Struggling Student Makes All A’s with Brain Training
To take a leap of faith can be unsettling. Scary, even. Especially when it comes to a child who has fallen behind in school. That was the case for a San Antonio area family who chose to enroll their struggling student in a brain training program at LearningRx this fall.
They began their family’s journey to easier learning somewhat skeptical.
Less than three months later, they’re sold on it. And so is their son.
Keaton’s story is a lot like that of other children whose life struggles tend to overlap with challenges in school. Keaton’s mom, Jenny, has sometimes questioned whether Keaton’s frustration with reading and consistent dips in his grades are cognitive, psychological, behavioral, or academic related. So the San Antonio area mom has tried to check all the boxes when attempting to get her son help. This ultimately led Jenny to discover LearningRx Northeast and the concept of brain training, which, unlike academic tutoring, gets to the root of learning differences.
From the moment Jenny walked through the Stone Oak learning center’s doors and met Educational Specialist, Gina Cruz during Keaton’s cognitive skills assessment, she had a really good feeling about the place and program.
“Gina was awesome,” said Jenny. “She was so gentle with Keaton and made him feel comfortable throughout the assessment.”
According to Keaton’s mom, her son’s cognitive skills assessment confirmed what she and her husband had been seeing and feeling all along about Keaton’s struggles with schoolwork. His assessment revealed a deficit in his brain’s processing speed.
Processing speed, along with working memory and attention, goes hand-in-hand with a neurological disorder such as Attention Deficit Disorder. Both of these skills are also crucial for reading. Of the seven cognitive skills located in the brain, processing speed and working memory are the most important for overall learning and thinking.
The brain training solution
Gina told Keaton’s family that she believed the LearningRx Think Program could help Keaton quite a bit. The program entails working one-on-one with a certified trainer who runs through brain exercises and activities with the student. The sessions are intensive and fast-paced and they take place two to three times a week for an hour and a half.
The brain training process
Not unlike many of the kids who undertake brain training, Keaton stepped into the process a little apprehensive. It was a lot at first, especially on top of his already busy school and football schedule. But Keaton’s family made brain training the priority.
With each session, Keaton says the exercises became more doable. He could do them faster, too. Keaton also began to develop a special relationship with his trainer, Brenna. She has put an emphasis on getting to know not just her student’s brain but his whole self. She allows Keaton to pick the music the pair plays as a part of their lesson (for strategic distraction while working through mental exercises). Brenna also asks him about school and his interests outside of the classroom.
As a result of a very personal approach to their brain training sessions, Keaton’s interest in attending his brain workouts has grown a lot. “Now I’m excited about sessions because I know I get to hang out with my trainer, talk about football, listen to music, and laugh a lot,” says Keaton. “I’m a lot less frustrated now.”
While Keaton’s trainer, parents, and Keaton himself all see a difference in Keaton’s demeanor and ability, it was his first report card of the year last month that offered major confirmation.
Keaton got straight A’s – for the first time ever.
The result : big improvements
“This is a kid who last year got a C in reading and a D in math,” Keaton’s mom revealed. “What an improvement, even more – what a confidence boost.”
Keaton says he now enjoys reading more than he used to and has even discovered a special love for graphic novels.
Keaton still has several weeks remaining before he finishes the LearningRx ThinkRx program. At that point, he will retake the cognitive skills assessment that he took prior to starting brain training to compare scores among all seven cognitive areas.
“All we want is to give Keaton the best shot that we can give him,” said Jenny. “We just want school to be a little easier and life better overall in the big scheme of things.”
LearningRx Northeast is located just outside the Stone Oak area of San Antonio, Texas. It provides testing and brain training Monday through Saturday.
