School Difficulties [VI]

Homeopathic Aid for School Problems

1. School Phobia

Tuberculinum bovinum (bovine TB nosode)

The individual fears for his power

The Tuberculinum child is frightened of school. Most of the time it is easy to recognize this remedy due to the general symptoms, but the fears of the Tuberculinum child are concealed and often not visible to others. They are concerned with the confrontation with authority.

Teachers at school naturally represent authority, but the Tuberculinum pupil does not always wish to do what they want, and this is the reason why he acts stupid. At any rate, he wants to do his own thing! If the teacher says, “But this is all wrong, do it again!”, the Tuberculinum pupil might answer, “O.K.”, but then he will soon forget it because he is not in the mood for it. However, the Tuberculinum pupil asks, “Why do I have to do the whole thing all over again? I am only willing to repeat what was wrong.” His determination often leads him into difficult situations. He wants to have his own will and only wants to do what he considers to be right. He will not allow to be influenced like all the others. Therefore, the Tuberculinum child can sometimes be very obstinate and pigheaded; however, the power of the teacher creates the fear in him to carry out things against his will. This fear of permanent confrontation with authority can be great, and his guardians can only talk carefully with him and hope to sense the cause of his fear.

The pupil has to be able to sense the importance of the subject because this is where his motivation lies. For example, “English is important for me so that I can understand the pop music lyrics; therefore the power of the teacher is not interesting for me anymore! The more he has doubts of his feeling for rightness, the greater his fear becomes. If the Tuberculinum child thinks in the morning, “today is a nice day”, then the rest is going like clockwork, just as if he himself had determined the day. Here, the danger exists that a feeling of power over his fellow human beings implants itself in him, which he in fact so much disfavours in the case of his counterpart, the teacher.

On the surface, the Tuberculin child shows no fear, and his effect on others is even pronouncedly courageous. His problems of fear are created from the aversion to any kind of authority, which presents something to him to which he has to keep strictly. If he gets into difficulties with his teacher who wants to force his ideas onto him, he closes his door to everything. In case of a lack of understanding on behalf of the teacher, he can completely lose interest in the subject or in school. This is where his real fear is hidden because the others (the teachers) have the power, and certain efforts simply have to be made. In the worst case, the authority figures can misuse their power and break his will. The strongly Tuberculinum- characterized pupils are not at all prepared to participate in lessons if their individuality is disregarded. He fears that his creative self is disregarded and manipulated.

School as well as teacher are risk factors for him, and already the thought of them can trigger off fears that are, however, not verbally expressed by the pupil. They show in the form of physical discomforts like headaches and throat aches as well as stomach and intestinal complaints. The otherness of wishes of the Tuberculinum-characterized child is usually not so incongruous, but demands rethinking on behalf of the teacher. This pupil only wishes to try out other possibilities and to experiment. He is not a person who moves along on trodden paths in which stiff rules and outline plans allow no room for something new. Therefore a Tuberculinum child is often in better hands with a teacher, in whose care it is able to translate his creativity in an individual frame.

In what way is a Lycopodium pupil different from a Tuberculinum pupil?

The Lycopodium pupil always requires self-affirmation. He says to himself, “I am the best”, but he is looking for recognition here. If he has not reached this stage yet, he permanently seeks affirmation from others.

The Tuberculinum pupil, however, does not care much for recognition through others; his only goal is to push through his own ideas.

How can parents and educators support the Tuberculinum child?

• You can support the Tuberculinum schoolchild by simplifying your own way of thinking and at the same time by dropping complex hypotheses and “well-tried paths like for example, “saving the rod spoils the child”. Even a verbal punishment or one with respective acts like withdrawal of affection can break the “back” of the child. This way, a creative, freedom-loving child is turned into a colourless puppet on a string. If this has taken place, even homeopathy will have difficulties in healing the wound.
• Exercise your authority together with the readiness to question yourself. Then the self-will of the child will turn into enthusiastic cooperation. The child will respect you and will listen to you.
• At home, you should keep the rules more flexible so that exceptions are possible.
• You carry out principles with varied offers. The Tuberculinum child loves the diversity of the laws.
• Create his room in such a way that you introduce a new atmosphere every now and then with small alterations without disturbing the basic structure.

How does Tuberculinum promote the development of the schoolchild?

• The child will gain more trust into his own instinct. He will be able to keep his ground much better and lose the feeling of running against a wall.
• His “unusual” ways of thinking and acting will appear natural and will bring about pleasure due to sometimes remarkable success.
• Fright decreases, and the child will go to school with much more pleasure and relaxation.
• His creativity can unfold and often creates pleasant surprises.

