HELP: A Word Filled with Strength, Hope, and Honest Reflection
It’s May and the 2021-22 school year is heading into its final weeks! College students will be heading into finals by mid-month and K-12 schools following closely behind. As we head into the next stressful school activities (research papers, final papers, and final exams) it’s important to check in with our children and see if they are asking for and receiving the help that they need for their greatest success. HELP is one of those small words that offers big results. This is the perfect time for parents to check in with their children to guarantee that they are receiving the help that they need to close out this schoolyear. That help could be in the form of:
A. School Related Help
Helping your child feel comfortable with meeting with their teachers
Helping your child learn to write an email that articulates their needs
Freeing up the family calendar so that students have the time needed to complete some of their larger assignments or study
Helping your child make a plan for work completion
Helping your child organize their study area and materials in preparation for finals
Making an appointment for a psycho-ed or neuropsychological evaluation (re-evaluation) if students need school-based accommodations
B. Social/Emotional Help
Supporting your child working with a therapist if their anxiety has been particularly high this school year
Considering a discussion with a doctor about medication if children have had a particularly hard year and are demonstrating emotional dysregulation.
C. Additional Professional Help
Hiring an executive function coach or tutor if students need academic support to complete the year at their academic ability
Hiring a tutor if you child had particular difficulty with subject understanding
D. Family Help
Helping your child find balance by encouraging exercise, social interactions, family dinners and conversation, good sleep, and knowing that requesting help is a sign of strength
Continuing family dinners and/or specifically scheduled family activities
Modeling the restraint that you hope your child has with phone use, work/life balance, and good communication
Ultimately, it is our responsibility, as parents, to teach our children that knowing their needs and asking for help is one of the most important skills that they can learn and practice. We need to also teach them that they may not always receive what they need but that doesn’t mean that they were wrong for asking, it means they need to try again or with someone else. With children demonstrating some of the highest levels of anxiety that we have seen, one of the greatest life lessons that we need to teach is that we all need help, there is no shame in asking for help, and never stop asking until you receive what you need. Asking for help is not a sign of weakness; it is a sign of strength and self-awareness.
Essig Education Group is available with coaching and classes that can help students and young adults gain academic and life understanding and recognize what they need as their plan for success. We can help you rewrite smart.
Essential Study Skills Flyer Summer 2022