Understanding Development, Learning and Behaviour
When your child started school, you were probably full of optimism. Your child may have been excited about finally going to “big school”.
But somehow, things haven’t worked out quite the way you expected.
Perhaps you’ve found yourself asking:
Why is my child struggling at school?
Why can’t they keep up?
Is there something wrong?
Do they need a diagnosis?
It can be confusing — especially when you know your child is bright, capable and trying their best.
You’re not alone. Many parents find themselves asking the same questions.
When Learning Feels Overwhelming
For some children, the classroom can feel intense and overwhelming.
There may be noise, visual distractions, lots of people, social demands and the constant pressure to “behave”, listen, concentrate and learn.
We need to feel safe and settled enough to learn.
When a child is overwhelmed, it can become much harder to:
concentrate and pay attention
take in new information
sit still and focus
manage emotions and frustration
connect socially with others.
This doesn’t mean that your child isn’t trying.
In fact, children who are struggling at school are often working incredibly hard just to keep up.
They may know that something isn’t going well, without understanding why. Over time, this can affect their confidence and their belief in themselves.
What Is Your Child’s Behaviour Telling You?
When learning becomes difficult, children respond in different ways.
Some become restless or distracted. Others may become noisy, talkative or disruptive. Some withdraw, tune out or become anxious.
You may see:
frustration or anger
fidgeting and constant movement
difficulty concentrating
sensitivity to noise or other sensory experiences
reluctance to go to school
loss of confidence.
It can be tempting to focus on the behaviour we can see.
But what if the behaviour is telling us something about what your child is experiencing?
Rather than asking only,
- “How do we stop this behaviour?”
we can also to ask,
- “What is making learning so difficult for this child?”
Looking Beneath the Struggle
This is where understanding development becomes important.
Learning doesn’t begin when a child picks up a pencil or starts reading. The foundations are being built from the earliest years through movement, sensory experiences, balance, coordination, relationships and emotional development.
These foundations include:
movement and coordination
balance and posture
sensory processing
visual and auditory processing
the ability to regulate emotions
feeling safe and connected.
When some of these foundations are still developing, everyday classroom demands can become much harder.
Sometimes what appears on the surface to be a problem with attention, behaviour, reading or writing may have other developmental factors worth exploring.
Developmental Foundations for Learning
As a Developmental Practitioner I have worked with extensively is early movement development, including the integration of primitive reflexes.
These are automatic movements present during infancy that normally become integrated as a child’s nervous system matures.
When developmental foundations are incomplete or immature, some children may experience difficulties with things such as:
posture and balance
coordination
visual-motor skills
attention and focus
reading and writing.
You might notice that your child struggles to sit comfortably, seems clumsy or poorly coordinated, finds reading difficult, or becomes easily distracted.
These signs don’t tell us what is wrong with your child. They give us clues about what might be worth looking at more closely.
How Early Development Shapes Learning – the role of retained primitive reflexes
Learning Is More Than Reading and Writing
Sometimes the answer isn’t simply more tutoring or asking a child to try harder.
When we understand the whole child, we can begin to consider what might be making learning difficult and what support they may need.
For more than 20 years, I have worked with children experiencing learning and developmental challenges, using movement-based approaches to support the early foundations for learning.
Activities such as rolling, creeping, crawling, balancing and hand-eye coordination can provide opportunities to strengthen these foundations.
But development doesn’t happen in isolation.
Children also need to feel safe, connected and understood.
Taking an holistic approach, when we look beneath the struggle, we can begin to see the whole child rather than simply the difficulty.
It’s Never Too Late
Early support can be valuable, but development is an ongoing process.
If your child is struggling at school, you don’t have to assume that they are lazy, naughty, incapable or simply “not trying hard enough”.
There may be more to understand.
Sometimes the most helpful place to begin is with curiosity:
- “What is happening for my child?”
- “What might they need in order to learn more easily?”
- “What lies beneath what I am seeing on the surface?”
These questions can open up a different way of understanding your child’s learning and behaviour.
A Gentle Next Step
If you’re looking for answers about your child’s learning or behaviour, you may also find these articles helpful:
Supporting Your Child with Reading Difficulties and Dyslexia
Understanding ADHD, Attention and Behaviour in Children
Building the Foundations for Learning
Foundations for Learning – vision, balance, listening
If you’d like to explore what might be happening for your child, you’re welcome to get in touch.
I now work primarily with parents, offering a warm, supportive space to explore your concerns, understand your child’s individual needs and consider possible ways forward.
Often, the best way to help our children is to start with ourselves.