The Motto of Tuberculinum:

 “Blessed are the Brave!“

Polio Nosode

Paralyzing Self-Limitation

The pupil in need of the Polio nosode was born in a certain family situation or with certain features, which make him feel to be unable to cope with the requirements of school and of life. It is his fate that he does not possess abilities similar to those of others and that he performs to a lower degree. The fear of this paralyzes him inwardly and lets him fail already at the attempt to achieve better performances. He is unable to transcend the limits he has set for himself; already the thought to do this is alien to him.

However, the Polio child wants to meet the requirements of school, resp., of life. The inability to comply with a demand triggers off fear in him. Even the slightest excessive demand is able to block him completely. He believes to be less gifted and to have no right to ask more than what is given to him.

But he fears to feel the envy of others because without this envy he would make an effort. However, he fears he had not properly resigned to his fate and should yet demand more than the genetic material given to him by his parents. He thinks in categories of fate: “These are my abilities, and I should be content with them. This is all that can be had.“

He cannot allow feelings to come up because these would tear him out of his paralytic state. Being ready to fight would mean not to allow paralysation any more.

The Polio pupil rarely asks questions during lessons and keeps himself back according to the motto, “Who am I to contribute? – I know and can do only little.”

One really senses his fear and inability. He also does not answer questions. At the beginning of school he is frightened not to be able to comply with the expectations of others. The Polio nosode pupil is therefore depending on the mercy of his teachers. He absolutely needs affirmation that his performances are of some value.

If support is not given to him, he withdraws into his snail shell and is not prepared to meet with the requests of the teachers and to actively participate in the lessons.

How can you support your Polio schoolchild as parents and educators?

• The Polio nosode schoolchild needs surroundings, in which the pressure of competition falls away. The school reports merely give an overview of his learning stage and show him in which manner he gets ahead.
• Through own example and careful bringing up of the subject it can be shown to him to regard weaknesses as facts, and how these can by and by be transferred into strengths.
• You should organize a corner in your house with different simple tasks (a corner for arts and crafts). Recommended is an atmosphere, which regards the way to be more important than the final result. The pleasure lies in the proper handling of the individual steps, which are practiced again and again until they are mastered. Here particularly the old wisdom applies, “the journey is the award”.
• At home or at school time should not play a role. Pressure has to be replaced by the feeling of permanent learning.

How does the Polio nosode promote the development of the child?

• The child becomes more and more emotional and thereby loses his fright of feelings that are connected with bad experiences.
• He will learn to claim his right in the family and school community and to recognize his strong qualities and to use them in a positive way in order to address his weaker points.
• He will immediately start to tackle his tasks with great enthusiasm and with the respective strength.

His motto is:

 “With the small things in everyday life, I fill up my being with life.” “Fight for equality.“

2. Lack of Concentration

Similarly volatile as school fears, difficulties to concentrate can also effect all areas of life of the child. For this, too, a number of effective homeopathic remedies exist.

Ailanthus glandulosa (tree of heaven)

It dawns only slowly

This remedy does not act in such a wide-ranged way as for example Calcium and Tuberculinum, but it is very effective for children who struggle to understand. There exists an inability to concentrate and therefore, school always presents a problem. These children have to read texts several times in order to have a vague understanding of what it is all about. Even after repeated explanation, they have understood the matter only vaguely. This leads to the fact that their descriptions and calculations are often inaccurate and off the mark.

What kind of difficulties are present in such a child? His basic disorientation continuously creates problems for him. What he can see with the eyes is not the same that he perceives inwardly. The inner pictures are fragmentary or distorted in their sequence (e.g., with regard to figures). The coherence is missing.

The Ailanthus person stands outside his perception. If he sees pictures, he perceives them in his own way, which is not identical with reality. Once a false image has taken root, it becomes very difficult for his educators to convey him the right picture. However, he does not see everything wrong, only some things. Therefore he needs such a long time until his inner picture has adjusted and is in accordance with the outer reality. One can easily imagine that it is difficult for an Ailanthus child to cope with the basic arithmetic operations. These children, although nervous during their learning attempts, do not freak out and try again and again to get back to their tasks.

It is best if the teacher lets the child become quite clear of one learning step and allows this to settle before he goes on to the next step.

The math problems always have to be solved one after the other, following the same scheme, and not all at once.

