By Maggie Lage and Harriet Weiss

The skills developed during the year will be your child’s foundation for the more difficult work ahead.  What should you do if you are unhappy with your child’s report card?

According to Dr. Raymond J. Huntington, Co-founder and Chairman of Huntington Learning Center, “Parents know their own children. If you believe your child could be doing better than his or her grades show, you owe it to yourself and your child to remedy the situation.” “More than current grades are at stake.” Huntington continues, “If grades are mediocre or poor, it means your child is not gaining valuable skills. This can come back to haunt him later. The skills children learn in school are like building blocks. If a skill is not learned adequately, future skills will suffer. When a child tries to build advanced skills on a shaky foundation of knowledge, there is likely to be trouble ahead.” Mediocre or poor grades can result from a variety of problems. Dr. Huntington offers the following suggestions for what to do when a child brings home a poor report card:

Examine the situation realistically.
It is important to remember that every drop in grades indicates that valuable skills are being missed. An effort should be made to learn and reinforce those missing skills. While this is being done, it is also important to identify and remedy the basic problem, so it does not continue to hurt your child’s education.

What is really the problem?
Is there a behavior problem? Sometimes, bright students get bad grades for behavior related activities. Does your child hand in homework? Is it correct and on time? Is your child bored with schoolwork, and therefore is not paying enough attention? These are not excuses; they are symptoms of different problems. You must identify the problem before you can remedy it.

Talk with your child.
Why does your child think he or she got poor grades? Does he or she take the situation seriously? How does he or she plan to do better? It is important that your child knows you take the situation seriously. Work with your child to develop a plan that will help achieve better grades. Let your child know that you are supportive and that you believe in his or her abilities.

Talk with your child’s teacher or counselor.
Your child’s teacher or counselor is a professional educator. What are his or her observations? What does he or she recommend?

It is important to remember that the difficulty that caused these poor grades may be a serious problem. Your child may have missed one or more important basic skills. It is vital that you get help for your child as soon as possible, before the problem gets worse.  The Huntington Learning Center is a nationally recognized leader in the field of improving a child’s basic study skills through remediation and enrichment programs. Students are given individual attention by certified teachers using personalized programs tailored to improve skills in a child’s trouble areas. Huntington offers individual testing and tutoring in reading, math, study skills, writing and SAT/ACT preparation to students of all ages.

Parents who want additional information, or who wish to discuss a specific problem, are encouraged to call Maggie Lage (302-737-1150) at the Newark center or Harriet Weiss (302-478-4343) at the Wilmington center.

Maggie Lage is the Executive Director of the Huntington Learning Center in Newark, 34 Liberty Plaza, Kirkwood Highway, Newark, DE  19711. For more information or to schedule a consultation at the Newark location call 302-737-1150 or visit www.newark.huntingtonlearning.com.

Harriet Weiss is the Executive Director of the Huntington Learning Center in Wilmington, which is moving to 3615 Silverside Road, Talleyville Shopping Center, Wilmington, DE  19810. For more information or to schedule a consultation at the Wilmington location, call 302-478-4343 or visit www.wilmington.huntingtonlearning.com.

About Huntington Learning Center
Founded in 1977, Huntington Learning Center has just celebrated its 32nd anniversary as the nation’s longest-running supplemental education services provider. Huntington provides instruction in reading, writing, spelling, phonics, mathematics and study skills as well as SAT and ACT preparation to tens of thousands of students in kindergarten through 12th grade. Huntington prides itself on its unparalleled programs which specialize in helping parents, caregivers, and educators identify the gaps in skills and knowledge that can limit learning potential, and in providing a personalized program of instruction to enable children to excel.

Testimonials:
“My son’s SAT score was way beyond our expectations! We were very happy with the experience we had at Huntington. We can’t thank you enough for all that you have done to prepare our son for college and beyond.”   ~Deborah A.

“I would recommend your program without hesitation. There is no way Katie could have improved and received the score she got without the direction and instruction of the wonderful Huntington Learning Center teachers. We attribute her numerous scholarship offers to her increased SAT score.”   ~Maybeth R.