Why Your Child Isn’t Learning in School, Why It’s Not Their Fault, and What You Can Do About It!

Could You Learn?

A teacher in Saskatoon was in the news in January 2024, explaining why she quit teaching after 12 years. There are numerous learning challenges in Canadian schools, as exemplified by the scene she described of one day in her classroom. One of her students was being very violent to themself and to other kids, so she had to hold the student and rock the student while she was trying to teach, while her other students who had intensive needs were maybe throwing desks or rolling around on the ground or arguing with other kids. Could you learn algebra in that classroom?

Public School Issues in Canada

Teachers are facing numerous challenges, including:

• Behaviour Management Challenges: Up to 30% of students face challenges with behaviour impacting their academic performance.

• Students For Whom English is Not a Fluent Language: In Winnipeg, 18% of students are identified as needing English as an additional language support (EAL), and in Edmonton and Ontario, 25% or more of the students are English Language Learners (ELL).

• Students With Learning Disabilities: Approximately 10% of students have learning disabilities. (We help students who have learning disabilities, and you can read our article about dyscalculia.)

• Violence Towards Teachers: Research on rates of violence towards teachers shows that 41% to 90% of teachers in Canada have experienced violence, and over 70% say that both rates and severity of violence in schools are increasing (https://www.csse-scee.ca/blog/2018/07/09/lack-of-resources-and-supports-for-students-among-key-factors-behind-increased-rates-of-violence-towards-teachers/). Death threats, head injuries, and even poisoning of teachers have occurred in Canada.

• Students Who Are Not Ready For that Level of Learning: I have been the head of the math department at an online school. Some of the grade 10 math students had never done math before. You are likely wondering whether you read that wrong… how can they be in grade 10 math and have never done math before?
  
  In many provinces, students are passed automatically from one grade to the next—even if they haven't mastered the material. They can reach grade 10 math without ever having successfully completed earlier math levels, because high school is the first time course failure is tracked for credit. Therefore, if they are in an online school and they never go to the online class, they never do any of the quizzes or assignments, etc., they still get passed from kindergarten to grade 1, to grade 2, to grade 3… to grade 10!
  
  When I taught in a rural school, I had a student in grade 7 and another student in grade 8 who could not read. Their parents would constantly phone in and say that they would not be at school because they were sick, and the students would be riding their bikes around the town. I know what many of you are probably wondering next… where are social services? Do you have any idea by how much their budget has been cut? They can only deal with the most severe cases, and they do not get involved in cases where parents do not send their kids to school unless there is also severe abuse.

When Did I Start Teaching?

A question that I am often asked is when I started teaching. The answer is complicated enough already, being that I started tutoring when I was in grade 11, but I became a certified teacher after earning my Education degree at the University of Regina.

However, if the truth were really to be told, in detail, I would say that I started teaching in grade 10. I was not tutoring yet, and I had not volunteered or signed up to teach… I had a horrible math teacher.

When I was in grade 10, my math teacher would put one example on the chalkboard, with very little explanation, then he would sit in his chair, lean back, relax, and blast music.

Any student who dared ask him a question would be told, “If you are too stupid to understand, then I am not going to teach it to you.” The students started to figure out that I knew the math, so when they would be told that, they would come to my desk for help. Then, rather than being treated rudely first, they started coming directly to my desk. The teacher started to point at my desk while he leaned back and relaxed! (Yes, I should have been paid his salary, since I was the one teaching the class!)

When I was a first-year teacher, I stopped teaching in my classroom. Did I become like that teacher and lean back and relax and expect some bright student to teach the class for me? No! I became a disciplinarian rather than a teacher. I was in a rural school where students tried to light the school on fire, wherein students would throw desks if they got upset, and many other problems existed.

Could I teach? Like the teacher in the video, I tried to teach while dealing with the myriad of issues in my classroom, and I know that I did not accomplish much.

I started teaching in my classroom again the following year when I was at a different school, and there was one class in which the students behaved. It was wonderful! I could teach! I could focus on the content and not worry about a student throwing a desk! I could do what I was trained to do and not feel like I had studied education, but somehow wound up being a police officer!

That Teacher is a One-Off Case Who Was Coasting to Retirement, Right? All the Other Teachers Try Their Best In a System That Fails Them and Their Students?

