Integrated Impact – LearningRx

Months ago LearningRx called to check in on our kids.  It’s been almost five years since we trained with them.  My youngest, Danielle, was homeschooled and in second grade at the time of our training, but she’s a seventh grader now.

We are in full court press with all teenagers now, and the days of homeschooling seem far away.  Next year, two boys graduate high school.  Has our training helped longterm?  Am I still seeing the months of work we put in?

The answer is yes; however, it wasn’t an easy answer because the skills have been integrated into the lives of our children. How to communicate this took a lot of thought and some very direct questions.  Instead of a lengthy list, I will share the video we made for them, and I hope this gives some of you hope.


LaTasha’s LearningRx Story – Oct. 2nd 2013

Many who follow my blog know what a great impact LearningRx has had on our lives.  This evening I read the sweetest story from a mom I met at Jacksonville’s Magnet School Expo.  

 

Here are the words she pinned tonight on LearningRx’s Facebook page:

“No parent wants to admit that there child has a learning disability or may even know that is the main issue. However, I knew that I had to find some help for my son in order for him to be on the right track developmentally. In the beginning my family just assumed that I was not spending enough time teaching him, but I knew that it was more than just me not sitting down with him every night.

 

Here is where my story beginnings.  My older sister asked me to go to the yearly Magnet School Seminar for all the schools in Jacksonville, in which LearningRx was there. I truly believe that it was God who lead me to their booth and faith, that it was something out there that could help my son with the main issue and not just a temporary fix. While I was at the Seminar, I spoke with a parent that was a spokesperson for LearningRx and I was not sure if she would understand my struggle being that my son was held back twice and still was reading on a Kindergarten/1st grade level. However, she has 4 kids that had different issues, so I took some information home but I never called thinking that this was going to be some over priced place that was going to make all these promises but never give me any results.

 

But finally I went to get him tested and I sat down with Erin the director.  I finally understood what the real issue was by her explaining the way the brain works and what the test showed was the problem. I finally found out that my son had an auditory processing disorder and I researched that disorder and it describes my son perfectly.

 

My son started LearningRx in April 2013. He had a really bad attitude towards anything that had to do with school work, learning to read, sounding out words, he had very low self esteem because he thought that he was not smart. Now, he has done a complete 180, my son is now reading on his own and he has a passion for learning now. Everyday he has shown so much progress in school and out of school.

I am so thankful for God sending me to LearningRx and even though its a temporary sacrifice for right now it will be a long term benefit for my son’s future. If I could give anyone some advice it would be to at least go and see for yourself what Learning RX can do for your child because they have done wonders for mine.”

 

LaTasha, I so glad my story helped you in your journey to find LearningRx.  They have been a blessing in my life as well.  Thank you for sharing.  I remember meeting Latasha at Magnet Mania.  She was a mom determined to find answers for her son.  I applaud her sacrifice and courage.

To read more LearningRx reviews and stories from other parents visit: http://www.learningrx-reviews.com/


Life After LearningRx – A LearningRx Review

It’s been about a year, plus a few months, since we finished our training at LearningRx.

So what does our life look like now?

I’ll start with Baby Girl.  She was a very struggling reader!  In our year of homeschooling in second grade she was reading at a first grade level.  She wanted to read.  She tried so hard to read, but just couldn’t accomplish the task.  Why?  Our testing at LearningRx showed her executive processing speed (I call it her attention) to be a year and a half behind her age.  At the end of 36 weeks with LearningRx she tested two years above her age.  Now, at the end of her first in school as a second grader she is reading at grade level and loves her books!  I find her in bed at night reading before she goes to sleep!

Then there is Son #1.  He’s our super smart, super athletic, lover of all things football who has been diagnosed with ADHD!  Our first major accomplishment: (and I say this for me as well as for him)….We made it through the school year.  180 days of 5 days a week school!  He made good grades, grew spiritually and is excited about being a “senior” as school next year.  He stepped into a leadership position this summer with his 904 Elite 7on7 football team in the face of defeat at an intense tournament at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fl.  His determination and desire to “leave it all on the field” whether they won or lost was nothing short of amazing.

Here he is making the TOP 15 of all the middle schoolers in the Cam Newton Skills Challenge! SO PROUD!

