| Primary education, as its name suggests, provides the platform on which all future learning takes place. So, just as a house with poor foundations will require ongoing maintenance and repair, children who do not have a good grounding in basic learning strategies and language skills will be restricted in what they can achieve year after year, for the rest of their lives.
The most common advice given to struggling students is, "You must try harder." The assumption is that, if the children just put in a bit more effort, they will be able to overcome the problems themselves. In the over 20 years we've been involved in private coaching, we have only encountered a few children who are not trying hard enough, and so could be considered lazy. The overwhelming majority of clients experiencing difficulties with their education were trying far harder than they needed to, until we taught them more efficient learning strategies that is.
The motto I instill into all my clients is: "Don't try harder, try easier."
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