I’m Published! Happy Dance…..

After working with the corporate marketing team at LearningRx we’ve finally gotten their cover for the next issue of Life Changing.  I’m excited on so many levels.  It’s the first time my photography has been published in a magazine, our family’s story is exciting and I believe in my heart of hearts LearningRx can help strengthen anyone’s cognitive thinking skills.  I am passionate about them, passionate about what God is doing in my life as it relates to LearningRx and passionate about the difference it is making in the lives of my children.  #3 Son just finished his first 12 weeks and will take a break while #1 Son finishes his 24 weeks and Baby Girl begins another 12 weeks concentrating on reading.  Did I tell you she has decided to skip her reading books and now concentrate on reading “My First Encyclopedia”?  She’s pronouncing words like “cold-blooded” all by herself.  I am super-thrilled for her.  She also gets to train with her favorite trainer, Renee, again!  And I am learning how to train her at home as well.

The last few weeks has held much sorrow for our family as dear friends have lost loved ones.  The presence of death around our family has had both my husband and I in constant prayer.  This ray of light (LearningRx) among the sadness we are sharing with these families is truly a gift.  I look forward to what God has planned for our family and LearningRx.  Jumping for joy!!

 

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



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Posted: February 10, 2012 by |Category: God Breathed | LearningRx | Our Family, Our Lives | Tags: , , ,

Imagine yourself on a journey…

…school is hard, you remain frustrated which causes you to break things or get super angry.  Then you begin a journey that begins to gradually, step by step alleviate some of your frustration.  School begins to be easier but you are not sure why.  Life begins to settle in a bit for you where at one time nothing seemed to make sense.  Your confidence is growing, your thoughtfulness towards others is also changing.  What’s up?

Imagine yourself way down there at the “x”.  That is what life felt like 30 weeks ago.  But over the course of the last 30 weeks or so life has begun to come into focus.  Slowly as you have played games, strengthened your brain (without knowing you were doing so), and had tons of fun!!!  You’re at the “e” now.  Life makes more sense.  Your ability to deal with frustration has grown.  Your school work becomes easier.  The “L” is in sight…..only a few more weeks to go.

And it’s all because of the wonderful people who have helped you strengthen your brain at LearningRx.  Joy.  Joy.

Thank you, all my friends at Jacksonville LearningRx!!  You’ve given my child hope and a future….exactly what God promised him.  You have been His instrument for us.  You have been His tool.  And for that I pray blessings into your life and into your families’ lives.  May you touch others with the light of the Lord!!!

 

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



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Posted: February 1, 2012 by |Category: Homeschooling | LearningRx | Our Family, Our Lives | Tags: , , , , , ,

Tough Questions. Tough Answers.

Taken from LearningRx  National Edition 2009:

Italics are mine.

Our doctor diagnosed my son as ADHD and prescribed medication to control behavior.  My heart breaks at the thought (as did mine).  Do I really have to drug my child?

Probably not.  In a society where a large percentage of students significantly under-perform, seemingly easy solutions are a temptation.  “Should I medicate my child?” is a question on the mind of parents nationwide and is most often asked by parents of children tagged ADD/ADHD.  There is a growing field of cognitive brain training researchers investigating alternatives to drugs for ADHD.  In almost every case, learning skills testing reveals that these children have “cognitive deficits, specifically in working memory.”  Weak cognitive skills often mean they can’t pay attention long enough for good academic performance.

Researchers have explored methods to train the brain and impact weak learning skills.   In one case, a number of ADHD students underwent 5 weeks of specific stills training and afterwards, 60% no longer fit the label.  These results point to the possibility of overcoming lifelong learning hindrances in an extremely short period of time with the right mental skills training.  Why wouldn’t everyone do it?  The investment in cognitive skills training is “not easy for a time-crunched society and far more laborious than popping a pill.”  Althought maybe not as easy as taking a pill, the benefits of overcoming skill weakness and building advanced learning ability are worth the short-term effort.  Which is exactly what our family is doing and seeing significant results after a 24 week program!