 

And Son #3.  He’s my steady-freddy.  He did amazing at LearningRx, scored years above his age at the end of 12 weeks and he just keeps on keeping on!  His biggest challenge is overcoming perfectionism.  I just don’t know where he gets that from!  He’s smart, sensitive, witty and has a desire to please those around him.  He is terrific with animals and has a gentle soul.  He enters 6th grade this year!

Still to train is Rocketman, Son #2 and me!

The story isn’t over by any means!!

*Cam Newton Skills Challenge sponsored by Mr. Cam Newton and the Cam Newton Foundation

 

To read more LearningRx reviews and stories from other parents visit: http://www.learningrx-reviews.com/


Full Circle…

If you read my blog you know about my super lovely day a few weeks ago.  This is an exert from that day’s events:

Driving along in this broken-hearted state this morning I ran smack into downtown, stand-still, Jacksonville traffic.  There was a policeman amidst all the traffic.  I rolled down my window.  My own simple, small world persecution now began as this officer spoke to me as if I was 2 years old.  After repeatedly answering the same question he asked over and over I finally told him he was being awfully rude.  I didn’t know I was supposed to detour.  I didn’t know there was a wreck.  I didn’t believe he had the right to talk to me the way he was talking to me, however, he still chose to belittle me.

And in that moment my world collided with that pastors world.  My heart turned towards his pain and persecution.

I was stunned and shocked that this police officer was berating me in front of my children as I attempted to travel our normal route downtown to school.  Over and over again he “slapped me in the face” with his tongue.  My fresh tender heart began to harden.  Had I not been blinded with indignation I would have looked at his name tag.  I would have called to report him.

My indignation slowly twisted inward.  I was reminded of my fellow brother-in-Christ who lies in solitary confinement, beaten, dying.  Am I above persecution?  Is my life anything like his?  Absolutely not.  But, did today sting?  Yes.  Badly.

After sharing the pastor’s story I’d heard on the radio and my day with my best friend she called later for the pastor’s name and location.  I had no idea, after hearing the story, where he was imprisoned until one night this week. I mentioned looking up the radio station and finding his name later that day……but life took over, until….

I had the most incredible phone call with a fellow LearningRx parent in Boise, Idaho.  We were sharing stories about homeschooling and our faith, as well as our journey with LearningRx when she mentioned my recent blog post.  “Oh, did you know Pastor Saeed is from Boise, Idaho?” she asked.

“Who?”

“The pastor you spoke about in your blog. He is from Boise.”

Shocked that the pieces of my horrible day were coming full circle right before my eyes I intelligently commented, “No way!”

Only God!

How life went from driving my kids to school on a foggy Monday morning to my heart breaking over Pastor Saeed in part because of my local Christian radio station, to sharing the story with my best friend, to speaking with Lareina in Boise, Idaho about a fellow brother imprisoned for cause of Christ, to knowing his name!  There isn’t a word to describe how incredibly shocked and blessed I felt!

After finishing my phone call with Lareina I immediately called my BFF (teenager language – my son would be proud!) at 10:30pm hoping I wasn’t waking her to tell her the story…….

Saeed has been imprisoned while in Iran and accused of spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  He was working in an orphanage when arrested.

He is in a prison FOX NEWS calls Hell on Earth.  Fox News also reports:  It has been almost a month since Iranian authorities promised Pastor Saeed Abedini, a U.S. citizen imprisoned in Iran for his Christian faith,  that he would receive medical treatment.  He has undergone months of beatings and abuse at the hands of his brutal Iranian captors, which has led to dangerous internal bleeding.

For the cause of Christ, for not denying his faith, for staying true to the One he calls Lord!

When I heard his story on the radio he was just placed in solitary confinement again with internal bleeding and failing kidneys.  My heart ached to think he may die in that tiny dark place I can only see in my imagination.  And now, each time I think of him, I pray that God would be tangible to him in that horrible place.  I pray as he reaches out his hand or curls into a pain-filled ball that he feels Jesus holding him, for HE walked the same path all for us.  For me.  Just so that I might have the chance to know Him.  Just as I believe in a God who knows all I also believe He gives us all a choice.  I didn’t know I would call him Lord.  I didn’t know I would desire His will for my life over my own.

