A Few Weeks In: The Teacher Has Concerns

The school year seemed to be off to a good start. Your child was settling into their new classroom, getting to know their teacher, and adjusting to new routines. Then, an email from the teacher arrives with concerns.

Maybe your child is having trouble paying attention, following directions, completing assignments, staying organized, managing frustration, or keeping up with classroom expectations.

When a teacher says your child is struggling in school, it can be difficult to know what to do next. Is your child still adjusting to the new school year? Would additional classroom support help? Or is there something else making school more difficult than expected?

The first step is understanding why the difficulty may be happening.

Why Do Challenges Sometimes Appear After the First Few Weeks of School?

The beginning of the school year often includes introductions, review, new routines, and the excitement of a new classroom. As the weeks progress, expectations increase.

Students may be expected to:

• Work more independently

• Remember multi-step directions

• Complete longer assignments

• Keep track of materials and homework

• Transition between activities

• Stay focused for longer periods

• Keep pace with classroom instruction

• Navigate changing social expectations

  
  

For some children, these increasing demands can make challenges more noticeable. They may have a harder time keeping track of directions, staying organized, keeping pace with assignments, managing frustration, or showing what they know consistently.

What looks like a behavior or motivation problem may actually be a sign that your child needs a different type of support.

What Should You Do When a Teacher Says Your Child Is Struggling?

Hearing that your child is having difficulty at school can leave you worried and wondering what has changed. Rather than focusing only on the behavior itself, start by gathering more information.

Consider asking the teacher:

• When are the difficulties most noticeable?

• Do they happen during certain subjects or assignments?

• Is independent work more difficult?

• Are transitions challenging?

• Do concerns become more noticeable later in the day?

• What seems to happen before the difficulty?

• What strategies have already been tried?

• What seems to help?

  
  

Looking for patterns can provide important clues about what may be making school difficult for your child.

Compare What You See at Home and School

Children do not always show the same challenges in every setting.

Some children work hard to manage the school day but come home exhausted, frustrated, or overwhelmed. Others may do well with predictable routines at home but have more difficulty managing the pace, distractions, independence, and expectations of a classroom.

Parents and teachers also see different parts of the picture. Parents know their child's history, personality, strengths, routines, and behavior outside of school. Teachers see how the child manages academic, social, and organizational demands throughout the school day.

Sharing these observations can help everyone develop a clearer picture of what is happening.

Look Beyond “They Need to Try Harder”

When a child is struggling in school, it can be tempting to encourage them to focus more, slow down, work harder, or make better choices. But sometimes effort is not the problem.

A child who forgets directions may be having trouble holding onto all the information at once. A student who takes a long time to finish assignments may need more time to process information or maintain focus. Avoiding reading or writing may be a sign that the work feels unusually difficult. Frequent frustration or shutting down may indicate that a child is becoming overwhelmed.

Instead of asking only, “How do we stop this behavior?” it can be more helpful to ask, “What is making this difficult?”

Try Targeted Supports at School

Not every classroom concern requires an evaluation. Sometimes relatively simple changes can make a meaningful difference.

Depending on your child's needs, helpful classroom supports may include:

• Giving shorter, more manageable directions

• Providing written or visual reminders

• Breaking larger assignments into smaller steps

• Allowing additional time to think and respond

• Using organizational checklists

• Providing movement or regulation breaks

• Keeping routines predictable

• Checking in during longer assignments

  
  

Parents and teachers can then watch for whether these changes improve attention, independence, work completion, or frustration.

The goal is not to lower expectations. It is to give children the tools they need to access learning and show what they know.

When Might a Neuropsychological Evaluation Help?

One email from a teacher does not necessarily mean your child needs an evaluation. Many children need time and support to adjust to a new teacher, classroom, or school year.

However, a neuropsychological evaluation may be worth considering when concerns continue despite support, begin to interfere with learning or relationships, occur across several areas, seem unexpected based on your child's abilities, or have been present across multiple school years.

A pediatric neuropsychological evaluation can help answer a broader question: Why is this child struggling?

Rather than looking only at grades or classroom behavior, an evaluation examines how a child learns, thinks, processes information, and manages different demands. Depending on the concerns, this may include attention, memory, learning, language, organization, problem-solving, processing speed, and emotional functioning.

The goal is not simply to identify a diagnosis. It is to better understand your child's individual strengths and needs and translate that information into practical recommendations for home and school.

Finding Clarity When School Concerns Emerge

An email from the teacher can feel concerning, but it can also be the beginning of a helpful conversation.

Teachers may notice challenges that are difficult to see at home, while parents bring important information about how their child functions outside of school. By sharing observations, looking for patterns, and trying appropriate supports, families and schools can begin to better understand what a child needs.

Sometimes the answer is more time to adjust. Sometimes a classroom strategy makes the difference. And sometimes persistent concerns are a sign that it would be helpful to look deeper.

Understanding why a child is struggling can help parents and teachers move from frustration and uncertainty toward more effective support.

If you are wondering whether a neuropsychological evaluation may be helpful for your child, Devonshire Pediatric Neuropsychology in Chicago offers free consultations to discuss your concerns and possible next steps.