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Yvonnie Bailey- Davidson, Contributor

Son not doing well at school

Dear Counsellor,

My son is not doing well in school. He is not reading fluently, and he has problems with mathematics. I need help.

- Mellissa

Dear Mellissa,

Learning problems are common among students. Some children leave school without Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) subjects while others drop out at third form or fourth form.

Students need to be assessed early in their school life. There are many reasons why students do poorly. There are academic problems, family problems, or emotional problems. Some children are slow learners and will always be struggling.

There are programmes for exceptional students, and so he needs a psycho-educational assessment. This will give ideas on how to help him. Having determined his IQ, the teacher can identify strategies to help him.

Many children have learning disabilities while others have intellectual problems. There is a big industry that deals with children who are challenged.

Extra Lessons

Look for a teacher who can give him extra lessons so his grade can improve. See the ophthalmologist to get his vision tested and the ear nose and throat specialist to test his hearing. A psychiatrist can assess the issues of family problems and emotional problems. Sometimes bullying is occurring at school, and this need to be dealt with.

Special education doesn't come cheap and so you need to organise yourself so that money is prioritised for this venture. Every child who is challenged should be assessed.

Make a study guide and place it in his room. Use this to encourage practice of the schoolwork. Encourage reading at home. Let him practise to reading fluently at his level and gradually introduce more difficult books. Try to get books on the topics that he likes.

Don't give up. We all need to persevere!

Email questions and feedback for Dr Yvonnie Bailey-Davidson to yvonniebd@hotmail.com or call 978-8602.