Join Kathy Johnson while she does her morning brain exercises! In just 15 minutes a day, your brain and body get a tune up, replicating exercises done by infants (so they are very easy!) that created brain connections for things like memory and attention. Make the commitment to maintain and even improve yourself, your child, or your student every morning for 30 days!

A full plan is written out below.

To purchase go to http://store.payloadz.com/go?id=1778774

Growing Brains Everyday is a downloadable product that contains two books: a curriculum guide and a worksheet book that is perfect for the homeschooler or a parent who wants to supplement the child's education. There is 150 day guide with new exercises throughout, which takes just 10 minutes a day.

Growing Brains also includes a copy of Maintaining Brains!

This is designed to specifically improve the following:

• Anxiety and nervousness
• Attention, ADD/ADHD
• Hypersensitivity
• Memory
• Processing Speed
• Logic
• Auditory skills development
• Visual skills development
• Reading skills - blending, segmenting, phoneme manipulation
• Handwriting
• Organization
• Time mangaement and ability to tell time

The hardest thing to know is just what to do, where to go, how much to spend.

All we as parents really want is success and independence for our children.

I was there, where you are now. I needed some guidance and a lot of information. So that is what I intend to give to you.

Here is my suggestion: get a binder, print this out and follow the plan I have below. It will guide you on your way, and give you advice and suggestions, along with alternatives, so that you can be your child's advocate and teacher. You love and understand your child more than anyone else in the world - so YOU are the best one to say just how to proceed. My job here is just to educate you and help you along in the process. If you have questions, you can consult with me. Simply purchase a consulting hour (www.pyramidofpotential.com/products-for-parents) and we will set it up! I know how alone you may feel, and it helps to know that someone is there who understands what you are going through. 

As you do each step, check it off, keep documentation in your binder, and know that you are on your way!

First of all, get educated. One way is to sign up for the newsletter, which comes out weekly, and includes an educational article each week. Sometimes the article will speak directly to you; sometimes it will remind you of someone to forward it to, and sometimes it will be one to skip. But along with signing up, you will get a copy of the ebook, The Roadmap From Learning Disabilities to Success. It arrives in a day, not immediately.

Next, make sure you get a copy of The Roadmap From Learning Disabilities to Success. If you don't sign up for the newsletter, you can purchase a copy by          clicking here    for only $9.95. Why get this? Because each chapter includes details about each part of the Pyramid of Potential, success stories, a quiz to see if it is relevant, and resources.

Now you are somewhat educated as to what to do for your child, but still you want to know where he or she is starting from, so that you can see the effectiveness of each step. There is no silver bullet, and each child is different. What may make a world of difference for one may make no difference for another. You will need some testing done. There are few professionals who can test for everything. If you are nearby Saratoga Springs, New York, I’d of course love to help you, but what if you are not?

Now is the fun part! It’s time to get started. The first month I like to start my clients off with a bang. Let’s get as much change as possible in the first few weeks.

Once the foundation for learning has been set, it is time to move on and move deeper. You want to be sure that you have prepared the brain for the next steps, or the therapies can take longer and cost more. You may already have noticed improvements in auditory processing, but if your child is STILL saying “what?” more than 5 times a day, or mispronounces words or is slow to responding to auditory questions, more may need doing. Here are some programs available (but certainly not all!):

After any auditory processing skills development has been accomplished, it is time to address the visual processing if necessary. I have had parents tell me that their child was in remedial reading for years until someone suggested that the child get their eyes checked for near-point acuity. It turned out that all that was needed were glasses! Pediatricians and schools routinely check only for far-point acuity, needed for seeing in the distance, not for reading. So, if glasses are not the issue, look deeper. There are MANY things that can go wrong with vision: double vision, sustained focus, tracking, convergence, and many others. The following resources start with some on-line games that help, and the last two are sites with lists of specialized optometrists that are trained to give vision therapy:

Once the brain can process auditorally and visually, it is time to tackle the cognitive skills. To try to work on visual memory or auditory attention before this point may mean extra time, effort, and money. Plan on this taking the most time and effort, but the payoff is huge! Generally, if a child spends an hour a day, 5 to 6 days a week for 12 weeks, the brain becomes MUCH better at processing, and most of my students have been able to return to a public school mainstream setting. They all improved in memory, attention, processing speed logic and more.

Look and see if there is a local coach to help you at www.brainadvancementteam.com. If there is no one, consider becoming a coach. More information about that is on the same website.

For products to try on your own, I have used many different programs, but I found that the best one currently on the market is The Equipping Minds Worbook (formerly called Academic Success Center Workbook) with over 25 activities and a DVD to train you. In fact, our Brain Advancement Coaches use it. It can be found at www.pyramidofpotential.com/products-for-parents.

At this point, you will want to retest your child’s cognitive skills to see just how much progress has been made. You can use this to show the school where you started and how far your child has come. They may be amazed at the changes that can be made in a year, and if you want to get your child into a less restrictive environment, you may need this documentation. The Gibson Cognitive Test can be purchased by contacting Bob Johnson directly. bobjohnson@pyramidofpotential.com or 518-902-9429

          Once the brain is in good working order, it is time to work on study skills and getting caught up! Any academic programs will now work, and it is imperative to work quickly. Try some of these, but really, if there is an excellent tutor or learning center near you, or if the school system is willing to do catch up during school hours, GREAT!!

It is time to celebrate!! Your child may not be perfect, but neither are we. You and your child are done with this when your child can do schoolwork independently. You can of course repeat any of the steps if necessary.

Best Wishes to you and your child!! 

Sincerely,

Kathy Johnson