My daughter is dyslexic and also struggles with hearing sounds. The combination of the two issues have created much heartache and learning complications for both my daughter and myself. For the past two and a half years, I have been using various reading intervention programs, auditory programs, spelling programs, and implementing researched strategies.
At this point, she is at a pivotal point in her education: we can continue with these strategies and fall slowly behind or we can jump forward using a proven brain training program that goes behind the scenes where I cannot go easily. I have chosen to dish out the cash now (it is not cheap) instead of a slow and steady stream throughout her education in remediation curriculum.
I have not come to this decision lightly as it costs more than one month of my mortgage! However, four months of intense training will have huge payoffs immediately. Part of the responsibility of homeschooling is in making decisions like these. In conversation some have said to me that if she were in public school, there would be no cost. On the contrary, there would be no progress.
Last year I took her in to the public school to be tested for various learning issues. The results from three days of testing clearly show all of the "symptoms" of dyslexia and poor working memory, however, the Board's decision was that she is within normal learning levels. I'm sure it would be different once she was enrolled in the school since school funding is greatly increased per labeled child. She is seven and can not read, can not hear the sounds of short e, short i, b, d, and only hears parts of conversations while relying on context and visual cues. Lessons in reading, spelling, and math take excessive repetition to acquire a skill base. When talking with parents with children on the Spectrum, they instinctively recognize traits of their own children's struggles in her.
After much research, I had narrowed down my options to two programs: Earobics and FastForWord. Due to financial constraints, I chose Earobics and have witnessed slow but steady results for my daughter. Sadly, she is still falling behind because during this time period, a "normal" child develops quite rapidly and she just cannot keep up. Since that time, I have used Earobics with two other children and seen great results with the oldest one and slight improvement with the middle aged one. All three are receiving intensive reading and phonics tutoring, which verifies the impact that developmental stages can have on mastery learning.
I have come across documented case studies and statistics on the program Fast ForWord® in multiple research texts and online over the past three years. While online reviews indicated a lack of success, these reviewers also admitted an a la carte approach to the program where individuals were not fully following the program due to time demands. These reviews were all done on school usage. Despite this, a small posted comment by a mother of three restored my hope. She very simply stated that if the reviewer had actually completed the program correctly, it would match her son's results. She said that she would pay even more money for this program it was that beneficial.
The Customer Service department is very personable and provide plenty of support. I found it weird to be talking to someone who understood Auditory Processing Disorders and the like and had a personal testimony about a child like mine. She was not pushy, just knowledgeable. The FastForWord online program we are using is called BrainPro and before you start, you must choose an available Consultant who will work with you throughout the program. They even match your time zones for phone calls! All of the Consultants bios were extremely impressive and thorough.
Even before I paid my dues upfront, the BrainPro Representative walked me through all of the screens I would be using online, gave me details on the starting games for my daughter, and logged me in.
My daughter eagerly sat with her headphones on and intently watched the screen. I later read that I should have a dual headphone jack so I could listen in also; This is needed! I kept distracting my daughter by yelling loudly so she could hear me ask "DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE DIRECTIONS?" She would nod. I would ask again because it looked like she was doing nothing. Finally, she said, without glancing away, "Mom, this is hard! I'm trying to listen!" She gets it ;)
Several times during the three games, which took 30 minutes, she asked if she could stop. I'd encourage her and she would resume. After it was all done, she then asked if she could do it all over again! (I knew my daughter would ask me this and so I had previously asked the Representative if that was possible. She said she'd have to ask the Consultant I chose!)
Day One: Success!
After much research, I had narrowed down my options to two programs: Earobics and FastForWord. Due to financial constraints, I chose Earobics and have witnessed slow but steady results for my daughter. Sadly, she is still falling behind because during this time period, a "normal" child develops quite rapidly and she just cannot keep up. Since that time, I have used Earobics with two other children and seen great results with the oldest one and slight improvement with the middle aged one. All three are receiving intensive reading and phonics tutoring, which verifies the impact that developmental stages can have on mastery learning.
