Back to school: your child's eyes need a backpack too
17 August 2026 · 4 min read
August is the month of supply lists, new trainers and lunch boxes. And there's almost never one thing that directly conditions school performance on it: eyesight. Up to 80% of what a child learns in class enters through the eyes, and many visual problems cause no obvious complaint.
The proof is simple: many children who 'see fine' simply don't know what seeing well should look like. They compare their experience with... their own experience. And if they've always seen the board slightly blurry, they think that's just how it is for everyone.
Simple signals that can warn you (and that they rarely mention)
None of these signals means anything serious on its own. Together, though, they draw a pattern worth examining with an eye test.
- Getting very close to the television or lying face-down to draw
- Wrinkling or squinting their eyes to look at distant things
- Complaining of headaches at the end of the day, mainly after class
- Playing fewer ball games to avoid looking into the distance
- Reading by following with a finger and losing the line often
Why August is the exact right moment
Because if something comes up, there's plenty of time to fit glasses or start monitoring before the term begins. Waiting until November means the child has lost two months of class with a problem that's very easy to fix.
What's more, childhood myopia progresses especially between ages 6 and 12: we count in terms, not years. An August test resets the clock right before the year of greatest visual growth.
What the test is like at our practice in Cardedeu
It's quick, painless and designed for children: charts with shapes and pictures, focusing games and a chat with you about habits (screens, outdoors, sport, reading). If everything is fine, they leave with homework to return in a year's time. If action is needed, we explain the options calmly and unhurriedly.
At the practice we also work on myopia control for children. Booking is as easy as writing us on WhatsApp at +34 640 51 39 86 or calling +34 938 71 38 57.
