Learning Can Be FUN
Many SCH residents are foster children, and due to their mental health challenges, they often have difficulty staying with one foster family for long. Such instability causes them to fall behind their peers academically. Christopher was one of those children. He bounced from foster home to foster home, and in the span of two years, he had attended at least five different schools. This left him frustrated, angry and disconnected. Although Christopher was in 8th grade when he came to the Sacramento Children’s Home, he was barely reading at a 6th grade level, and his math comprehension was at a 5th grade level. Christopher was very resistant to doing his classroom work and homework assignments and needed constant reminders to stay focused. He was easily irritated by his peers and often isolated himself when he got frustrated.
In just a few short months Christopher made remarkable progress. With support and guidance from his education liaison, he settled into his non-public school placement quite well. The educational program staff noticed that Christopher needed additional individual attention to stay focused, and together they came up with a plan to provide one-on-one tutoring and homework assistance separate from his peers and the usual study groups. This small change resulted in 100% attendance at school and in his after school programs. With the extra care and concern that staff showed, Christopher began to develop a respect for learning, and he was able to eliminate conflict and frustration with his peers. Best of all, Christopher was completing over 85% of his assignments!
Within five months, he had moved up one grade level in language arts and was getting several As and Bs on his report card. Christopher was very proud of his performance in school. With a big smile on his face, he loved to brag about earning good grades. He looked forward to graduation and earning accolades for his academic performance. Finally, with stability and support, he had begun to realize that learning is FUN.
*Names have been changed to protect the identities of our clients.
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