To homeschool or not to homeschool?

My wife insists that we homeschool our children, who are 10 and 12, for this academic year. She has a part-time gig at home and I work full time. I think that it is better for us to send them to school and monitor them. How can I convince her to do what is right?

You need to sit with your wife and look at all that is involved in the tutoring of your children. You may need to ask if she will have time to complete the learning activities needed for mastery of subject areas. If you decide to homeschool, remember that there is a curriculum that should be followed. I am sure you can get a copy of this document from the Ministry of Education.

Volunteerism for grade six students

I am planning to encourage my children's school to have a volunteer programme for the grade six students. I think that they can do it after the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) because I find that after the GSAT the children are pretty idle. I think this will encourage them to give back to Jamaica. Would a PTA meeting be the right place to express this?

A This is a great idea. You could speak with the principal ahead of the PTA meeting and make it an agenda item and introduce it to the parents with the blessing of the school authorities. I think the school board would also need to approve such a venture.

How can we develop young athletes?

I am so proud of our athletes! Can we invest in them from an earlier age in Jamaica?

A I am proud of our athletes, too! We should invest in all our children as soon as we recognise their talents and give them special attention in the various areas. Let us remember that they need to strengthen their academic skills as well so that, for example, when they are about to sign contracts, they would have the ability to read and understand the documents and invest wisely.

Orlean Brown-Earle, PhD, is a child psychologist and family therapist. Dr Brown-Earle works with children with learning and behaviour problems throughout the island and in the Caribbean. Email questions to helpline@gleanerjm.com or send to Ask the Doc, c/o The Gleaner Company, 7 North Street, Kingston. Responses to concerns are to be considered as general as cases shared with psychologists privately would be queried more deeply. Pray always!