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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/

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Posted: July 5, 2013 by Julie |Category: Football | LearningRx | Tags: 7on7, brain training, Cam Newton, Cam Newton Foundation, Football, IMG Academy, Julie Worthy Photography, Learning Rx review, LearningRX, LearningRx Jacksonville Florida, LearningRx review, LearningRx reviews, learningrxreviews, Skills Challenge

Homeschooling year by year!

When we began homeschooling we knew that we would take each year as it came and pray for what God wanted for each child.

We’ve had one go to K4 and K5, one to 2nd and 6th grade and one to Montessori school for 1st grade. Otherwise, it’s all been at home.

Most of you who follow my blog know that we’ve spent quite a bit of time and money at LearningRx this year. It’s been that year for us. Homeschooling and LearningRx. Not much else, has happened otherwise except football.

Oh, I did forget we moved twice. How could I forget that! And we’ve had several deaths….my mom, a best friend’s daughter, my brother-in-law’s mom. But all of that is another story…..I wander.

Back to school.

This year we tried many things for my 7th grader that did not work. We began with one math curriculum and ended up with Teaching Textbooks which my son LOVES. We also began one Language program, tried another and then made our own. We’ve taken a lot of what we learned from IEW and applied that to our language this year.

Grammar? We tried Grammarlogues but my son didn’t like it. So we moved onto Vocabulary Cartoons and have used that for spelling, vocabulary and stuck Grammar in with language. Back to pronouns, nouns, diagramming. All those things boys LOVE!

My son also does not like fiction so the “normal” books don’t work for us. He’s read ALL IN by Gene Chizik, Auburn’s coach and Tim Tebow’s book – Through my Eyes. Now, it’s his Science book he reads for reading time. We’ve tried several nonfiction books but besides Diary of a Wimpy Kid, nothing has ever worked. He’s a fact guy. He’s practical. He also spends a lot of time reading his History Book (Abeka 6th grade) for pleasure.

School has always been different for him. He doesn’t conform to the norm. He’s a very intelligent but he’s very different. Thus, my gift from God on Christmas Day. Born 12-25-98, nine days past due.

This year God has placed on our hearts for the children to go to a private Christian school. We don’t know how we are going to afford it but we know if it’s God’s will he will provide. He always does. I don’t know what He is preparing the kids for. I don’t know what he’s preparing me for, but I trust Him completely. (Might I clarify that with “as completely as I can at this time and place in my life”). It’s hard to let go of my chickens and intrust them to another where learning is concerned, however, I feel it’s His will for next year.

What will the following year look like? Who knows. I have trouble going past today. I’m thankful that He keeps me reigned in to today, for it’s all He’s given us. I fondly remember these days….

and these….

I am trusting that the One who does this:

…..can do just about anything HE so desires in the lives of my children.

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Posted: May 31, 2012 by Julie |Category: Homeschooling | Tags: All In, Grammarlogues, homeschooling, IEW, LearningRX, LearningRx Jacksonville Florida, Teaching Textbooks, Through My Eyes, Vocabulary Cartoons

Mom’s Night Out

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Posted: May 6, 2012 by Julie |Category: Homeschooling | LearningRx | Tags: Learning Rx review, LearningRX, LearningRx review

My Main Squeeze

It’s been a long time since I’ve sat and talked about my walk with the Lord over the past two years.

Since moving to Florida we’ve been on an amazing journey. My darkest times were during our first year here. We were renting a house, homeschooling in a far smaller space than we had done before and living in a gated community for the first time. Yikes. We’d moved from rural SC where peeing in the back yard was a sport in and of itself. Now, we received nasty grams about the very way I’d potty trained three boys. I cried. I longed for our former home. The kids missed their friends. I missed my friends. I wanted our yard, our woods, our life for the last 10 years.

I longed for the lifechanging Bible Study I attended. I think I took one year off in my 6 years of having 4 children. Those women there were my lifeline. I grew, I cried, I loved and I was loved. Some of my best friends are still in my life because of our vulnerability shared during Bible Study.

There were nights of sitting on the porch crying with a friend from home because I’d had a child diagnosed with ADHD but had no answers, one wasn’t reading and I didn’t know how to help and one was dying to get out of the house and go to school. My life was falling apart. I felt like a failure as a mom.

The first year was dark, yet I knew Florida was where God wanted us. Why? He was certainly the only one who knew!!

As the first year morphed into the second light began to shine. We discovered LearningRx through a friend in our homeschool group. It was there I began to find answers to help my kids. The folks there were kind and seemed truly interested in my children. They offered hope.

Fast forward to today as I sit reading The Purpose Directed Business by Ken Gibson.

For those of you who’ve read The Purpose Driven Life you know what an impact that book can have on your life.

“It’s now about you.”

And it isn’t. Those words offer so much freedom. Freedom to be messed up, sad, happy, uncontrolled, hopeless, hopeful and most of all totally dependent.

Today, I sit and read feeling excited. I’m excited that the man who founded the company God has used in my life is a Christian. I’m excited to be a partnering parent with LearningRx. I’m excited that none of this is really about me or about cognitive thinking skills (although high on my list), it’s about God. It’s about what He wants to do through me, in me and for me.

He’s my Main Squeeze. And I say that with the upmost respect.

To the one who knows me like no other…..“Thank you dad! Thank you for stirring in me a desire that comes through you to reach other moms and children for your glory! Open the eyes of my heart to see and love those you put in my path. Expand my territory. Be huge. Be God!!”

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Posted: May 1, 2012 by Julie |Category: God Breathed | Our Family, Our Lives | Parenting | Tags: dependence, God, hope, Learning RX, LearningRX, moving

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/

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

After successfully homeschooling her daughter from Kindergarten through 9^th 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/

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Posted: April 24, 2012 by Julie |Category: LearningRx | Tags: cognitive brain training, cognitive thinking skills, Learning RX, Learning Rx reviews, LearningRX, LearningRx Jacksonville Florida, LearningRx review

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/

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Posted: April 18, 2012 by Julie |Category: Homeschooling | LearningRx | Our Family, Our Lives | Tags: brain training, cognitive brain training, homeschool resources, Learning RX, Learning Rx reviews, LearningRX, LearningRx review, LearningRxJacksonvilleFL

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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Posted: April 5, 2012 by Julie |Category: Homeschooling | LearningRx | Our Family, Our Lives | Tags: cognitive brain training, cognitive thinking skills, Learning RX, Learning Rx review, LearningRX, LearningRx Jacksonville Florida, LearningRx reviews

A beautiful picture of what LearningRx has done in our lives!

She falls asleep reading now!

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

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Posted: April 3, 2012 by Julie |Category: Homeschooling | LearningRx | Tags: cognitive brain training, Learning RX, LearningRX, LearningRx Jacksonville Florida, LearningRx review, LearningRx reviews

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!!