I have come across documented case studies and statistics on the program Fast ForWord® in multiple research texts and online over the past three years. While online reviews indicated a lack of success, these reviewers also admitted an a la carte approach to the program where individuals were not fully following the program due to time demands. These reviews were all done on school usage. Despite this, a small posted comment by a mother of three restored my hope. She very simply stated that if the reviewer had actually completed the program correctly, it would match her son's results. She said that she would pay even more money for this program it was that beneficial.
The Customer Service department is very personable and provide plenty of support. I found it weird to be talking to someone who understood Auditory Processing Disorders and the like and had a personal testimony about a child like mine. She was not pushy, just knowledgeable. The FastForWord online program we are using is called BrainPro and before you start, you must choose an available Consultant who will work with you throughout the program. They even match your time zones for phone calls! All of the Consultants bios were extremely impressive and thorough.
Even before I paid my dues upfront, the BrainPro Representative walked me through all of the screens I would be using online, gave me details on the starting games for my daughter, and logged me in.
First Use:
My daughter eagerly sat with her headphones on and intently watched the screen. I later read that I should have a dual headphone jack so I could listen in also; This is needed! I kept distracting my daughter by yelling loudly so she could hear me ask "DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE DIRECTIONS?" She would nod. I would ask again because it looked like she was doing nothing. Finally, she said, without glancing away, "Mom, this is hard! I'm trying to listen!" She gets it ;)
Several times during the three games, which took 30 minutes, she asked if she could stop. I'd encourage her and she would resume. After it was all done, she then asked if she could do it all over again! (I knew my daughter would ask me this and so I had previously asked the Representative if that was possible. She said she'd have to ask the Consultant I chose!)
Day One: Success!
Week One Update
I had not fully understood how to correctly log my daughter into her account; I didn't see where she was supposed to log in. I kept using my log in information thinking that she logged in under me on a separate page. Nope! During my phone call with Customer Support, he said that he fixed a virus. I think, however, it was just me not realizing that my daughter logged in on the home page INSTEAD of me :)
I'll never know because everyone was so polite about it!
When you sign up for BrainPro, you choose a Consultant. Our Consultant is very friendly and personable. She chatted with me on her cell phone after standard work hours and also recommended a speech program she thinks will help my daughter to learn to read very quickly. Her bio is my dream job! Check out these Consultant bio's here.
My Consultant recommended that I take away the visual modality so that she is just hearing the hi/low sounds in one particular game. This worked well. I had my D (try to) stand (still) facing away from the computer and I pushed the start button. She would then say hi/low or hi/low hi/low.
She plays three games each day. At this point, until she gets her scores up to a certain level, we will keep her at thirty minutes each day. The Consultant can increase her game time intervals for us at a later time even though after each session, my D asks for more!
My D likes to check her scores on the overall page when she is done with the session. I have not told her yet that she is earning points and that there is a "points game room." I will tell, I promise! I want her to get a handle on the games first without wanting to rush through them to get to the game room.
Now that I have the dual headphone jack (which works only 10% of the time...), I can personally say that the sound discrimination tasks are hard! This is in part because they are at a very mumbled like, slow pace. Unfortunately, research has stated and I can tell from her word speech that this is very close to how she hears our common communications. As she progresses in the program scores, the speech sounds will reach more normal levels as a training of the brain. I'm excited!
Week 2 Update
Having the knowledge and daily availability of our Consultant is making this program excellent for usability. My daughter and I do the program and I can shoot her an email asking about her progress detailing how I thought the session went. My DD is still trying to break through the training level on one sound discrimination game. Usually, she will play either 3 or 4 games, for a total of 30 minutes daily.
Since the tasks are difficult for my DD, I do need to sit with her the entire time, sometimes helping with the start click on the mouse. She then uses the arrow keys for the responses. This helps us move through faster and increases her attention to the task of immediately responding to the sound changes. My DD's difficulty of hearing low frequencies is definitely prominent right now and is a challenge for her when there isn't a higher comparable sound to match it to. An example would be pressing the down arrow twice for 2 low sounds, instead of hearing a low/high, high/low, or even a high/high. She actually took my advise of immediately repeating the sounds out loud before she presses the arrow keys! This is helping greatly and I can see her pause to process on the difficult ones. The Auditory Processing Loop fades very quickly and the rehearsal is crucial for remembering.
