Achieving at home but not at school

[FernieB]

DS works well at home and can do everything that is asked of her both in maths and English, but at school she just does not perform. Her test results are poor and her school books just don't match the level of output I get at home. I don't know how to get her to work harder at school.

I sometimes go in to help in her class and I can see that when she is given work to do she spends a lot of time just sitting. Anyone have any ideas as to how I can help her to perform to her potential at school.

My DS is the same - his teacher says it's quite common - kids often work better in a quiet environment, with 1-1 help...I'm told it will improve with age and he has improved, not sure if it's just age related maybe after lots of practice, things just become easier and require less effort and concentration - they finally realised he was a brilliant reader and his writing has improved significantly, we are still helping him build his confidence in Maths.

Thanks for your response. I was starting to feel as though my DD was the only one who acted this way. I'm hoping that with the school holidays coming we can have some time to spend on boosting her confidence so she can feel happier about working in the classroom.

Is this set homework she's good at doing at home, or extra work ON TOP of everything she's suppoed to do at school?

It sounds as if she isn't sure what she should do and doesn't want /isn't confident to ask in front of her friends.
Home and school are very different environments.

"does not perform"
"test results are poor"
"level of output"
"how to get to work harder"

Is this a small child you are discussing?

Perhaps she's "just sitting" when you see her at school because she needs a rest from you??

How old is your dd? What does her teacher say? Why would you be giving her work in the holidays? School holiday is a holiday from school and should be treated as such. Unless she is studying for her A levels she should be having a break.

I think that if you relaxed at home and stopped the pressure she would do much better at school! It really means that she can only produce good work with you standing over her-she needs to be self motivated.

She's 9 and at school in Germany where they are regularly tested and test results are seen as very important. If the kids do badly they are kept down a year which is traumatic as they are then separated from their friends. I know that on a 1 to 1 she works well, just not in a busy classroom. She is quite easily distracted and needs quiet to be able to focus. I can provide that at home and so her homework is great. She is, however, falling behind because of her lack of work at school and will have to do extra work to catch up. The school does not provide any additional help - they just teach the lessons and if the kids don't do the work or don't understand it, it's just tough! She doesn't have any difficulty with the understanding, she just seems to lack focus at school. If she could maintain the same level of concentration at school as she does quite happily at home she'd be fine.