Most parents may not be that familiar with the term “dyslexia”, and they do not think that their child will have anything to do with it. It is only until they start noticing differences in their child’s academic performance, that they will seriously start to learn about “dyslexia”.
His son Matthew, now ten years old, is a Primary Five student. Mr. Chung recalled how he first came to know about Pathways. It was when Matthew was in Primary One, and he had trouble learning the twenty-six English letters, failing his dictation all the time. Mr. Chung sensed that his son might have learning difficulties and needed professional assessment and support. After extensive research, Mr. Chung brought Matthew to Pathways for professional assessment. Upon Matthew being diagnosed as attention-deficit and dyslexic, Mr. Chung arranged for his son to start receiving learning support at Pathways starting from Primary Two onward.
For almost four years, Matthew attended after-school intervention support classes weekly in three subjects – English, Chinese and Mathematics. Even though normal school was suspended earlier due to the pandemic, Matthew continued his classes at Pathways and took advantage of the opportunity to strengthen the foundation for each subject.
Learning by “Laying a Firm Foundation”
Mr. Chung described learning at Pathways as “laying a firm foundation”, where students learn in a stress-free environment so that they can rekindle their interest in learning, and gradually improve their subject performance.
“Learning at Pathways has brought a great change to Matthew. Normally the day school courses are tightly-scheduled, and teachers have no time to take care of students with learning differences. On the contrary, Pathways’ curriculum is designed mainly for small groups or individuals, allowing teachers to set appropriate pace and goals to suit each student’s learning needs.”
Do Not Run Away from the Problem
Mr. Chung believes that he had made the right decision in bringing Matthew for assessment when he was in Primary One. He also encourages other parents, “Do not run away from the problem. If you notice that your child has learning difficulties, bring him/her for assessment as early as possible, and seek support from professional organizations. That way, the school can provide learning accommodations based on the child’s abilities. There is no need to be afraid or feel shy because the most important thing for a parent to do is to find the suitable learning method to help your child bridge the learning gap.”