Our Consultant also sends me helpful hints for each game, offers other activities or games that will improve her online game skills quicker. Since we only have a 4 month subscription, I'm all for working off line! With these helps, I am hearing a remarkable difference in the clarity of my DD's word repetition. One game says a word slowly and a bit slurred and then shows you four pictures that are only one phoneme/sound different. She then has to click on the correct picture. Even at two week's in, I am hearing her repeat the words and click on the correct picture with excellent accuracy. She was unable to do so before. In conversation, she would always guess at a word, substituting a similar sound instead. The specific attention to sound and their order (beginning, middle, end) that she needs to dedicate for the game is bringing about an increased attention to sound order!
I love this program! It is one on one. I do need to sit with her for the full 30 minutes. Trying to keep four other kids quiet and out of the open computer room, however, is definitely a struggle. On games where I haven't been giving her direct attention or am distracted by a family problem, she pouts that it is "boring" or "hard" (even though she asks to play them all over again!) and her scores go down. She doesn't try as hard. I need to be there for motivation and attention to task. I did, however, introduce her to the program's points system today to give her new motivation for answering correctly.
Love it!
She is reading over my shoulder as I type. She is reading sentences in books. She is reading labels in the stores as we walk by. This is amazing! She has been learning to read for over two years.
I've noticed there are still some problems hearing the short sound of /e/, however, even this is consistent with her scores on the FF games.
Her working memory capacity is also noticeably increased in that she can play the sound memory game now without difficulty. This is evident in her reading in that she can now read a whole 5-7 word sentence all the way through once and remember the beginning words.
My husband commented that this program is worth every penny ;)
Day 30 Review
Although it is time consuming (amazing how long a 30 minute daily commitment can seem!), it is definitely working on my DD's problem areas. At times, she is very frustrated. More than once she has been brought to tears because she could not get the cow over the fence in a particular game. I have to drag my nurturing side upfront and encourage her: "This is why we are doing this program! You are doing great. It is fixing in your brain the things that are disorganized. Just keep going! See how far you have come already! You are identifying a change in sounds when before you didn't even know they were different!"
The Consultant encouraged me to share her weekly progress tracking charts with her so that she has a tangible way to visualize her growth. I found this an excellent tool for keeping her spirits up and for giving her the bigger picture. She became motivated to get to the top 100% in order to move into the "big kid games" at the next level. With two older brothers, she is always looking to get where they are ;)
When I was researching Fast ForWord, I would have found it extremely helpful to know more details about what the games would be targeting. Since my DD is 7 and in first grade, she is in the first set of games. There are 7 games. At this point, she is playing 3 games for 10 minutes each most days. On some days, which are the days she prefers, she plays 4 games for the thirty minutes. I continue to sit with her for the full 30 minutes with one ear bud in to listen along.
The games work these skills:
- listening accuracy
- auditory sequencing
- phonological accuracy
- phonological fluency
- sustained attention
- vocabulary
- auditory word recognition
- phonological memory
- following directions
- English language conventions
The audible speech sound has 4 or 5 levels (it is eluding me as to what number the Consultant said). As I mentioned previously, the first week's sound was very fuzzy to me. It was explained to me by the Consultant that this is how many kids with an Auditory Processing Disorders hear. From personal experience I can now say, it is frustrating! I had to work harder to piece the word together slowly after each word was spoken, which then put me behind on the next word. These kids have their work cut out for them! I am delighted that my DD is now at the speech level one below normal speech speed.
Here is a quick video of my DD and I starting one of the games. She has to click on the fish and listen to its word or word part. Then, she has to click on each fish to find its matching sound. The game board changes between 16 sounds and 8 sound fishes. At first, she had a very difficult time matching the sounds. With the strategies the Consultant instructed me to do with her, my DD has made good progress going through the game board in a set sequence to find the sound pairs. We also worked on repeating the target sound every 2 or 3 new clicks in order to keep the target sound fresh in her mind (phonological processing loop). As you will hear in the video, it is a family affair for us and all three of her brothers encourage her by watching (it is a computer game, after all!) and will even listen in with my other ear bud!
