Gian was having trouble coping in Grade 5. He associated with the wrong friends, had no self-esteem and felt unworthy.

Because he was battling he told lies about his homework and test results. He had no pride in his schoolwork and only focused on his sports. Even the way he presented himself physically was a stressor. We realized that he has only 10% vision in his right eye and a hearing problem in his right ear.

I knew that the pressure was increasing, and time was running out. I thought that he would not pass Grade 5. I was very stressed and knew my son was in trouble. Gian did not cope very well on Ritalin or Concerta, and it came to a stage where he refused to take any medicine. His work was untidy, and he lost confidence in himself. He felt stupid having to take pills to make him concentrate, and the worst was, it did not really help.

Things worsened as his grades dropped more and more. I was desperate. I took Gian for an evaluation at Louna Spies in Paarl. There was a lot of work to be done, but she was very positive that we can up his grades. She suggested KeenMind together with two Edublox classes per week. In July Gian did a Study Methods course as well.

Gian improved as follows:

• His self-esteem improved.
• His appearance improved.
• He was more obedient at home.
• He started studying more and reading more.
• His writing improved drastically.
• He improved in 6 of his 8 subjects.
• He started associating himself with Winners, because he felt like a Winner himself.
• He accepted more responsibility for his future, because he needs to have good grades to be accepted at Boland Landbou.
• He is excited about Grade 6 and has set high goals for himself. He wants to get an average of 75% average for all his subjects.
• My son is a happy child; he realized that he is worth it and he can do it!

With thanks,
Laetitia Fourie