What To Do If Your Child Doesn’t Enjoy School

Every child has days they don’t feel like going to school, and that’s perfectly normal, even as adults we’ve all had mornings where we just want to snooze the alarm and pull the duvet covers over our heads. They could be burnt out or just feeling a little under the weather. However, if your child really doesn’t enjoy school and regularly complains about going, it’s time to do a little digging to get to the bottom of it. An independent school in County Kildare has shared their expert advice on how you can help.

Listen and Ask Questions

Your child may be giving you clues as to why they don’t enjoy going to school. Do they complain about their teacher, their studies, their peers? Make sure to pay attention when they discuss school as the sooner you discover what the problem is the sooner you’ll be able to get to work on fixing it. If your child isn’t so chatty about their school life, make sure you ask questions about their day and invite them to open up to you about it. It may just be that they’re burnt out from after school activities and aren’t rested enough to enjoy school, or it could be something a little deeper. Either way, finding the root cause should be your first priority.

Empathise

When your child doesn’t enjoy school this can be a really distressing time for them. As frustrating as it might be for you to go through the daily battle of getting them through the school gate, it is important to treat your child with understanding and remember that their behaviour is likely to be due to some emotional stress and not just because they’re simply acting up. Getting angry with them will only add to their upset. Show them that you understand and want to support them, giving them a sympathetic ear whenever they need one.

Tackle The Problem

Once you know what is specifically causing your child to dislike school you can begin to work towards solving the issue. It’s important to be proactive and move quickly to resolve things before their feelings towards school start to affect their confidence and academic success. Talking to their teacher is a good place to start as you can coordinate your approach to dealing with the problem. If your child is having trouble with their peers, their teacher will be able to keep an eye on this during the school day. If they’re struggling academically, they may be able to move them into a different set or offer them extra support to help rebuild their confidence.