Success Moment ;)
We were driving in the car listening to The Story of the World CDs and my DD said to us, "They said the word 'impassible,' not the word 'impossible.'"
Tears sprang to my eyes! First, she hadn't complained "I can't hear it...turn it up...more...more...more." And then this! She heard the difference in sounds! On her own!
My DD is READING!!!
She is reading over my shoulder as I type. She is reading sentences in books. She is reading labels in the stores as we walk by. This is amazing! She has been learning to read for over two years.
I've noticed there are still some problems hearing the short sound of /e/, however, even this is consistent with her scores on the FF games.
Her working memory capacity is also noticeably increased in that she can play the sound memory game now without difficulty. This is evident in her reading in that she can now read a whole 5-7 word sentence all the way through once and remember the beginning words.
My husband commented that this program is worth every penny ;)
Half Way Point: Day 50
We have made it half way! It has been an excellent journey but just as long for me as it has been for her. It really does require 100% from both the child AND the parent for maximum benefit. On days where I have had one of my older sons sit with her, she doesn't try as hard (despite their "comments" do improve ;).
Here are some of the weekly reports that are sent to us by the Consultant. They are very helpful in seeing progress. My DD and I look forward to them each Saturday!
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| This is our favorite graph! |
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| The bold percentages denote the highest score so far.
At this point, there are three games that she has completed and two target games that are really working some difficult areas for her. Unfortunately for her, that means that she is working on them repeatedly! I have to constantly praise her throughout the games to keep her spirits up (that's a good exercise for me!). Sometimes she is brought to tears from trying so hard though.
On a more upbeat note, her reading continues to improve! The difficult vowel sounds that give her pause in the games still are evident in her reading, but her fluency is still increasing despite this hick-up. This was never the case before Fast ForWord!
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Day 60 Update
Here is another video clip of the game that works auditory word recognition and phonological memory. The exercise in this clip is at Natural speech level. Even though she is at 100% for this game, it does occasionally come up again. This is a good brain based strategy as it is lengthening the time interval between acquired skills to increase long term retention :)
When she started this game, my DD could not remember past three "fish" for her original sound match. The Consultant taught me different strategies to do with her since she was just clicking wildly, not focusing on any one sound. The Consultant also had us play the kid's game Memory to increase her speed and skills. A few weeks after some (what should have been more intense practice sessions...) offline practice, she began showing marked improvement in remembering 1-2 more of the other word/sound groups as she was systematically going through the fish to find her first target sound. In this clip here, she is simultaneously searching for 2-3 sound pairs!
On a personal note, I was proud of myself for completing all 5 days during the work week without having to use a weekend day for catch up :) AND... they were all done before she was tired and ready for bed :))
Day 65...Crunch Time!
We are getting down to the nitty gritty skills that really have been causing difficulties all along. They seem to be the "resistant" isolated sounds and higher order skills. The sounds for my DD are: /i/ and /e/. The skills are auditory sequencing and listening accuracy and fluency. We are in the count down crunch time! I feel the days of paid support and fine tuning ticking down now more than before.
Can she/we finish our four months with success in all areas? Can she/we really refine these tough areas? I will say that if success is less than %100, it is NOT in any way due to a lack of concern or assistance from BrainPro and the Consultant!
I think that the remaining push really needs to come from....ME. I need to help isolate and train past these areas with more gusto and determination, using more of the offline training aids and making the most of the remaining training sessions.
Confession ;(
I'm still feeling the crunch. And I'm caving. We went on a small vacation, for which I brought our headphones to log in and do...but we didn't. I thought to myself, "That's ok...we can make up those two days on the weekend." Nope, I didn't.
This week we were off more than we were logged in. Sigh. With the weather becoming nicer and her reading being soooo great, it is not high on my radar.
So, I am confessing to you, readers, so that by proxy, your following will hold me accountable! Now, I know it's late, but I don't think she is sleeping yet....
By The Numbers
Our last program day was May 30, 2013. I feel like quoting...