That is not true. When I was in grade 8, my teacher had an anger management problem. He called two students in my class fat pigs in front of all the students, he pushed one student into the hallway brick wall, injuring the student, and finally was required to go on leave and take anger management classes.

I have had two students tell me within the last few months that they were bullied by THEIR TEACHERS! In a study published in the Journal of Adolescent Health (https://www.jahonline.org/article/S1054-139X(24)00292-1/fulltext), 40.3% of elementary school teachers reported that they had bullied a student at least once, and 32.5% indicated that they knew at least one teacher who had bullied students within the previous school year. Also, 2.7% of students in grades 7 and 8 reported being bullied by teachers/other school staff members.

Many parents search things like “Why is my child not learning in school?” or “How do I know if my child needs tutoring?” - and it is not always easy to find honest answers. Very few studies have explored teachers bullying students.

How Can You Help Your Child Succeed in School?

This is likely depressing, we get it! So, let’s turn our focus to what you can do to help your kids be ready for high school and life after high school.

• You can book a consultation with us to have your students’ skills assessed. It is completely free of charge, and that way, you will know whether you need to be concerned.

• Talk to your kids about what they are learning in school, what a typical day in school is like for them, etc. Tell them stories from your days in school - sometimes they are surprised to learn that their parents did not behave correctly 100% of the time, so they will learn that you are human too. Ask open-ended, specific, and engaging questions that cannot just be answered with “yes” or “no” or a head nod or head shake. Remember that you are a parent, not an investigative journalist! So, only ask them a question every day or two. Ask them questions such as:

  • What did you learn in science class today?

  • What was the best thing that happened at school today?

  • Who did you eat your lunch with?

  • What did you work on in art class today?

  • What made you feel happy today?

  • Was there anything that frustrated you today?

  • How well do you feel you are understanding math?

  • If you could change one thing about your school, what would it be?

  • What is something that you learned this school year that you will remember for a very long time?

• Ask your kids whether they are experiencing any challenges in school so you can brainstorm solutions together - do they need some more conversation-starters to make more friends? If so, brainstorm some together or use AI to get some really good ones! Are they being bullied by a teacher, another student, or a school staff member? In that case, you might need to meet with their teacher. Are they struggling with any subject areas? If so, do they need tutoring, or can you help them, or can they use AI or the internet, in general, to learn more?

How We Can Help/Recent Positive Experiences We Have Had Turning Things Around

Case Study: How One Student Overcame Learning Gaps and Succeeded in Math

One of the students who is a student of Clever Minds Online Learning Centre had failed grade 9 math, with the teacher who was being very critical of her and bullying her. We recently completed filling in ALL of her math learning gaps this summer! We know, from her skills, that she should not have failed grade 9 math - she should have done very well in the course.

What changed? She stated, “I know that you are not judging me, so I can think much better than I could. I could not think clearly, knowing that my teacher was going to judge me very harshly!”

Case Study: How One Student Is Learning What She Needed to Know Before Her Standardized State Test

I taught a student today who is in New York and is reviewing grade 6 math. She is a good student. Also, she had not heard of dependent and independent variables until they showed up on her state’s standardized test, despite them being in the grade 6 curriculum.

Our goals for this summer are to review grade 6 math and preview grade 7 math. I honestly do not know if we will get to the previewing grade 7 math part of our plan this summer, because we are still reviewing grade 6 math since much of it is new to her, DESPITE her having completed grade 6 math. I asked her whether the students in her class had been struggling, but she did not know… but she said that her classmates just did not care about learning and did not behave well in class! No wonder the teacher did not have a chance to teach the entire grade 6 curriculum!

However, in an individual tutoring setting, we can teach a student the entire grade 6 math curriculum in approximately 10 hours! Yes, you read that correctly, 10 hours! So if your student did not learn enough during the previous class to be ready for the next one, it is best to book a consultation with us.

Case Study: How Students Are Staying in the Public School System While Benefiting From Extra Support and Resources

I have a couple of new students who are in the public school system. Their parents see the value in their children being in the public school system, despite the fact that they could afford to put them into private school. However, they will be our students because they heard very good feedback from other parents about our services, and we can supplement their education, enabling them to stay in the public school system, but with extra support and resources.

Signs Your Child May Need Tutoring

They…

• make negative statements about their abilities.