In positive condition, the Ailanthus child will not insist on incorrectly absorbed information. If these are not comprehensible, resp., faulty, he will not take them up uncritically, but will instead inquire. He will first of all look at pictures and does not want to memorize them at the first impression (photograph).

Barium carbonicum (Barium carbonate)

Learning by heart instead of understanding

The Barium carbonicum child says, “I can’t concentrate!” He is frightened and thinks the teachers will want to know exactly from him what they had taught yesterday. At home, it is the parents who will always ask what school had been like. They always want full reports about everything. They will not give time for clear thinking to the child that is by nature a bit slower. He believes he has to have everything ready, and if he does tell things incorrectly or if he uses a wrong word, they would fall upon him and clobber him.

He has to make a terrible effort so that no word the teacher has said will get lost. If something is not quite comprehensible, the child sees no possibility to ask a question in order to understand properly. “How can one only be so stupid not to understand these simple things?” he thinks. If he nevertheless brings up the courage to disturb the teacher or to interrupt, the teacher will wait with such an impatient expression that he cannot formulate his question properly. The material is too quickly repeated and he feels increasingly stupid. And if there is a time when it goes step after step and he is happy to understand everything, suddenly highbrow definitions or completely new subjects are introduced, which he is unable to associate. And then he feels lost again. The pressure of having to understand everything is so great that he simply cannot concentrate.

Thus, the Barium carbonicum schoolchild needs surroundings in which he can feel to be in good hands and where he is confident that the teachers look after him in a loving way. He needs trusting persons around him you can teach him the subject matter in an easy and understandable way. Basis is the assurance of loving help.

The Barium child is happy if he is guided with patience through the maze of subject matter.

At home, the child loves to be able to live under the protection of his parents. They should treat him in a very gentle but determined way. The fundaments are laid slowly but securely. There is an atmosphere of unimpeded development and concentrated work, and he is not suddenly confronted with the entire life, but bit by bit.

What effect has the intake of Barium carbonicum?

• The child develops the courage to ask grown-ups questions.
• He can now resist unfair actions with equanimity.
• The pupil begins to ask questions to understanding at class.
• His concentration grows. He is able to let coherences that were not quite understood hang in the air and can patiently keep track of study matter until clarity comes of its own accord. The teacher has lost the terror of the teacher once held for him; instead, he is a person with whom he gets along well.
• If things are not clear, he has the courage to ask precise questions in order to understand the many coherences better.

His motto is:

 “Practice makes the master!”

Calcium carbonicum (oyster shell)

Inwardly driven, outwardly absent

The Calcium carbonicum pupil wants to get to the heart of the matter. In order to be sure that he can rely on his feeling and does not go haywire, he needs the approval of the teacher, resp., of authority figures. He behaves stubbornly with all those who do not know and respect his feeling of insecurity. He needs a person who conveys to him the feeling of security so that he can give up his insecurity.

Principally, Calcium has a problem with any kind of strain, be it physical, emotional, or mental. For him, there has to be a clear framework for everything to be in order. In case of deviations he reacts immediately by being overstrained with the effort that is approaching him. In a positive situation, he is absolutely contoured and inexhaustible. In Chapter Fear, Calcium carbonicum is more specified.

The concentration problems of the Calcium carbonicum pupil arise as a result of the fact that he wants to take up the subject matter slowly and carefully. If the teacher does not proceed in a careful and orderly way, important components are missing for the Calcium carbonicum pupil, and he is unable to follow the rest of it. Today’s tendency of having to pull through with the study matter causes him great difficulties. He is in need of the explanation and understanding of the heart of the matter. If fundamental issues are presented as a matter of course, without regarding them from all sides, it is not easy for the Calcium pupil to keep track of further subject matter. He is still working on understanding the previous issue.

Maths causes him special difficulties. It is mainly geometry, which becomes mysterious for him after a while. If the Calcium pupil lacks the basic knowledge, he becomes scared of this subject. Normally, he has no problems to cope with figures and even loves playing with figures.

Otherwise, the Calcium carbonicum pupil can have difficulties to keep apart similar words. In his speech he might even say the word the other way round, e.g., instead of ‘Leben’ (life) he might say ‘Nebel’ (fog).

His motto is:

“Inhale the strength of the clean air!”

…. to be continued

Taken from “Homöopathischer Ratgeber – Schulschwierigkeiten, No. 19“, 6th ed., 2011, Lage & Roy Verlag D-82418 Riegsee-Hagen

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