When my son was in kindergarten, the school recommended that he be held back. We never held him back, and he is still having problems with his schoolwork. Next year, he will be one of the youngest in his third-grade class. We did tutoring for a while but discontinued it because of the cost. Because of our child's academic problems, my husband and I are now considering holding him back next year. Would this be a good idea? How should we handle the child's problems with his schoolwork? -- Dilemma
Answer: It would not be a good idea to have your son repeat third grade. Retention rarely solves academic problems. And socially, retention is very hard on a child, especially with peers, unless you enroll him in a new school.
Hopefully the school has tested your son to find out why he is having problems with his schoolwork. If not, he needs to be tested by the school next year as early as possible in the fall so his problems can be addressed. Third grade is a challenging year. More will be demanded of your son. Plus, he needs to be reading on grade level by the end of the year so he can handle all the content area reading (social studies, science, health) that he will need to do in fourth grade.
Ideally, your son should be in a summer-school program now to improve his weak skills. If not, you can contact local universities to see if they are running any tutoring or remedial programs this summer. Also, high schools usually have students who tutor young children. If there is a fee for either program, it should not be too high.
Your son simply must work on improving his skills this summer. You definitely know where his weak areas are from his report card. If no other help is available, you will have to work with him. Try to get last year's textbooks from the school or appropriate materials from a teacher-resource store or a Web site.