(Response compiled from Gunjan Sinha, an award winning freelance science and medical journalist.  Specific citations are derived from Training the Brain:  Cognitive Therapy as an Alternative to ADHD Drugs, Scientific American. July 2005)

 

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



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Posted: January 20, 2012 by |Category: LearningRx | Parenting | Tags: , , , ,

New trainers!

Today at LearningRx my two youngest switched trainers. I am anxious to see how they feel after today. Baby girl loved her former trainer Renee.

She was fantastic! They have broken through so many walls together. Now she is training with Natalie….she is a sweetie.  I believe that after she gets to know Natalie she will do great with her.  She passed a new level today!  It is so amazing to see the children breaking through the cognitive walls we didn’t even know were there.  My heart is to bring this type of training into the workplace, increase productivity, show homeschool moms there is another answer besides medicine and psychiatrists.

In the last ten minutes of baby girl’s training today I was able to play Brainy Cards with her.  I found one match to her four!!  And she is seven!!!

Ok, donations??????

 

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



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Posted: January 17, 2012 by |Category: LearningRx | Tags: , , , ,

LearningRx on Youtube

I recently received a newsletter from LearningRx with this great link that is similar to the attention arrows I had you practicing earlier.

Check it out and let me know how you do.

LINK to LearningRx

and here is an excellent example of what we do at LearningRx.

Check it out!!!  The director at this LearningRx tells what we do better than I can and you get to see children at work!!

 

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



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Posted: January 2, 2012 by |Category: LearningRx | Tags: , , ,

LearningRx Results That Astound…

If you follow my blog at all you know I’m totally sold on the brain training we do at LearningRx.  My children are progressing daily in the tasks they are able to preform.  One of the most important areas of our lives that cognitive brain training has affected is in the confidence I see in my oldest son.  He was diagnosed with ADHD last year.  We increased his medicine to the point that we felt he was able to concentrate and focus.  But after 14 weeks at LearningRx we are now decreasing his medicine.  I believe this is happening because he is learning how to concentrate and focus through his own abilities now, separate from his dependence on the medicine.  We’ve already cut his dose once and plan on doing so again next month.  It is wonderful to see him blossoming as he gains confidence in his own skills and his own strength.  I hope that one day we will be free from the medicine and he will be relying on his own God-given abilities.

This special child of mine was born on Christmas Day.  And I have always known God had great things planned for him.  LearningRx is opening doors in his mind, building his confidence and strengthening his character.  I love to see him going head to head with his trainer now as he is at the stage of trying to beat her at the games they play.  He has come so far.

I’ve seen his ability to stay focused and get his school work done at home go through the roof.  He is now doing twice as many math problems in a day (20) and memorizing two times the vocabulary words that he was previously.  That is 20 per week….spelling and vocabulary.  When he asked me why I simply told him he was able to do more than he even can imagine.  And the switch has been great.  He’s even begun to talk about what high school might be like.  He’s never wanted to go to school before but as his confidence builds so does his willingness to try new and different things.  Do we still have bad days?  Sure. Don’t we all.  But overall life is changing for the better at our home and my children are beginning to find joy in learning.

As for my youngest….she is reading up a storm and well into second grade work.  At the beginning of LearningRx she was reading at a K5 level.  Now she reads the Christmas cards we receive in the mail, the cereal box, the signs on the road, the things I type.

I’m amazed and forever grateful for the changes LearningRx is making in my kids.  It’s not tutoring, it’s not school, it’s exercising the brain so that it can hold more information, access more information, process more information and be 10 times smarter than mom!!!  (Yikes, that’s kinda scary!)

I thank God for leading us to LearningRx for the road He has set before us!

My goal now is to be able to translate into words what the centers do for children and how to let moms know there is an answer out there.  LearningRx opens doors for children that are otherwise closed.  I want the world to know!