In May 2012, I brought my DD to our local school district for an Academic Evaluation. The Special Education Department teachers met with my DD five times for evaluations.
Let me highlight a few of the findings from each Evaluator as particularly pertains to skills addressed in the Fast ForWord program.
Special Education Teacher evaluation:
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, ... it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us ...
Charles Dickins, A Tale of Two CitiesThis program brought us the best of times and yet some days (especially during the final count down) it was the worst of times. This program became the spring of hope for our reading and listening difficulties and yet some days seemed like the winter of despair as we struggled to complete another day. This program put everything before us at our fingertips for success and yet we had nothing before us as a concrete formula for guaranteed success. But alas! We triumphed! And I have the numbers to prove it.
In May 2012, I brought my DD to our local school district for an Academic Evaluation. The Special Education Department teachers met with my DD five times for evaluations.
Let me highlight a few of the findings from each Evaluator as particularly pertains to skills addressed in the Fast ForWord program.
Special Education Teacher evaluation:
- (T) provided the sound for lower case i and did not respond to lower case u.
- When given a writing prompt, she wrote a two word sentence but then was able to verbally provide extensive details to her frog narrative.
- (T) required verbal prompting, positive praise, tangible reinforcement and breaks between tasks in order to remain on-task and follow directions.
- (T) demonstrates average grade and age level appropriate skills within reading, math, and writing.
Speech/Language Evaluation:
- Throughout testing, (T) had a difficult time attending to task.
- The CELF-4 and CTOPP tests were administered. She tested in the 47% for receptive language, 53% for language structure, 16%, 3%, and 2% for rapid naming skills. Her Overall Phonological Awareness percentile rank was 77%, Phonological Memory rank was 58%, and her Rapid Naming Composite was 3%.
- On the sentence structure subtest, she demonstrated a relative weakness in her ability to interpret spoken sentences of increasing length and complexity.
- Expressive vocabulary was an area of relative weakness and she used strategies for recall and associative meaning.
- (T) score in rapid naming, the ability to efficiently retrieve information from her long term memory, fell in the poor range. Students who present with difficulties on rapid naming are expected to have difficulty reading fluently.
Psychologist's Evaluation:
- She required frequent redirection from the examiner.
- On the Verbal Composite, which measures a child's ability to process verbal information and apply verbal skills, she was at 45th percentile. Information subtest was 37% rank by age, Vocabulary was 25% by age, and Word Reasoning was 75% by age.
- Her Processing Speed Composite, which measures the speed of mental operations and graphomotor processing, was in the 42nd percentile. She did better on a visual scanning task for matching. The subtest for Coding was 25% by age.
As a parent and and home educator with a strong background rehabilitative practices, these results put numbers to our needed target areas. Personally, I saw "Dyslexia" written all over these results in addition to her auditory processing issues. She relied heavily on visual and context clues for comprehension which was putting a strain on her working memory. I conceded that it was the brain that needed rewiring for her to improve efficiently and effectively.
I compiled the following table for her Fast ForWord results for a comparison.
Skill Groups
|
Starting %
|
Ending %
|
Total Minutes
|
| Listening accuracy and auditory sequencing |
0
|
29
|
553
|
| Phonological accuracy |
6
|
69
|
326
|
| Phonological fluency and sustained attention |
0
|
20
|
313
|
| Vocabulary and auditory word recognition |
0
|
100
|
157
|
| Auditory word recognition and phonological memory |
0
|
100
|
501
|
| Following directions |
4
|
97
|
300
|
| English language conventions |
6
|
100
|
172
|
How amazing is that!
Beyond Fast ForWard
It is now July of 2013 and my DD's growth from the program is still strong! She still struggles with listening accuracy with specific sounds (/i/ and /e/) that we are targeting with a great speech program called LiPS that the Consultant highly recommended. With that said, it has not slowed her overall reading fluency down and this program teaches her to feel the sound and the correct mouth/tongue placement. Her previous strategy was to give up or stare at the page. Big improvement with the auditory word recognition and phonological memory!
