Q: My 11-year-old son is very happy at his present school. He loves his peers and teachers and feels very safe there. But he is dyslexic, and the school is very poorly resourced and underfunded. His spelling is three years below grade level, and although he's very bright, he avoids tasks he feels are difficult and rushes through his work.

I have secured him a place at a great independent school with small classes and a lot of dyslexia support and insight. He would also have the opportunity to excel at sports. His present school does not encourage competition or sports until much later.

My son doesn't want to leave his current school until he finishes the lower school, which will be in 2 1/2 years. I feel he needs to secure his basic skills and good study habits now. The two hours of specialist tutoring he receives a week does not seem to be sufficient, and I think the independent school would help him.

He went through my divorce and a change of country 3 1/2 years ago, so I hate to tear him away from a place where he is so happy. On the other hand, I feel that I am taking a huge gamble with his education at his current school.

What would you recommend?

A: Dyslexia is another word for reading disabilities, and problems with reading can make all subjects more difficult at school. You are correct to be concerned about his early schooling, because it will have a great impact on his skills and self-confidence. Though I think you should have your son change to a stronger school, there may be some compromises you can make to help him to adjust a little better.

Some children with dyslexia have eye movement disorders. Checking his vision with a behavioral optometrist or reading specialist might uncover other causes of his dyslexia. The optometrist or specialist could also recommend the best approach to your son's learning to read. Phonics approaches help many children, but they aren't necessarily for all children. If your son is making good progress with his present tutor, he might benefit by an extra day of tutoring this year so that he could at least finish out the year in his present school. In that way, he would be less likely to feel entirely disrupted. Perhaps he could even meet some of the students from his new school during the summer so that his adjustment to the new school would be easier. The fact that your son has good friends makes it likely that he will again make good friends.

I don't want to be critical of a school where your son is so happy, but it does seem that he would have a longtime learning advantage in a school that is equipped to deal with his disability. The sports program at the new school would also be a plus, because children learn much about life by participating in sports. Winning and losing, competing and collaborating, and practicing and working hard are all ingredients for both sports and life. Given time and your positive support, your son is likely to make a better long-term adjustment.

Dr. Sylvia B. Rimm is the director of the Family Achievement Clinic in Cleveland, a clinical professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, and the author of many books on parenting. More information on raising kids is available at www.sylviarimm.com. Please send questions to: Sylvia B. Rimm on Raising Kids, P.O. Box 32, Watertown, WI 53094 or srimm@sylviarimm.com. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.