of the so-called disadvantage compensation: For example, your child could be given more time in class tests, spelling mistakes may not be marked and oral performance records may be accepted instead of written ones.
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Playful learning
Support your child in practising through play: let them read to you in a relaxed atmosphere, for example advertising boards or texts on packaging. Or let your child write a shopping list. Word games such as "city-country-river" or arithmetic games such as Yahtzee also make sense - and are fun.
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Support through learning therapy
You may want to consider targeted learning therapy for your child. Find out about what is on offer. Learning therapists can greatly reduce difficulties with reading, writing or arithmetic with advice and support tailored to your child. However, the costs of therapy usually have to be covered by the child themselves.
Where can we find help and advice?
The first people to contact are class teachers and guidance counselors, perhaps the school psychology service, as well as your pediatrician's office. Here you can find contact addresses for specialists who can reliably diagnose learning disorders.
The Federal Association for Dyslexia & Dyscalculia e.V. NRW offers parents in North Rhine-Westphalia a wide range of help and support with up-to-date information and studies as well as individual consultations and events. You can find a searchfor qualified therapists in your area
on the portal of the Bundesverband Legasthenie und Dyskalkulie e.V. (Federal Association for Dyslexia and Dyscalculia).
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