The Consultant also said to continue with her music instruction as the piano will continue to improve her listening accuracy and auditory sequencing. Both of the Consultant's recommendations have continued to develop her skills after Fast ForWord.
Her sustained attention continues to improve slowly as she gains more and more confidence in her new abilities. Her previous "can'ts" have hurt her desire to try things that were difficult for her prior to the program. I'm truly amazed at how well and quickly she is reading now, even though she will only read the first page of any book. It will take time for her to trust her own abilities again.
I also have to note that her ability to comprehend numeracy greatly improved after the program. It was immediate. It was like her brain just didn't have to work at pulling out the names for what the "number picture" was on the page or in conversation. She went from one on one coaching to her telling me what every number she saw was called! "It's 77 degrees out today," "It has been 30 minutes," and on and on! And, she could read all the directions in her course work to herself in order to complete an activity!!!!! (This was huge for us!) She could follow her own directions!
I just can't say enough good things about Fast ForWord as it changed not only my DD's quality of life, but ours as well.
Thank you for following our journey!
Webinar Participant!!!!
I am very excited about my upcoming participation in a Brain Pro webinar. I will give an overview of my (and my DD's) experience with the program after a neuroscientist speaks about the program's benefits!
The company has a great list of downloadable webinars you can listen to in addition to live webinars. Check out this list of webinars!
Hope you will join us on August 5, 2013 at noon!
Time for Ice Cream!
We started a tradition in our homeschooling home without knowing it: when someone learns to read "fluently," then, as a family, we celebrate with ice cream! Well, as you know, my DD has been reading since participating in Fast ForWard. I wanted to continue with her How To Read In 100 Easy Lessons book and I also added the "requirement" to read one book aloud each day in order to increase and improve her fluency speed. This month brought the day where we realized she needed her Reading Party!
My DD does everything at lightning speed when she is ready. Since her participation, she has been completing books and books of curriculum, from phonics to math to cursive writing! She has kept me busy checking her pages, something I had longed for prior to her Fast ForWord success.
To date, she is now concentrating on journal and story writing. The short sounds of /e/ and the /i/ remain a struggle for her, as at the end of her session, but I am not without tools to help her discriminate these sounds thanks to her Consultant's advice! Fast ForWord is almost like a "gift that keeps giving" and I can honestly say that I have not seen or come across a decline in the skills she learned and obtained through the program. None.
Turkey Day User
The conversation then went on to reveal that he just isn't motivated to learn to read well. Ahhh! I said (inside my head ;)
This internal motivation for a child to want to do something is soooooo pivotal in learning any skill. I cannot stress this enough. I think that this is actually the hardest part for an educator or parent to hurdle for and with the learner. It is also the part that as a parent, may be the hardest because you may need to hold back on a "reward" or known interest in order to propel them "ForWard" (hee, hee). I'm not saying make great, threatening stipulations. But, with parenting craftiness, you may find that you can turn an ongoing "pleasure" into a greater bang with just the right motivating, albeit longer term, circumstances.
The example I am thinking of is from my husband's own teen years, yes teens! Now I know I'm taking this from the late 80s, early 90s.... but, the point is still valid. It just might cost more money now ;) My husband's parents approached all four kids and said if each one did not watch TV for a year, then each one could earn a big ticket item. My husband really wanted a waterbed (it was the late 80s... ;) and signed on to the deal. Now, this is prior to video games being instant on as they are today. I should mention that my husband has an "addictive personality" to such items like TV and video games. So, the very thought of him going a year without such a "pleasure" is intriguing to me. Amazingly, he did it. His parents knew his internal motivation would push him to succeed if given the right extrinsic motivation. When I met him ten years later, he was still proud of his waterbed accomplishment.
I will also point out here that his parents took some precautions during this year. They installed an actual lock onto the TV. As the "motivator," you will need to help your child in small ways succeed. It's just like when people who go on clean eating spells purge their house of junk food first (I do it by eating it all....) so that they are not swayed by the immediate gratification available. When I decide not to eat unhealthy amounts of sugar and my husband comes home with a candy bar for me, my self control is just not up for the challenge. True story, by the way ;)
When I consider the modern day challenges of locking the TV to dissuade its use, I am overwhelmed by all the other gadgets that would have to be under lock and key. In today's high speed, 4G...5G? world, this is not truly viable safeguard anymore. But that's not to say things like this can't be done. Parents, you are crafty! You used to be kids once too ;) Give yourself time to mull over this radically different approach to motivation in any area of your or your child's life.
