school grades - improvement issues

Over the years, I have seen kids who though otherwise intelligent have done badly at studies.
I can see how smart they are in matters of their interest -- commonly including shopping deals, people interactions,
games, sports of their choice, etc. And yet when it comes to studies they do quite badly. I believe, mostly all
children (perhaps excluding those clinically diagnosed with related disabilities) at some point later, realize the
importance of studies and have the potential of significant improvements in their performance. Yet, most do
continue faring way below their potential until they finally graduate from school, high school, college or whatever
program they go through. And having completed their education, they are not in a position to gain any more
advantage in career from a better academic performance. Most adults know about the opportunities
missed and unavailable to them any longer because they did not get those extra marks in school, college or
other related exams.
Here's my thoughts on how the continued performance shortcoming works.

In the early schooling years it is not uncommon for a child to be unaware/unconvinced of the importance of studying.
I can think of myself as an example of that. Accordingly, the child does not do well at studies. If this situation
is allowed to comtinue for long, like 4-5 years I think, it take its toll. Later even when a child understands the need and
importance of studying, there are difficult hurdles to overcome.

Poor "fundamentals" is perhaps the biggest hurdle to face. Regardless of the subject -- be it math, science, reading,
writing, spelling, history, geography and so on -- each subject has its own knowledge/skill levels. For example, in maths, one
begins with numbers, 1-10, followed by 2 digit numbers and so on. Somewhere while learning small numbers one learns how to
add or subtract numbers. Then come multiplication, division, "problems", etc. Now if a child poor at the fundamentals were
to get serious about studies, he/she would soon enough face difficulties arising from not knowing (or not being skilled with)
the fundamentals. Depending on how far lagging he/she is in the subject, one would have to first learn (and attain requisite skill
level) in that subject.

Secondly, there is the problem of bad study (or non-study) habits formed during the years of indifference to studies. These
include not being committed to planned tasks on a daily basis. For example, an uninterested child does not think it is important
to complete studying the science lesson that was planned for the day. Even if the child is aware of the importance he/she may
not be committed enough to make time and effort for the planned task. Over the time (semester or year) the slippages add up
and cumulatively result in poor marks. The usual distractions -- TV, going out -- are sometimes just a matter of being more interested
in that (the distraction). But sometimes, they may also be a way out of the perceived tedium of studies. A simple distraction can be
overcome with simple time management - for example, watch TV 8-9pm and completed planned studies before that. Distractions
resulting from lack of interest need a little more thoughtful handling -- depending on how much weightage the corresponding subject
(or topic) carries, and/or how it can be made more interesting.

Thirdly, there is the problem of incorrect or inadequate study methods. Depending on the subject involved, one needs to adopt a
particular method of study that helps one understand, remember, present, apply parts of related knowledge. For example, studying
math may require understanding related concepts in practical situations, learning math methods that solve the problem, practising
problem solving and so on. Sometimes the method used may be correct but may need to be augmented with additional activities, more
effort, etc. Knowing this and applying this method needs to be learnt from an experienced teacher who also knows enough about
relevant exams on the subjects.

This is what I can think of as hurdles a child may face when trying to improve study results.