Back to School, Back to Homework. Your Questions Answered!

2. I was a struggling learner. Isn’t it possible that my kid just inherited my learning disabilities?  While genetics can contribute to a small portion of learning struggles (like reading difficulties), the majority of learning struggles are simply the result of weak cognitive skills. Students with ADHD, for example, tend to have weak selective, divided and/or sustained attention. Likewise, students with reading struggles are almost always weak in phonemic awareness and auditory processing. Even inherited learning struggles don’t need to be lifelong labels or diagnoses; cognitive skills can be strengthened to make learning easier, faster and even FUN!

3. How is it that smart children struggle learning to read, write and do basic math?  Unfortunately, some people wrongly assume that less-than-stellar grades or difficulty with homework are a reflection of poor teaching, lack of intelligence or laziness on the part of the student. This is rarely the case.

The truth is, most bad report cards or learning difficulties are just a reflection of a struggling learner, many of whom actually have an above-average IQ. That’s because IQ is simply an average of all the underlying cognitive skills, so it’s possible for a student to have a high IQ score and a learning problem at the same time.

For example, a child who has ADHD may have a severe deficiency in the mental skill of attention, and be well above average in other cognitive abilities. When you lump it all together and average it out, it’ll look like there’s no problem because the IQ score is average. In fact, that score is masking what could be a serious problem.

4. How can I give my child a boost to ensure they succeed this school year?  Personal brain training strengthens the underlying cognitive skills needed for students to succeed in any subject. Since every program is customized, even gifted and talented students can benefit from brain training.

5. How do you strengthen weak cognitive skills?  LearningRx uses proprietary, customized training programs based on years of clinical and scientific research. These include a combination of one-on-one work with a professional trainer combined with at-home follow-up.

6. Isn’t brain training the same as tutoring?  Not at all. Tutoring is academics-based and should only be used when a student has fallen behind in specific subjects (such as history) due to an illness, injury or family move. Brain training improves the underlying skills needed to perform tasks (like reading) and make learning easy. LearningRx’s programs tackle the source of learning struggles and fix them with permanent solutions.

To learn more about how LearningRx can help, please go to:  www.learningrx.com/kennesaw