Understanding Underachievers

As a parent, a teacher, and a school psychologist, I know first-hand how frustrating underachievement is.  In this post, I discuss possible sources of underachievement and provide potential interventions.

Undiscovered weaknesses or uneven learning skills
Most of us are strong is some areas and weak in others. Often these weaknesses go undiscovered and the child appears to be an underachiever.  Here are some often overlooked areas of weakness:

• Weak visual learners. Some students are excellent verbal learners but cannot process information presented visually in graphs, charts, or process details in illustrations or visual clips.  If undiscovered, "talented" students appear to perform "below their expected performance level".   Possible paths of action:
• "read" pictures together - comics and graphic novels are GREAT materials for this.  Talk about how the information is relayed using letter fonts and sizes, different colors, facial expressions and visual icons. Here are some links with suggested kids' graphic novels and another that discusses visual literacy;
• have students practice visual learning at home (outside of school so there is no embarrassment) encourage students to practice reading graphs and charts at home. Here, for example, is a link for mapping skills which will help kids learn to relay information with target words and visual organizers;
• here's a link on reading graphic images - discuss how concepts and objects can be labeled with words or with icons - take out your phone or computer and play with the icons, when walking or driving, talk about the visual signs and billboards and the messages the pictures relay;
• discuss this with your child's teacher.  Ask for a 'heads-up' before an up-coming unit, exam or even a lesson with a lot of visual icons, graphs, charts, etc. where you (or some other responsible adult) can preview the unit with your child BEFORE the class or exam - to boost and bolster their skills and confidence.  If your child walks in cold, he or she can easily just 'shut down' and you want to try to avoid this pattern of behavior.

• Weak verbal learners cannot process lectures, or dense dry passages (having receptive language weaknesses) and/or they cannot efficiently express - in writing or in speech what it is they want to say (expressive language weaknesses).  Here too, if undiscovered, "talented" students appear to perform "below their expected performance level".  Possible paths of action:
• have your child practice expression at home with an adult (outside of school so there is no embarrassment).  You can leave notes for each other on pillows, refrigerators, in lunch/snack bags;
• talk and play with words - have fun with them - look at nonsense words and play with them or make up your own;
• check this link to play with different means of verbal and visual expression;
• argue /debate here's a fun link to check out: "The Power of Argument";
• check out this link for reluctant readers.

• Graphomotor weaknesses can hinder test performance and students 'underachieve' because they cannot efficiently relay the information they know and have learned. It may take your child too long to write what he or she needs to write; OR your child may be so daunted with having to write an essay, he or she may just relay 'the basics' and chose not to write in detail because it is too difficult to physically write, or they may not be enough room on the page or in the allotted space for his/her large, uneven handwriting; OR in math the 4's become 9's, the 3's become 8's. the 7's become 1's. In such cases, they may have accurately solved the problem while the answer itself is wrong because somewhere along the way they inadvertently changed the digits in the problem. Possible paths of action:
• check this link that discusses what graphomotor weaknesses look like and how to help boost them;
• here's another link on handwriting and dysgraphia;
• practice penmanship AT HOME (outside of school so there is no embarrassment);
• have your child write out all math problems with large spaced graph paper, where they put each digit in one of the 'boxes';
• for tests, talk to your child's teacher and ask him or her to make sure there is enough space right under the question for your child to respond.  In math, for example, if students have to turn the page over to write their answer, I guarantee they will miss-copy the question.

ATTENTION weaknesses can be another contributor to underachievement. One word may trigger associations and these kids are off on fascinating "mind trips" or tangents, often missing  important details (see youtube clip below). OR, students may fail to see the 'relevancy' of the lesson and simple turn off because it 'is boring'. Bart Simpson and Billy Madison are two such characters who have 'tuned out' because they saw no relevancy to their school lessons. Possible paths of action:

• help students find relevancy to what they're learning. Talk about what they learned at home (dinner, maybe) or when driving to after-school activities.  You may want to relate what they are learning about to current events or to books you've recently read, or movies you've recently seen;
• make sure the lessons move at a comfortable pace - provide additional resources for the weak and (different more challenging ones ) for the advanced learners to keep their attention;
• regardless of what the lesson is, make sure the kids understand 'what's in it for them';
• here is a link on attention you may want to check out;
• as a parent, if you think your child is bored in a class, find ways of enriching what he/she is learning in class - go to the library and find related books, go online and search for related links to help make the material more challenging and more meaningful.

SOCIAL FACTORS often come into play with underachievers. For some, 'smart' is not cool so they dumb-down to fit in with the group of friends and avoid bullying. Possible paths of action:

• here is a link on nerds and bullying which play into these social factors;
• here is link on reading faces and developing effective social skill;
• there may be other social and emotional factors that feed into underachieving which are beyond the scope of this post. TALK with your child and know that while they'll often  say 'the homework is stupid' or 'the class is boring' there is always more to it.  Ask about their friends, ask what your child does at recess and who he/she plays with, talk to the teacher and try to get additional insights into social aspects that impinge on school performance.

Regardless of the possible sources of underachieving there are a few generic interventions you can take:

• reinforce good work and good grades;
• set up structured goals and celebrate their achievement;
• help your child organize his/her schedule and required assignments;
• make your child accountable for homework assignments and projects;
• help make homework more relevant;
• ADD STRUCTURE  to your child's homework routine
• set up an effective work space  or 
• establish routines making sure your child gets enough sleep, has ample time to do homework and 'play'.

In closing here is a video clip of an unlikely pair of underachievers -where one word links associations taking them on mind trips, missing material and resulting in ...well enjoy!

 I hope you found this discussion relevant and helpful.  Please share your experiences, suggestions, and opinions in the comments.  Have a great week and thank you for your visit!