• avoid doing their homework - putting it off until the last minute, or not talking about it and not doing it.

• have declining marks.

• are increasingly frustrated with schoolwork.

• have difficulty managing time or keeping track of their assignments.

• display a sudden disinterest in school.

• constantly ask for help with their homework, but you do not feel fully able to help them.

• turn homework time into a stressful experience in the household.

How We Help Students With Math Competitions

What Are Math Competitions?

In Canada, the most well-known math contests were designed by the University of Waterloo and have different names depending on the grade level: Pascal (grade 9), Cayley (grade 10), Fermat (grade 11), and Euclid (grade 12).

Did you know? While these contests are well-known in Canada and are designed by the University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, students worldwide participate!

While students in the United States can and do participate in these math contests, they also have their national math competitions (American Mathematics Competitions - AMC) called the AMC 8 (for students in grade 8 and below), the AMC 10 (for students in grade 10 and below), and the AMC 12 (for students in grade 12 and below). The Mathematical Association of America runs these competitions, and students from over 30 countries, including Canada, participate.

It is interesting to note that students CAN use calculators when they complete the University of Waterloo math contests, but students CANNOT use calculators when they participate in the American Mathematics Competitions.

The University of Waterloo math contests and the AMC are just examples of math competitions; many others exist in the world.

What Is the Purpose of Math Competitions?

Students get an opportunity to solve innovative problems by applying what they learned in the math classroom. They are also fun!

The Centre for Education in Mathematics and Computing at the University of Waterloo states that the contests are a fun way for students to grow their problem-solving skills, build confidence, and get creative with math. The Mathematical Association of America states that the purpose of the AMC is to bolster students’ confidence and passion for math.

Beyond fun and skill development, participating in these contests can also enhance an applicant’s university application and potentially qualify them for entrance scholarships. They are also great bragging rights! (I, Nicole Hancock, came in third place in Saskatchewan in a math competition in grade 6, and I still brag about it!)

How Can Clever Minds Online Learning Centre Help Students Prepare For Math Competitions?

We have experience helping students prepare for a variety of math competitions (AMC 8, University of Waterloo, others). The procedure we use to help students prepare for math competitions is as follows:

1. We discuss the basic requirements of the competition (whether they can use a calculator, the number of questions, the time limit, etc.). We provide the student with some example questions from previous competitions of that type (previous University of Waterloo math contests can be found here, and previous AMC math competitions can be found here) to determine their current problem-solving skills and their level of math ability in general.

2. We discuss problem-solving methods for the example questions they completed with the student and explicitly teach any math processes that they may have forgotten or have not yet learned that can help them to solve those math problems. We provide the student with homework related to these math processes and have them memorize basic facts about mathematics that will be helpful for them to have memorized when they participate in the competition (kind of like how Jeopardy contestants memorize United States presidents, world capitals, Shakespeare characters, etc.). All of the math processes and memorized math information that the student works on are checked periodically to ensure that they continue to remember these important pieces of knowledge for the competition.

3. We use the example questions that the student completed to discuss problem-solving strategies with the student. For example, some strategies that they may have used are to solve a simpler problem, guess and check, and look for a pattern. Many students do not think that guess and check is an actual strategy for solving math problems, but we assure them that it is!

4. We provide the student with some more example questions to work on and discuss how they will go about the problem, which problem-solving strategy they will use, etc., with them.

5. Anything that was encountered in terms of math skills that the student has not yet learned, or math information that it would be helpful for the student to memorize, while completing the second batch of example questions, is taught explicitly, and the student receives homework to practice the skills and memorize the math information.

6. We begin providing the student with full-length math practice competitions. The students’ time on each question is tracked, and the answers are checked. The student is asked how they felt about completing the full-length math practice competition, how they felt about their use of time, what they feel they need help with or need to practice, etc. Feedback is given to the student about their time spent on each question and their results.

7. Anything that was encountered in terms of math skills that the student has not yet learned, or math information that it would be helpful for the student to memorize, while completing the full-length math practice competition, is taught explicitly, and the student receives homework to practice the skills and memorize the math information.

8. We repeat steps 6 and 7 until the student can complete the competition with a good mark within the time limits of the competition and feels confident about their ability to obtain a successful result in the actual competition.