When a child struggles in school, it's natural to focus first on academics. Maybe reading is difficult, math isn't clicking, homework takes hours, or grades don't seem to reflect how bright and capable your child really is.
For many children, tutoring, specialized instruction, school accommodations, or therapy can provide exactly the support they need.
But what if your child is already receiving help and continues to struggle?
Academic performance depends on more than knowing how to read, write, or solve a math problem. Children also need to be able to pay attention, process information, remember what they've learned, organize their thoughts, manage frustration, and stay engaged long enough to complete a task.
When those underlying skills are difficult, the result can look like an academic problem even when academics aren't the only factor involved.
Understanding what is contributing to your child's learning difficulties can be an important step toward finding the right combination of support.
What Causes Learning Difficulties in Children?
There isn't one single cause of academic struggles.
Some children have a diagnosed learning disability, such as dyslexia or dyscalculia, that directly affects the development of specific academic skills.
For other children, difficulties with attention, working memory, processing, executive function, sensory processing, emotional regulation, or behavior may make it harder to learn effectively.
And these challenges can overlap.
Consider a child who repeatedly forgets what they learned in math. They may need additional math instruction. But if that same child also forgets multi-step directions, loses assignments, has difficulty staying focused, and becomes overwhelmed during homework, there may be additional factors affecting their ability to learn.
That's why looking beyond grades or a single school subject can be so important.
Why Do Some Kids Struggle Despite Tutoring?
Tutoring can be incredibly valuable. It provides additional instruction, practice, repetition, and individualized support in academic areas where a child needs help.
But tutoring primarily addresses what a child is learning.
Sometimes the bigger challenge involves how effectively the child is able to learn it.
Learning requires a child to use multiple skills at once. They need to pay attention to the information being presented, process what they see and hear, hold information in working memory, connect new concepts with previous learning, ignore distractions, organize their response, and retrieve that information later.
If one or more of those underlying processes is difficult, additional academic instruction alone may not fully address the challenge.
This doesn't mean tutoring isn't working or isn't needed. Instead, it may be a sign that parents should look more broadly at the skills supporting their child's ability to benefit from instruction.
How Are Learning Disabilities Different From Other Academic Struggles?
A learning disability affects a child's ability to acquire or use specific academic skills, such as reading, writing, or mathematics.
But academic struggles aren't always caused by a learning disability.
Attention difficulties can make it harder for a child to absorb instruction in the classroom. Working-memory difficulties can interfere with following directions or completing multi-step problems. Executive function challenges can affect organization, planning, homework completion, and time management.
Emotional regulation can matter, too. A child who becomes overwhelmed or frustrated when work gets difficult may have trouble persisting long enough to practice and master a new skill.
Sensory processing and motor development may also influence how comfortably and effectively a child participates in the classroom.
The Brain Balance Multi-Domain Developmental Survey reflects this broader view of development by evaluating six areas, including reading and writing, academic engagement, emotional functioning, behavior, motor coordination, and social communication.
Looking across these areas can help reveal patterns that may not be obvious when focusing only on grades or academic achievement.
What Brain Skills Support Learning and School Performance?
Successful learning requires multiple cognitive and developmental systems to work together.
Attention helps a child focus on the information that matters while filtering out distractions.
Working memory allows a child to temporarily hold and use information, such as remembering the steps of a math problem or following multi-step directions.
Inhibitory control helps a child pause, resist distractions, and stay with a task.
Processing and reasoning help children understand information, make connections, solve problems, and apply what they've learned.
Executive function supports planning, organization, task initiation, flexible thinking, and self-monitoring.
Emotional regulation helps children manage frustration and persist when learning becomes challenging.
These aren't school subjects, but they can have a significant influence on how effectively a child learns school subjects.
Research involving Brain Balance participants supports this connection. In a study conducted in collaboration with Cambridge Brain Sciences, children and adolescents who completed three months of the Brain Balance program demonstrated significant improvements across all 12 cognitive tasks measured. The greatest changes were observed in areas including memory, reasoning, verbal ability, and concentration.
What Signs Suggest a Child May Need More Than Academic Help?
One clue is when the difficulty doesn't stay confined to one subject or skill.
Parents may notice that their child:
- Understands material during tutoring but struggles to remember it later
- Needs directions repeated frequently
- Takes much longer than expected to complete homework
- Has difficulty starting, organizing, or finishing assignments
- Makes careless mistakes despite understanding the material
- Struggles to stay focused even when trying hard
- Becomes easily frustrated or overwhelmed by schoolwork
- Performs inconsistently from one day to another
- Avoids homework or begins losing confidence in school
- Has challenges with attention, behavior, organization, or emotional regulation in addition to academics
These signs don't point to one specific diagnosis or solution. Instead, they may indicate that it's worth looking beyond academic content to understand the broader skills affecting learning.
Can Strengthening Underlying Skills Improve Academic Performance?
Brain Balance research has examined changes in both the underlying cognitive skills associated with learning and the everyday academic and developmental outcomes families observe.
A 2023 study published in Frontiers in Psychology evaluated outcomes for 4,041 children and adolescents after three months of participation in the Brain Balance program. Researchers reported improvements across multiple developmental areas, including reading and writing difficulties and academic disengagement, with children who began with greater difficulties generally demonstrating larger changes.
