If your son or daughter has gotten off track academically, their struggles can rapidly spiral out of control before you know it. The earlier you arrest this downhill momentum, the easier it will be for them to get back on the right foot. If their academic problems have gotten serious, however, there are many therapeutic schools throughout the country offering “academic recovery” programs. These programs provide specialized services aimed at helping students recover credits and get back on the road to success.
Customized Lesson Plans
In a traditional school setting, your child is placed among a few dozen other students, all of whom are given the exact same lesson plans without any regard to their individuality. While this approach might work for some, or even most, students, it’s not effective for many children or teens. If your child finds themselves struggling with a one-size-fits-all approach, a more customized method of academic recovery might be the answer.
Academic recovery programs include dedicated counselors who will work one-on-one with your teenager. They’ll take the time to sit down with the student and create a lesson plan with their interests, struggles, and strengths in mind. These programs will show students the importance of setting realistic goals and drafting a method to achieve these goals. This sort of customized, goal-oriented education is useful for troubled students who feel left behind in standardized school settings.
Smaller Classes = More Individual Attention
The other downside in many schools is how big classrooms are. In many cases, teachers are working with over 30 students in a single class. There’s little chance that any teacher is going to be able to help each student in this setting. Again, this is a situation which is educational for some students, but certainly not all of them.
In a therapeutic setting, students have much higher access to their instructors. Classrooms in therapeutic boarding schools are usually comprised of only a handful of students. This means that each teen will get ample opportunity to participate in class discussions, lessons, and get individual face-time with their teacher. They’ll also be able to interact with their teachers outside the classroom. Teachers in therapeutic schools generally aim to be as accessible as possible, with generous office hours and extensive tutoring options. It’s been shown that students who struggle within the classroom benefit from additional, guided study time after hours.
With smaller class sizes, teachers also better cater to the individual pacing needs of their students. Just because teenagers are struggling in a traditional high school environment doesn’t always mean that they need their education slowed down. In fact, some students slack off because the pace is too slow, and they find themselves bored. Whether students need faster or slower pacing, academic recovery programs allow them to learn at their own pace without being rushed or held back due to other students’ needs.
Innovative, Interactive, and Immersive
The unfortunate truth of so many high school programs throughout the country is that they are underfunded, leaving little room for innovation. With static, repetitive lesson plans and sterile learning environments, it’s no wonder that kids tend to become disinterested and disenchanted with the learning process. Therapeutic boarding schools avoid this pitfall with an emphasis on cutting-edge curriculum and interactive multimedia lessons.
There are several different academic recovery curricula available, and nearly all of them place an emphasis on mixed-media learning. This includes traditional lectures and classroom activities but adds online lessons and interactive segments which encourage students to actively participate in their own education. Teenagers who are struggling in the classroom tend to need more stimulation to hold their interest. By providing them with the opportunity to actively engage, they are better able to learn new concepts and improve their grades.
Academic Recovery
The goal of any educational recovery program is to forge a path to success for students who are having a hard time in a traditional setting. This path can take many different forms, but the primary benefit of academic recovery lies in its flexibility. These programs can accommodate just about any student and learning style, even those who are struggling with behavioral disorders, learning disorders, or just general disinterest in academics.
Getting teenagers interested in learning again and finding a way for them to be successful is what academic recovery programs are all about. If your student is falling behind in school and it’s beginning to look hopeless, check out some therapeutic boarding schools in your area to see how these programs can help your son or daughter turn things around. It’s never too late!