 

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



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Posted: December 21, 2011 by |Category: LearningRx | Our Family, Our Lives | Tags: , , , , ,

LearningRx – Another benefit

If you read my blog at all you know that I am totally sold on braintraining at LearningRx.

My daughter who is seven just recently performed her first Christmas musical.  She only visited the church with a good friend of hers and went to choir maybe a hand full of times.  By Sunday night she knew every word to eight different songs and stood on stage for an hour and a half while she performed.  I was incredibly proud of her.  I can’t imagine standing for that long myself but my girl did it!!!

I really think the work she is doing in Memory Hold at LearningRx is what helped her to remember the songs so quickly.  I was amazed.

We are in our 13th week at LearningRx.  My daughter is now asking to write in cursive and can read five and six letter words.  She sounds them out by herself!!  When we started she was struggling with three letter words.  I’m so excited with her progress!  My youngest son is only on week 5 or 6 and is knocking it out of the ball park.  The main area we are working on with him is his processing speed and his memory hold.

I’m so thankful God led us to a place where I feel like I am pouring into my kids tools they will use for a lifetime.  And I’m proud of their progress and determination.  The best part of all is they are having fun!!!!!

 

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



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Posted: December 6, 2011 by |Category: Homeschooling | LearningRx | Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Another Improvement and a Challenge

I have linked the above to LearningRx’s blog, just click on their logo to be redirected.  Their website can be found here.

For a while I did not know they had a blog but now that I have found it I love reading about all the success stories other families are having with the centers.

This week (Week 11) I saw my child transform right before my eyes.

My oldest took the initiative to clean up the house before his daddy came home from work.  He straightened up the kitchen, vacummed the floors, wiped down the counters and straightened up all our homeschool work from the day.

I had to do a double take.  I thought aliens had abducted my son.  But I realized I am beginning to see the success he is experiencing at LearningRx trickle down into his everyday life, not just his school work.

Can I just say “floored” doesn’t even describe what I saw two days in a row from my son.  On the third day we decided together that the house looked pretty good so we wouldn’t clean before dad came home.

This child has never taken the initiative to do anything like this.  His closet looks like a train wreck.  His room is slightly better, but not much.

With that said I have a challenge for you.  Leave a comment and let me know how you do.  What I’m asking of you will get harder each day.

This is taken from LearningRx (just so you don’t give me any credit):

Follow the directions below as a fun way to improve your attention skills.  Each level increases the difficulty by adding a second mental challenge.  This exercise will actually map new neural pathways in your brain!

Directions:  From the top row, left to right, call out the color of each of the arrows without a mistake.  Time yourself and see how fast you can do it.  Pretty simple, right?

Now call out the direction of each arrow.  Do it without error in 40 seconds.  Keep trying until you can do it in only 20 seconds.  A little harder, huh?

Next, call out the direction of the arrows as if they were turned a quarter-turn clockwise.  Get that time down to 20 seconds without error.

Next…..comes the fun!!!!

Let me know how you do!  My kids can wiz through this after twelve weeks at an alarming rate!  They are better than I am at it.

 

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



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Posted: November 18, 2011 by |Category: Homeschooling | LearningRx | Tags: , , , , , ,

Day 12 – Openness and Reality

“What if I don’t like it?”

“What if I don’t like it after two days?”

“What if I don’t like it after a week?”

“What if I just absolutely hate it?”

“What if my tutor is mean and I hate it”

I got all these questions and more as I informed my third-born that he was beginning LearningRx yesterday.  He was determined to hate it.  He doesn’t like trying new things and is definitely my introverted one.  He sticks close to home, doesn’t spend the night at friend’s houses, doesn’t make a lot of new friends, and is happy and content playing by himself a lot of the times.  So yesterday we all teased him that we were going to remove his brain and give him a new one.  We all bet on the color of his brain.  He laughed and giggled and then got down to the business of brain training.  So what was his feedback when done….”I love it mom!”  He took his bag to bed with him last night.  They give you a bag with all your materials and games in it.  Shh…..don’t tell anyone.

