Girls with Educational Challenges
If your daughter has faced educational challenges all these years, from learning disabilities to just plain struggling to do average work, it probably didn't make a huge difference in early years. But come the adolescent years, girls with these issues can struggle with their public image, and might even feel shame.
In grade school, most girls with educational challenges were streamlined into “regular” classes, given modified learning plans, and sometimes pulled out of class for short periods for extra attention. But come middle school and high school, most schools begin leveling subjects. For instance, a high school freshman English class may be offered in three ways: accelerated, college sequence, and basic skills. If your daughter has struggled with learning disabilities, there is a chance she might land in that “basic skills” level. Unfortunately, mean kids and even most students are biased against that level, thinking of students in there as the “short bus kids” or “sped kids.” SPED, standing for special education, is a hot-button label for most girls, and a hurtful one, although it should not be.
Alert
Don't push your daughter into a higher level for just social reasons. But do talk to her guidance counselor. With extra tutoring at home, you may be able to move her up a level if she wishes.
Girls in lower class levels may rebel, acting as though school does not matter to them anymore. If you see signs of this, you and her guidance counselor need to drive home the fact that no matter what level she is placed in at school, she's working toward the same goal as all students in the school: college and/or a career that supports her financially and ful-fills her as a person. It might be a good idea to find a celebrity, successful adult, or friend you have whom she admires who struggled with learning issues as a child. Show her that success will be hers just as much as it will be for a girl in accelerated classes, so long as she does her best and tries hardest.
Many parents of girls who struggle educationally try to find other areas for them to excel at school. Sports and clubs are a good option. If your daughter can star as a field hockey player even as she struggles in class, she may feel more comfortable in the school community. She will also make friends with girls she might not come across in her classes. The same goes for civic groups such as student council and volunteer groups that help the world. Encourage your daughter to find places besides the classroom to shine in at her school. The successes there may help fuel a drive to do the best she can in her classes. But don't let her other activities be the sole focus of her school days. She is there to learn, and classes and schoolwork do matter.
