After school remedials? What’s that?
After school remedials? What’s that?
“Remedials? What’s that? I came for tuition as my child is struggling with school work and I was asked by the school to meet you.”
Very often this is the response of a parent who walks into our afterschool remedial centre. Many parents are tired, having gone from pillar to post, having spent a lot of money and time with nothing happening, trying to find that one solution, that one place, which will fix their child’s issues. The child drags his feet behind the parent, shoulders drooping with the weight of the school bag he is carrying and the invisible weight of not knowing what to do, as nothing seems to happen however much he tries. When the concept of remediation is explained patiently to the parent, the bewildered parent does not know what to say. There seems to be a spark of hope lighting up the child’s eyes as he feels finally someone is able to understand what he is going through.
“I want remedial classes for my child. Here is the assessment report. Please tell me how many classes my child must come for?” I begin to explain the process and the parent cuts me short-“yes, I know all that” [thanks to Aunty google!] I finally must put my foot down and say you first listen to what I have to say and explain very firmly to the parent that there is no quick fix solution- a minimum of one year is needed for some progress to happen and regularity is very important. No guarantees or timeline can be given but we reiterate that we will help the child.
The above are just two scenarios I have described that happen many times at the Afterschool Remedial centre in Jayanagar.
What is all this about?
Parents are anxious, worried and desperate at times. The child is angry, or fed up or relieved. It is literally a myriad range of feelings and emotions that erupt.
A Remedial programme is a very meticulously planned intervention, that looks at the strengths and difficulties of a child and aims to work on the difficulties using the strengths and teaching the child in the way the child learns. It is assessing the basic skills such as reading, spelling, writing, comprehension, math concepts, oral language and attention. It is only when the basic skills are in place or at a certain level of proficiency that a child can make sense of curriculum and learn and perform in school. Challenges are many- the child’s style of learning is also an important factor. A formal and/or informal assessment is needed to throw light on the various factors at play. Many a time so much more than the report is revealed once you work with the child.
The pressure the child is under also needs to be looked at. Many children leave home in the morning and come for remedial class straight from school and then go on to tuition and homework. No wonder the feet are dragging and the shoulders are drooping. There is no time for the child to play or indulge in areas like art music or dance at which a child may be very good or just be!
It is a vicious cycle of school and its demands, parental pressure, and peer pressure to name a few.
The dictum of earlier the better holds good here. The sooner a child with difficulties comes in for remedial sessions, the better it is. In lower grades [Lower kindergarten to 2nd grade] the curriculum is still very less when compared to even primary grades such as 3rd grade. It is easier to deal with just the skills without the pressure of the curriculum looming above. But sadly, this does not happen for many reasons- children are not identified by the school or the parents or the pediatricians or if identified, the parent is reluctant to seek help. So, though our focus is on the child, educating the parent and walking the walk so to say with the parent is equally important.
Another very challenging task we face is when remediation works but the child is still few grades below. The child may have to change the board or shift from mainstream into a special set up which would offer smaller groups and more individual attention. It takes couple of years at times to get the parent understand what is needed for the child.
All this along with, informally building up communication and social interaction skills, self-esteem and self-confidence are also other areas where work happens side by side.
The difficulties the child came in with may have been resolved but it is important to watch out for new ones that may spring up due to the demands of the curriculum or the age of the child. And these need to be dealt with.
Remedial support need not/should not be permanent. Many a time the child can be weaned off remedial support if the progress is adequate but for some children, remedial support at times is needed for many years to continue in mainstream education.
-Jayashree Rajanahally
Coordinator, ASR Jayanagar
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