Parents Point of View #104: How to Help My Struggling 4th Grader

Your child may not be used to writing lengthy essays since the exercise begins in the fourth grade. They could be struggling with disorganization making it hard for them to express a point in writing. The problem could also be associated with dysgraphia, a nervous system disorder that affects a child’s fine motor skills. Other causes could be poor handwriting and spelling problems.

Children with dysgraphia display unclear and irregular handwriting. They may have a poor grip on the pen, which can lead to soreness. They may also have poor spatial planning, meaning they have inconsistent and poor spacing abilities. Their work may also be untidy due to frequent erasing. You may also notice the unusual position of the hand or wrist when writing.

A child in the fourth grade should know the main parts of a speech. They should also know how to write a complete paragraph, use punctuation, and identify prefixes and suffixes. They should further understand homophones, synonyms, and antonyms.

Please give them a writing exercise daily. Read to them more since it is a stepping stone towards better writing. Make writing fun using different materials and having a good working area. Introduce them to journaling and encourage them to publish their work. Celebrate every milestone and seek professional help if necessary.

The first step should be to identify what changed. Please help your child to identify the triggers behind their action. After that, you can find the best solution together. You can also reinstate their love for reading by listening to audiobooks together, letting them see you read, discussing book characters or scenarios, and regularly and positively talk about books.

Your child could be having a decoding problem. It is common for fourth graders to skip words they don’t recognize at first and try to decode them later. If they can’t decode them, they guess or mispronounce them.

Reading out loud can be humiliating and uncomfortable for struggling readers in the 4th grade. They are intelligent enough to identify their parents’ and teachers’ pressure at this age. Watching their peers read with ease can also be frustrating and demeaning. As a result, they avoid reading in totality.

A good number of bright kids experience a processing delay that holds back their reading skills. Reading difficulties become more evident in the fourth grade due to the increased complexity of words: frustration and behavioral problems caused by fear of reading cause them to lag even more behind.

Your child could be failing math due to some learning gaps from previous grades. They could also be suffering from math anxiety. Fourth-grade math is also known to be more complicated than in previous grades. Students also have more concepts to explore and more mathematical problems to solve, which could trigger strength and, eventually, failure.

Praise your child for effort rather than for intelligence or for getting the correct answer. Bridge any math learning gaps. Listen to their needs and offer them the proper support. Set realistic and achievable math goals, and celebrate every milestone. Lastly, Practice a lot!

Please get to the bottom of this by talking to them about math. Learn why they hate the subject and find the best solution. For instance, find them a tutor if they have some learning gaps. Teach them the importance of math and how they apply it in life. Please help them to complete their homework and to understand all basic concepts.

You can help them to practice math daily. Acknowledge that the anxiety is there, and seek necessary professional help. Encourage your child to ask questions and seek clarification in class. Teach them self-advocacy to overcome fear and anxiety.