"Fast ForWord" to success and work backward! That's the only piece of advice I can give you at this moment...as cheesy as it is ;)
Almost a Year later...
I have to still say that Fast ForWord is the best thing that has happened to my family! And its rewards have been doing their 'thang for almost a year :) My DD is still going strong and she hasn't lost any of her gains made from the program.
When issues of reading concerns come up in conversations, I always ask if they have considered this program. Unfortunately, not many people are familiar with it so I refer them to the BrainPro website and tell them to search for my blog about the process if they are interested. Sometimes I'm curious if anyone uses the program after our conversation so if this blog has been helpful to you in your choice of programming, I would love a comment below! :)
Overall, I'd say that the biggest improvement is in her ability to learn something new in a timely manner. I no longer need to purchase 5-7 different text and work textbooks that cover the same material 5-7 different ways for the sheer repetition of it. She has only 1 math textbook, which is now at grade level!, and she can comprehend the new information as it is introduced and reviewed in just one program. She has only 1 cursive workbook, 1 phonics workbook, and only 1 spelling workbook! More importantly, she is able to handle her workload without the added emotional stress of "I can'ts." We can progress through her curriculum at a good pace, without needing to take calming breaks, relearning episodes, or intense scaffolding. This all leads to her ability to feel competent in her work and, interestingly enough, responsible for her education.
This may seem like small stuff and you may think I'm over crediting the program, but if you were to really know where we were for YEARS before the tremendous gains from Fast ForWord, the program's impact speaks for itself. Reread my last paragraph without the improvements and you may get a glimpse of how difficult things were for her, for me as a parent and teacher. We are truly thankful :)
(March 24, 2014)
The Gift That Keeps Giving ;)
I've been asked to present my experience in another webinar! I took this video of my DD reading last month:
As you can see, there haven't been any regressions. In fact, the framework created through the program has made a very solid foundation for her to continue to advance not only in her reading skills, but in all cognitive areas. Improvements in other subjects, especially math, and in listening skills have not declined. More importantly, her self confidence in her own learning abilities keeps her going.
She is very much aware of how this program and her hard efforts have changed her abilities. After listening to an older friend reading aloud, she privately commented to me that he needed to do the "computer games." I told her that I had mentioned Fast ForWord to his mom :)
I can see that thousands of people are researching this program and have come to my blog for these reviews. I want to personally say to those of you whom may be considering the BrainPro products, especially the Fast ForWord program, that the tears of pain and joy brought to my DD and I because of this program are REAL! and LASTING! I absolutely love not only this program, but this company.
She is very much aware of how this program and her hard efforts have changed her abilities. After listening to an older friend reading aloud, she privately commented to me that he needed to do the "computer games." I told her that I had mentioned Fast ForWord to his mom :)
I can see that thousands of people are researching this program and have come to my blog for these reviews. I want to personally say to those of you whom may be considering the BrainPro products, especially the Fast ForWord program, that the tears of pain and joy brought to my DD and I because of this program are REAL! and LASTING! I absolutely love not only this program, but this company.
(August 14, 2014)
Brain Pro Fast ForWard Scholarship Available!!
Here is the copy of the email I received:
Dear Amanda,
You are invited to apply to the first ever Fast ForWord at Home Scholarship!
One scholarship recipient will receive four months of access to the Fast ForWord exercises, provided through the BrainPro service, which provides you and your child with a trained consultant that will help you understand the exercises and coach your family so you make maximum progress while on the program.
The Fast ForWord exercises are so effective because they target the underlying causes of reading and learning difficulty, instead of putting a band-aid on them. Take matters into your own hands and apply for the scholarship today!
Click here for the Scholarship application and good luck! You will need to spend time writing short answers on the application :)
(October 22, 2014)