How to react to academic failure

Failure is never final. It's how you recover from failure that matters. It is often said that when it's easy we don't learn and when it's harder we grow.

You must first take a step back and realize that your child is not the only one to fail and that many students have already been there. Next, it is important to identify why your child is failing. Is it because he doesn't understand the material well? Is it because he lacks motivation? There may also be other factors such as not daring to ask questions, performance anxiety or an inefficient work method. All of these factors can largely come into play. It can also be simply a lack of preparation for exams!

In all cases, it is important to find solutions with the student. To maximize the chances of success, these must come from him, but you can also support him in this process by having a short discussion on the subject.

Here are the 3 solutions we offer:

1. Communicate with the teacher to get his point of view on the failure;
2. Find out about and offer participation in recovery sessions offered by your child's school;
3. Finally, tutoring is an excellent solution since it allows students to progress at their own pace. Indeed, the tutor grants the necessary time to concepts that are less well understood. The student can ask questions without embarrassment and when the relationship of trust is well established, the tutor can play the role of mentor for the student.

In conclusion, it is the ability to be able to bounce back from failure that matters. The important thing is to find with your child the solutions that suit him best so that he can experience a school full of success.