Knowing I have an all-knowing, all-powerful God directing my steps gives me comfort to face another day on this earth that has prisons like Evin in Iran.  When my heart feels heavy with the weight of this world I can turn my face upwards towards a Father who smiles at my neediness, my “lack of”.  Knowing He loves the part of me that is like Him and the part that wants to run away.  Knowing He knows I can’t walk a single step without Him brings me peace.

And for His all-knowing, all-encompassing love, I am eternally and tearfully grateful!

**If you’d like to know more about Saeed’s imprisonment CLICK HERE and HERE

**If you would like to read Lareina’s blog post about LearningRx it can be found here.  Read about her here and to click on her website you can do so here.

 

To read more LearningRx reviews and stories from other parents visit: http://www.learningrx-reviews.com/


Can LearningRx Work After 50? A LearningRx Review

God brings many interesting people into our lives.  One such person, loved dearly by my entire family, is Ms. Kathy.

Ms. Kathy was a teacher for many years and has her M.ED. in Education and tutoring. Presently, she tutors children in reading, and tests homeschooled students to determine whether their performance is in compliance with state standards.

When Ms. Kathy tested my daughter, Danielle could not even finish the test for the grade level below her grade! When we explained to Ms. Kathy that we had just enrolled Danielle at LearningRx for one-on-one brain training, she suggested we finish Danielle’s brain training first, then bring her back for state testing.

Over the coming months, our progress with LearningRx piqued Kathy’s interest as she listened to me talk about the results I saw in my children.  Since Kathy comes in contact with many children in the course of her tutoring, she was curious whether LearningRx would be a good resource for other families as well. Kathy decided to take the LearningRx brain skills assessment so she would understand the process a child goes through when walking through the doors of LearningRx.  When Kathy got the results of her assessment,  she discovered that she had amazingly high scores in Short-Term Memory, Logic and Reasoning, Visual Processing, Auditory Processing and Word Attack. She was deficient, however, in Processing Speed and Long-Term Memory.

Kathy, 63, looked in amazement at her scores. They pinpointed recent frustrating struggles in her life. Kathy hated that she would walk into a room and forget what she had gone there for. She hated her increasing need to write things down or she would complete forget them.

Kathy decided to try LearningRx’s Max Online program.  Instead of training at the center she would train online at home.  After faithfully spending an hour a day with the LearningRx intensive online program, life took an unexpected turn, and Kathy left the country to spend several months with her daughter overseas.  Once she returned to the U.S. and settled back into a routine, Kathy decided to take a second cognitive assessment to see exactly how much LearningRx was improving her memory.

I crossed paths with her in the parking lot at LearningRx just a few weeks ago as she was going in to take her assessment. She was nervous, and hoped her assessment would show proof of the improvements she felt she was experiencing in real life. I talked with her a few days later to learn that her assessment scores were amazing! Ms. Kathy had increased her Processing Speed by 40 percentile points and her Long-Term Memory by 25 percentile points!  She was so excited!  I knew all along Kathy would do great.  She is a determined and purposed woman with a real zest for life.

I asked her what real life results she was seeing at home.  She said that the biggest thing that she has noticed is that she can find things now.  She had been spending way too much time hunting for things throughout the day. Now she remembers right away where she’s left things.  She is also taking a couple of college courses for recertification and is finding that she has to reread things a lot less and can work through the curriculum in a much more linear fashion.  She also sees a big difference in how quickly she processes information while she is driving.  She foresees a flood of her friends who are sixtysomething flocking to LearningRx once they hear of her experience.

Kathy is my first friend who is over 60 and a graduate of a LearningRx brain training program.  I am so excited to have played even a small role in her new relationship with LearningRx.  Since she has discovered what LearningRx can do, she refers many of her tutoring students to LearningRx, too.  LearningRx brain training is proving to be a blessing not only to me and my family, but now Ms. Kathy, her friends, and the struggling students she works with now and in the future, too!

(Read the beginning of our family’s LearningRx story here! Our daughter just tested and her scores were amazing!!  I can’t wait to tell you about each our three children’s progress!!)

 

To read more LearningRx reviews and stories from other parents visit: http://www.learningrx-reviews.com/


Mom’s Night Out


Unlock the Einstein Inside – LearningRx

Did you know you can download Ken Gibson’s book Unlock the Einstein Inside for free? Are you like me and love free things? This is one of those must reads for moms, anyone looking to get Sartre or understand the brain better.
Click here to download the free ebook!

