You’ve probably heard about the Brain Training Games on Lumosity.com.  Lumosity offers scientifically-designed training to challenge your brain. They offer programs so that you can train your memory, improve attention, flexibility and problem solving etc. through their Personalized Training Program. Lumosity has an aesthetically appealing site with a wide range of game options and the ability to track your personalized development.

When parents learn of a child’s learning disability it is not uncommon for them to experience a grieving process similar to the stages of grief described by Elizabeth Kubler-Ross.  While not grieving a death, there is grief surrounding expectations parents may have held for that child.

It happens to everyone at least once.  You enter a room in your home, get in the car, or simply step outside and realize you do not remember why you went there, or what you needed, in the first place.  Leave the area, and then frustration mounts when you realize after you leave home that the library books are still on the kitchen counter. 

If your child sustains a concussion during play or competitive sports, recovery time typically  requires one to three weeks.  During this recovery time, the brain is not functioning at full capacity, even if your child appears to be doing just fine.  This can impact how your child tolerates life developments and her education. Knowing the signs and symptoms of concussions is critical. 

The holidays are approaching and with it, the anticipation for gifts.  It is often a struggle to keep learning positive as children are more focused on holidays, gifts, and school breaks and not their education. 

This month our focus is on four of the root causes behind why children lie. I was asked to do this first blog about the fact that children may lie when they are experiencing lack of success which often leads to low self-esteem. This is a painful subject for me. I can remember living out this scenario personally. For years I have tried to forget this part of my childhood. I can actually feel the anxiety and adrenaline surging through my brain and body at the thought of appearing less than perfect or flawed.

Do your child’s eyes get glazed over when you’re talking to them? Do they have a hard time following through on instructions you’ve given them? When it comes time to do their homework, are they confused about what they’re supposed to do? Has their teacher commented that they often don’t get started on an assignment but just sit at their desk? All of these may be symptoms of poor listening comprehension.

Now before you start looking for pitch forks and torches, let me explain: this is not my personal belief but rather something I hear from my clients on a regular basis. At Breakthroughs in Learning we work with children and adults who struggle to learn, so it’s little surprise that homework is not usually an area of celebration for them. However, my clients aren’t the only ones.  I hear from parents fairly frequently that their children are constantly trying to dodge homework. This marks the start of a series of blogs looking at some of the reasons your children or students may be avoiding homework.

“Parents [or teachers] of a child with a memory for information deficit are often convinced the child is irresponsible, lazy or stubborn..."  (Barbara Arrowsmith-Young)

We all respond and make decisions from belief systems often operating at the unconscious level. We look at situations in life through our belief systems, just like a pair of sunglasses. When we stop to examine the implications of this, it can be almost frightening. Where have I made assumptions or judgment calls unconsciously which have then clouded my future interactions with others? If we only look at behaviours, it’s easy to label a child with laziness, acting out, ignoring, bullying, fidgeting and distractibility as character traits. These labels do us and the child a great disservice by keeping us focused on the symptoms instead of looking for the root causes.