THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND:

• Improvement will usually be slow, especially if symptoms have been historic.
• Parents may not recognize or may deny the problem.
• There will be relapses even with improvement.
• Arguing will not solve the problem.
• Review your own feelings and actions toward the child.
• Be sure the child's actions are not just "normal" misbehaving.

Symptoms:

• Talks in a very soft voice
• Sits quietly most of time.
• Has difficulty in carrying on a conversation
• Withdraws and hangs back
• Has few if any friends.
• Has difficulty making decisions
• May be fearful of adults
• Tires without apparent reason
• Avoids contact with people

Possible Reasons for Behavior:

• Family may be the same way
• Fear of failure;child may come from an overly critical home and does not want to try anything new
• Parents may be perfectionists
• Low-energy levels resulting from depression
• Extremely overprotected
• Learned helplessness

Teaching/Management Suggestions:

• Praise, notice, and talk with the child.
• Find occasions for errands-first with no oral message and later with very simple messages.
• Always call on the child when volunteering.
• Have a smile ready for child any time you catch his or her eye.
• Use puppets and have child talk for the puppet.
• Encourage child's interest in collecting things such as baseball cards or coins.
• Assign routine tasks with automatic rotation such as leading the pledge or taking the lunch count.
• Try to involve the child in a group with other shy children in the school.
• Consult with the parents and professionals if a pattern exists.

Things to keep in mind:

• The child will need to know exactly what to do in each situation.
• Pushing the child into the limelight may make the situation worse.
• make sure other students don't always do things for the child or always come to the rescue.
• Recognize that courage follows success.
• Improvement will be slow and growth may be gradual.
• Determine if the child may have some health problem or hidden physical abnormality.

THE UNDERACHIEVING CHILD

Symptoms:

• Avoids effort-dawdles over writing assignments
• Does messy, incomplete work
• Waits for help and does not try to solve problems
• Tends to be listless and careless
• Seldom volunteers
• Gives many excuses for failure to complete work
• Is slow in starting a task or assingment -can't find pencil or paper; is slow in doing or finishing anything
• Daydreams
• Fails to concentrate on work

Possible Reasons for Behavior:

• Frustration-work is too difficult
• Inappropriate parental expectations
• Too many failures and too few successes
• Little praise and much criticism
• Lack of challenging school work
• Health or physical deficiencies
• Cover-up for lack of ability
• Lack of adequate sleep

Teaching/Management Suggestions:

• Praise child for each effort.
• Study child's home life; talk to parents.
• Help develop a skill or hobby at which the child might succeed.
• Overlook minor failures.
• Study results of diagnostic tests for clues.
• Adjust work to child's ability level.
• Time child's assignments and try to have the student beat his or her record.
• See that the child starts work more promptly by helping him or her through transitions.
• Use shorter but more frequent assignments.

Things to keep in mind:

• Underachievement is not normal-it is a symptom.
• A child who appears lazy has some sort of problem.
• Praise for good work promotes activity.
• Apparent signs of laziness may appear in later stages of development.
• Underachievement is not neccessarily an indication of intelligence.
• A capable student's work should meet certain standards before acceptance.

THE FRIGHTENED CHILD

Symptoms:

• Panics easily or gets frustrated
• Shows anxiety
• Withdraws
• May tremble at the slightest provocation
• May be moody
• May be overly afraid of being hurt
• Rarely takes chances
• May be extremely emotional
• Fears criticism
• Requires constant reassurance.

Possible Reasons for Behavior:

• Parents who also have fears and openly express them
• Death or injury to someone close to them
• Overly protective parents
• A history of unfortunate or traumatic experiences
• Constant and harsh punishments
• Slow physical development
• Bullying playmates

Teacher/Management Suggestions:

• Try a variety of creative activities to release child's fears.
• Have child write an article on "Things That Make Me Afraid."
• Reassure child whenever he or she shows fear.
• Suggest to the parents that they seek outside consultation if the pattern is historical.
• Give child work at which he or she can succeed.
• Build up child's confidence by using a variety of success-oriented tasks.
• Praise child for his or her accomplishments.
• Explain that others also have fears.
• Check child's health record.
• Organize a group of other children with the same condition.

Things to Keep in Mind:

• Fears may be imaginary.
• The teacher's own reactions are important since they affect the child.
• Fears melt with affection.
• Fears diminish with maturity.
• It is natural for most people to fear some things.

THE SLOW-LEARNING CHILD

Symptoms:

• May have a short attention span
• may not be able to generalize
• May feel insecure
• Consistently achieves below grade level
• Has a low intellectual ability
• Withdraws and does not participate
• Seldom volunteers in class
• Has trouble getting started
• Has trouble finishing assignments

Possible Reasons for Behavior:

• Familial pattern of slow learners
• Lack of environmental stimulation
• Possible learning disabilities especially if greater potential is indeicated in spite of a low intellectual quotient.
• Frequent illness causing gaps in critical stages of learning
• Rejection by parents or playmates
• Low nutrition
• Severe emotionality interfering in cognitive functioning

Teaching/Management Suggestions:

• Provide many learning materials at the child's level of ability.
• Ask for an intellectual or academic evaluation using individual tests.
• Give the child many opportunities for success and a feeling of achievement.
• Try to get the child interested in hobbies or extracurricular activites.
• Provide a place to work where distractions are at a minimum.
• Investigate the child's physical and health condition.
• Praise child whenever possibel and build up his or her good qualities.
• Have the child work with a peer tutor.
• Make the parents aware of the child's limitations so that they do not add to the problem with inappropriate demands.

Things to Keep in Mind:

• Requiring more than he or she can do will cause frustration.
• Improvement in academic achievement will always be slow.
• Parents often reject the idea that their child is a true slow learner.
• Expect the child to achieve only up to his or her ability.
• Be careful the child doesn't get "lost in the crowd."