So, I just found out LearningRx has a blog!  Yippee.  LearningRx’s Blog …. http://www.learningrxblog.com/

OK, enough of all the brain talk.

This weekend I had to laugh at myself.  Florida living is so different than rural SC living.  Here, lawns are manicures, bushes cut into shapes and being in the lawn industry MUST be the most profitable business here.  Men buzz around yards on the whirly-dirly lawn machines at 55mph while someone else is trimming bushes and branches and all that jazz.  Must take them 10 minutes per lawn.

Most houses have three car garages because everyone has a boat of course. (NOT US!)

Our house has a very nice garage with some cabinetry built in and some special fancy flooring.  My realtor was impressed but to me it’s just speck-ily flooring.

I was out there Saturday, in my PJs, vacuuming the rug that goes from the garage to the hallway into the kitchen.  It gets messy with football cleats, flip flops and puppy dog feet.  So as I’m busy getting the rug clean I notice the other grass and trash in the garage where my car us usually parked.  So I began to vacuum the garage floor.  Then, right in the middle of my vacuuming I stopped.  “I’m vacuuming my garage floor. Oh my goodness what in the world am I doing?” And I just had to stop and laugh at myself.  I used to say, “Get me out of this town.” when we lived in SC.  I didn’t want my boys growing up with their greatest achievement in life being the size of the buck on the wall.  Now I’m thinking, “Get me out of here…..I’m vacuuming my garage floor.”  I’m turning into a real country club woman!!!

If I post pictures of me in a tennis outfit on my way to my morning tennis match come shoot me.

PLEASE!!!

 

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



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Posted: October 12, 2011 by |Category: Chuckles | LearningRx | Tags: , , , ,

Day 11- Cognitive Thinking Skills (YOUR BRAIN!)

Only a few more hours left on yesterdays giveaway.  What are you guys lazy or just buzy?  $20 AMAZON gift card, people.

So today we’re going to talk a little about LearningRx.

This program has been so amazing for two of my kids that I just enrolled my third child.  I have seen my son’s ability to complete task increase by leaps and bounds. My daughter sat down this weekend and said she was going to write a book. I almost fainted.  And write a book she did!

My oldest son sat down yesterday and got 21 out of 21 questions right on his Math!!!  MIRACLE!!!!

So I thought I’d tell you a little about brain training.

This is taken straight from LearningRx Brain Training vs Tutoring.

Cognitive Training

  • Does for mental abilities what exercise does for the body
  • Improves the brain’s ability to process information in any subject
  • Enhances underlying cognitive skills required to learn effectively
  • Testing uncovers underlying weakness(es) in specific cognitive skills
  • Training unlocks skills that hinder comprehension, word recognition, reading, memorization, etc.
  • Personalized, fun programs that use drills to improve needed skills
  • Intensive:  may be provided daily  (insert: my kids go 4 days a week for 1 hr and 15 min)
  • Creates confidence towards all learning tasks.

I can not say enough good things about the program at LearningRx.  They care about children, not just about the almighty dollar.  They have payment plans to fit any budget.  They genuinely care about your child’s brain. Now that sounds funny, doesn’t it?   The trainers are wonderful.  My children each have a specific trainer they work with for as long as they are at LearningRx so a relationship is formed.  I find that to be extremely important in learning because they are building trust! My daughter passed 6 levels yesterday!!! Woo Hoo!

If you have a LearningRx in your area (or if you are in Jacksonville) tell them Julie sent you.  You’ll get a discount on the testing or email me and I’ll send you a card.  $100 test will be $39.  Then you can decide for yourself if it’s right for your child.  I can’t imagine this program not helping anyone.

And go take that Quiz from yesterday or I’m sending you all to LearningRx!!!

PS.  See that side bar where you can subscribe to my blog?  Just enter your email and off we go!

If you have time please leave a comment!!!

 

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



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Posted: October 11, 2011 by |Category: Homeschooling | LearningRx | Tags: , , , , ,
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