Take a classic example of a subject students struggle with like mathematics. For some students the issue is a matter of relating it to anything practical/real-world, however I also suspect for others the issue is both that and trying to grasp, without always knowing how to articulate it, the logical fundamentals that support and validate it.

That is a great example of why it's so important to identify the true beginning for your starting point. My son was struggling with early math (grade 2) and the teacher was quite concerned. I spent 2 weeks working the number line with him (something the teacher seemed to have never heard of) and he was caught right up.

Over the course of the next couple of months, my son discovered (with guidance, of course) what happens if you extend the number line below zero, then add other number lines in other dimensions, to get multiplication, squares and cubes and their roots. He even gained an awareness that it was abstractly or conceptually possible to go beyond 3 dimensions, even if they can't be directly experienced. He never again struggled with any math.

The teacher was livid, by the way, because instead of requiring additional attention as a result of falling behind, he was requiring additional attention because he had raced ahead. :)