Research conducted in a school setting has also examined whether changes could be observed in the classroom. In that study, students ages 5 to 15 with developmental and academic challenges participated in Brain Balance three times per week during the school year. Teachers reported improvements in attention and combined ADHD symptoms among participating students compared with non-participating controls.
Brain Balance's more recent parent outcomes data also provides insight into school-related changes. Among more than 2,500 families surveyed between 2022 and 2025, 80.3% of children with baseline concerns demonstrated meaningful improvement in academic engagement, and 80.3% demonstrated improvement in reading and writing. Improvement was defined as a change of at least 0.5 standard deviations on the parent-reported Multi-Domain Developmental Survey. Individual results may vary.
Together, these findings help illustrate why academic performance may be connected to a much broader set of developmental and cognitive skills.
How Is Brain Balance Different From Tutoring or Therapy?
Tutoring, therapy, and Brain Balance can all support children, but they are designed to address different needs.
Tutoring primarily teaches or reinforces academic content and subject-specific skills.
Specialized therapies may address particular developmental, behavioral, emotional, communication, or functional needs.
Brain Balance focuses on the underlying developmental and cognitive functions that support higher-level skills like attention, behavior, executive function, emotional regulation, and learning.
The Brain Balance program integrates cognitive and visual-motor exercises, sensory-motor activities, physical movement, and nutrition and lifestyle guidance. Cognitive activities are designed to develop areas such as focus, processing speed, memory, and problem-solving.
These approaches don't have to be either/or.
A child with dyslexia may still need specialized reading instruction. A student who has fallen behind in math may benefit from tutoring. A child who needs occupational, speech, behavioral, or mental health services should receive the appropriate professional care.
For some children, the more useful question is not "Which support should we choose?" but rather:
"What is making learning difficult for my child, and which supports address each part of that challenge?"
What Should Parents Do When Their Child Keeps Struggling in School?
If your child continues to struggle despite extra support, start by looking at the overall pattern.
Is the difficulty limited to one academic skill, or does it appear across subjects?
Does your child understand the material but struggle to remember or apply it?
Are attention, working memory, organization, processing, or emotional regulation affecting schoolwork?
Does your child seem to understand something during tutoring but have difficulty accessing that information later?
Are academic struggles beginning to affect confidence, motivation, behavior, or feelings about school?
Answers to questions like these can help parents and professionals determine whether a child needs additional academic instruction, another type of professional evaluation, or a broader look at the developmental skills involved in learning.
At Brain Balance, the process begins with a comprehensive assessment that looks across multiple areas of development rather than focusing only on grades or one school subject.
The goal is to better understand the individual child and identify areas that may be contributing to difficulties with attention, behavior, executive function, and learning.
Frequently Asked Questions About Academic Struggles
Can a child struggle academically without having a learning disability?
Yes. Academic struggles can also be associated with difficulties involving attention, working memory, executive function, processing, emotional regulation, sensory processing, and other developmental factors. Understanding the pattern of a child's difficulties can help determine what type of support may be appropriate.
Why does my child still struggle even with a tutor?
Tutoring provides academic instruction and practice, but learning also relies on skills such as attention, memory, processing, organization, and emotional regulation. If one of these underlying areas is making learning difficult, a child may need support in addition to tutoring.
How do I know if my child needs more than tutoring?
Look for challenges that extend beyond one academic subject. Difficulty remembering information, following directions, staying focused, organizing assignments, managing frustration, or consistently applying what has been learned may suggest that broader learning-related skills should also be considered.
Does Brain Balance replace tutoring or therapy?
No. Brain Balance is not a replacement for specialized academic instruction, medical care, or therapies a child needs. The program focuses on sensory-motor, cognitive, and developmental functions associated with attention, behavior, executive function, emotional regulation, and learning.
Does Brain Balance help with school performance?
Research involving Brain Balance participants has reported improvements in areas associated with school success, including cognition, classroom attention, reading and writing difficulties, and academic engagement. In Brain Balance parent outcomes data from 2022–2025, 80.3% of participants with baseline concerns demonstrated meaningful improvement in academic engagement and 80.3% in reading and writing. Individual results vary.
Can Brain Balance and tutoring be used together?
Yes. They address different aspects of learning. Tutoring can reinforce subject-specific academic skills and content, while Brain Balance focuses on underlying developmental and cognitive functions that influence how a child takes in, processes, organizes, and uses information.
When School Struggles May Be About More Than Academics
If your child continues to struggle despite tutoring or other support, a broader look at the skills involved in learning may help you better understand what's getting in the way.
A Brain Balance assessment evaluates multiple areas of development to identify your child's individual strengths and challenges and help determine whether the program may be a good fit.
Sources
Jackson & Jordan, Frontiers in Psychology (2023)
Developmental outcomes among 4,041 children and adolescents participating in the Brain Balance program, including reading/writing and academic engagement outcomes.
Jackson & Glanz, Journal for the Study of Education and Development (2023)
School-based study examining teacher-rated attention and classroom-related outcomes.
Jackson & Wild, Journal of Advances in Medicine and Medical Research (2021)
Cognitive performance research conducted using Cambridge Brain Sciences assessments, including memory, reasoning, verbal ability, and concentration.
Brain Balance Multi-Domain Developmental Survey, 2022–2025
Parent-reported outcomes from 2,585 participants with baseline concerns, including 80.3% demonstrating meaningful improvement in academic engagement and 80.3% in reading/writing.
