It's been a great summer and it's difficult to believe it's already August. Kids throughout the country are preparing for the fast-approaching school year, with brand new bags, notepads and of course, plenty of excitement. It's also the perfect time to take your child in for an eye exam. Proper vision is essential for success in school and as your child gets older, there are various developmental stages that might result in his or her eyesight.
A huge percentage of learning is accomplished visually. But even with this well-known connection between vision and learning, many parents don't realize how profoundly vision problems affect education, and don't include a visit to the eye doctor as part of their child's back to school preparations. It's important to know that because vision in kids changes, regular eye care is crucial to their academic success and self esteem.
It is especially important to keep an eye out for the signs of vision problems as your child progresses through school. Some warning symptoms include reversing numbers or letters, watery eyes and frequent eye rubbing, squinting, head tilting, and avoiding detailed work.
Inadequate vision and increasing visual demands like homework and small print in textbooks may noticeably affect their academic performance. New educational technology, like interactive whiteboards, can even exaggerate subtle but significant vision problems. If a child doesn't have good enough vision, it isn't just their academic life that is affected. It's mentally and emotionally tough on them also.
If you're the parent of a glasses-wearing child, now is also a good time to see if their current frames are suitable and comfortable. Sometimes, although a child can see clearly with his or her old glasses, they might need to be adjusted or perhaps the lenses are not optimally positioned anymore due to normal development. The more your son or daughter enjoys wearing his or her glasses, the more they'll be worn!
So visit us as part of your back-to-school routine. We want to help all the kids we treat start the academic year with excellent vision.
