Not being able to balance your cheque book isn't just a personal issue, but a problem with widespread economic implications.

Which is why, after 40 years helping children with reading problems, the Reading Clinic has now stepped up its role in taking on children with math difficulties with the appointment of a new math co-ordinator.

This is according to Dr. Julie Dunstan who took over from Dr. Janet Kemp as the Reading Clinic's new executive director this September.

The 2003 Adult Literacy and Life-Skills Survey, which looked at literacy and numeracy for young Bermudian adults between the ages of 16 and 25 in 2003, found that many adult and middle school students had weak math skills compared to language skills.

Dr. Dunstan said having a population not so good with numbers had a knock-on effect on the economy.

"You need basic math skills to manage your finances," she said. "People who have trouble managing their finances can get into credit problems.

"When you have a lot of people who are overextended, that can affect the economy, as we have seen."

And she said math skills were especially important in Bermuda because the Island's main industries are finance and reinsurance.

"These rely heavily on people with math skills," Dr. Dunstan added.

"Without Bermudians to fill those jobs we will continue to rely on guest workers."

To help young Bermudians having math problems in school, the Reading Clinic started the Individualised Cognitive Approach to Numeracy (ICAN) Mathematics Programme two years ago. But to step their programme it has just appointed Juliet Pearman as its first full-time ICAN math co-ordinator.

The Reading Clinic does math screenings for children in primary four, and offers tutoring for students in primary five and six.

"We are very targeted at the moment," said Dr. Dunstan. "We do the screening at this age, because we found that screenings at earlier ages aren't always accurate."

But the Reading Clinic does do math consultations with children of other ages, and offers basic evaluations and suggestions for parents, teachers and tutors.

"We have long been dedicated to meeting the needs of children who have learning difficulties," said Dr. Dunstan. "We are the only resource on the Island dedicated to working with learning difficulties."

The cornerstone of the ICAN programme is multisensory math instruction. This involves structured learning activities that engage two or more senses such as sight, hearing, touch and/or movement.

Clients could have spatial processing problems such as the inability to visualise concepts such as fractions, or sequencing problems such as problems mastering the sequence of steps for calculation.

Some children have difficulty juggling information needed for complex calculations and others have confusion learning new math vocabulary, especially interchangeable terms such as minus and subtract.

The Reading Clinic would like to expand the ICAN math programme, eventually.

"We like to grow in a high quality way," Dr. Dunstan said. "It means we take on new programmes in a very focused manner, evaluate them and gradually expand them.

"One of the tasks that Juliet will have is to see how it could grow. Should we go into the younger years, or help older children?"

But she said the Reading Clinic is a charity that depends on funding from outside organisations.

"We have had wonderful sponsors for our programmes such as the Bank of Bermuda Foundation, Butterfield Bank and the XL Foundation."

If parents are worried that their school-age child is having a problem with math, Dr. Dunstan suggested they first talk to their child's teacher.

"Ask your child's teacher how the child's numeracy skills are developing," said Dr. Dunstan. "If the teacher says there are concerns, then parents can contact us."

For more information about the Reading Clinic's reading or math programmes telephone 292-3938.