To read more LearningRx reviews and stories from other parents visit: http://www.learningrx-reviews.com/


One Mom’s Journey from Self-Doubt to Hope and Solutions (and Chocolate!)

After successfully homeschooling her daughter from Kindergarten through 9th grade, Elizabeth discovered that her daughter was struggling with her schoolwork.  It was the first time ever!

It seems a common thread among homeschool moms to question our decisions when we hit a bump in the road.  The questions buzz like a swarm of bees.  “Did I do something wrong?” “If she were in public school would she be struggling like this?” “Did I choose the appropriate curriculum?”

I think, for most homeschool moms, our default mode is to question ourselves when we stumble.  However, looking back on my own homeschooling adventure I believe there is always a purpose in the stumbling.

Elizabeth began to search online for answers. That’s where she learned about one-on-one brain training at LearningRx. When I met Elizabeth at the LearningRx center in Jacksonville, FL I was touched by their story.  Many people have never even heard of brain training, but Elizabeth could see right away that it held the solution to whatever her daughter was facing.

I had the privilege of meeting Elizabeth on her first day at the center.  Her daughter was shy and a bit nervous as they waited for their trainer.  I encouraged them both by sharing that one of my children had been skeptical about brain training as well.  All it took was one day of training, however, and he loved it!

Toward the end of that same week I met Elizabeth in the lobby once again.  I asked how the week had gone.  She told me her daughter enjoyed it and was excited to return.  When Elizabeth had realized her daughter was struggling, she was naturally concerned. Now—just a few weeks later—this mom was filled with hope and anticipation. In fact, as we talked, she was smiling as she popped a Hershey’s Kiss into her mouth.

Now that’s happiness!!

 

To read more LearningRx reviews and stories from other parents visit: http://www.learningrx-reviews.com/


What goes on behind the doors of LearningRx?

There are so many wonderful things that happen once you enter the doors of a LearningRx center.

Upon Graduation at the Jacksonville Center your hands go here:

These little guys cover the walls in the waiting room…..

As I sit and look at these I ask, “How can these be all over the internet, not just the walls?”

Since we homeschool we are at the center early and it is often a little quieter when we are there.  But after school?  It’s a hub of activity as kids are bussed in, moms bring kids in, parents talk in the waiting room or use the computers in the back.  Information flows like a stream.  I love all the activity and the one-on-one time I get with other moms.

I met another homeschoool mom this week.  Oh, how we need to encourage one another!  So much weight we carry upon our shoulders!

This month we are planning a MOMS NIGHT OUT at the Jacksonville center.  I can’t wait!  Here is their Facebook page!

Have a blessed and brainy day!

 

To read more LearningRx reviews and stories from other parents visit: http://www.learningrx-reviews.com/


Cognitive Skills (LearningRx)

Understanding Learning Challenges….

When we began LearningRx I can honestly say I had no idea what cognitive skills really were. As we have progressed through the progress I am beginning to have a better understanding of what cognitive skills are. I describe them as the way I (or you) think and process information, the nutshell version. The bigger definition encompasses the active process of taking information in:
1. Attention
2. Processing speed (I always think of this when my kids are waiting for me to spit some thought out and they say,”Mom! What?”)
3. Working Memory. (Who couldn’t use more of this? Oil on the gears is how I think of this…holding onto information while we use it…like walking into a room and forgetting why you are there or completing a task)
All of these are called active processing.

Then comes higher thinking:
1. Logic and reasoning
2. Auditory processing
3. Visual processing
4. Long term memory

Then all this good stuff is stored in our knowledge bank (brain) so we can retrieve it when we need it. For all you parents out there think of remembering where your keys are, having grocery lists in our heads or remembering that one thing we forgot while running errands. In kids it shows in spelling, testing, writing or speaking.

If our skills are weak we can’t focus, homework takes too long, our reading is poor, or we have trouble recalling previously learned information. In my oldest child I have noticed a huge change in his self-confidence and his ability to control his emotions as well as his school work. He also takes more personal responsibility after 24 weeks of brain training.

I am excited and looking forward to the time I can train. My dream day now consists of a day where I can remember the things I need to do without feeling scattered and flustered. I’d be a better mom, wife and teacher!

Then I could eat bonbons and relax on the porch.

Have a blessed Easter!

 

To read more LearningRx reviews and stories from other parents visit: http://www.learningrx-reviews.com/


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