Summer is here and you may be wondering if your child is up for the new school year in a few months. Whether your child breezed through the year or struggled, it’s a common question and worry.
What Signs Should You Look at to Determine if your Child is Ready?
Reviewing your child’s grades – especially for older students is a common starting point. However, grades are a snapshot. They tell you what your child produced but they do not provide insights as to how your child is learning — and this is how you should be determining readiness for the next level.
The Skills That Determine Readiness
Academic success is driven by our child’s cognitive skills. These are the foundational skills and mental tools that enable effective and independent learning. When these skills are strong, learning is easier. When they’re weak, even a bright, hard-working child can hit walls that are hard to explain. Below Are the Key Skills to Look for This Summer:
Attention
Can your child sustain their attention long enough to complete an academic task without redirection? Can they tune out distractions when working on a task they would not choose to do? Sustained attention is the key cognitive skills your child needs to follow multi-step directions, finish assignments, and retain and process lectures.
SIGNS TO WATCH FOR:
- Consistent unfinished tasks
- Frequent “I forgot what you said”
- Difficulty transitioning from preferred activities to less preferred ones
- Lack of stamina
Working Memory
Working memory skills are the post it notes on your child’s brain enabling them to retain and manipulate information. It is one of the most critical cognitive skills and is needed for solving math problems/word problems, written or verbal expression, following a sequence of instructions. It’s one of the greatest predictors of academic success.
SIGNS TO WATCH FOR:
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- Scattered and disorganized thinking
- Forgetting instructions soon after hearing them
- Struggling to organize thoughts when writing or speaking
Processing Speed
This is how fast your child’s brain functions, and it becomes more critical as kids advance as school moves much faster as they get older. Students with slower processing speed aren’t less intelligent; they may just need more time than learning environments allow.
SIGNS TO WATCH FOR:
- Often the last to finish a task – test taking, timed activities
- Feeling overwhelmed when a lot is coming at them or there is a lot on their plate
- Mental fatigue during long tasks and struggles with sustained attention
- Motivation issues
Auditory Processing
Strong auditory processing enables your child to decode what they hear accurately which is foundational to fluent reading skills. Low auditory processing makes blending sounds a challenge and is often the root cause of reading struggles.
SIGNS TO WATCH FOR:
- Struggling to decode words
- Poor spelling
- Difficulties with comprehension
Logic and Reasoning
This skill is a critical math skill – grasping concepts and problem solving. It also drives reading comprehension and general comprehension. It is also required for strong executive function and organizational skills. Can your child look at new information and figure out what to do with it?
SIGNS TO WATCH FOR:
- Difficulty with word problems
- Trouble explaining the why behind concepts
- Difficulties planning, prioritizing, and managing time
- A high frustration level when working on a difficult task (even a task like cleaning their room!)
If you are wondering if your child is ready for the new school year, call the LearningRx Savage team to schedule a cognitive skills assessment. This assessment is invaluable as it will provide insights as to your child’s cognitive skill levels in the areas above. Summer is a great time to work though this!