School is a new stage in life for every child and their parents. But not all kids are happy about it.
Sometimes every morning starts with a bad mood because a child doesn’t want to go to school. And there can be many reasons for this.
Why doesn’t a child want to study?
First-graders often find it especially hard to adapt. Instead of playing in kindergarten, they now face mandatory lessons with teachers. The new atmosphere and new people can feel overwhelming. Everything changes at once.
Young children are very emotional and easily influenced by fears and worries. Any discomfort can create negative associations with school. That’s why it’s important to prepare a child for first grade in advance, so there are no unpleasant surprises.
Older children face different problems. These can be conflicts with teachers or classmates. Or difficulties with certain subjects and low grades. конфликты с учителями и учениками. Или непонимание предметов и низкие оценки.
All children want to succeed. They enjoy when things go well and they are praised. But if a child gets bad grades, their motivation to learn quickly disappears.
Relationships with peers strongly affect a child’s desire to go to school. If there’s conflict, even older kids may have meltdowns and refuse to attend.
Parents must talk with their children. Only trust and open communication can reveal the real cause of school anxiety — and help to overcome it.
How to motivate a child to go to school
A lack of motivation in school can influence the rest of a child’s life. The result may be low self-esteem, lack of development, no interest in learning new things, and chronic anxiety.
“According to the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health, up to 28% of children experience school refusal,” reports Gazeta.ru. And this often comes from school-related anxiety.
Children may complain about feeling unwell or being tired.
Some parents ignore these complaints and send the child to school anyway. They believe that studying is easier than working or adult life.
But for a child, even lessons alone can feel like a heavy burden — especially when combined with stress and anxiety. If your child is showing these signs, they need your help. They cannot cope alone.
How to help a child
Parents are a child’s main support system. Only they can help overcome fears, school anxiety, and challenges. But to do this, parents need to know how to talk to their child properly.
If you notice poor performance or frequent complaints about feeling unwell before school, it’s important to identify the real reason. Never scold your child. They are already struggling.
You need to be on their side. Only then will they open up to you. Even bad grades are not always a sign of laziness.
Start with conversations on neutral topics. Find shared interests and common ground. Sooner or later, your child will trust you enough to share what’s really going on.
