Mom states that the girls are still making progress in several areas. Read for details:
The girls were very consistent last week. Barbara's work schedule was a bit more conducive to completing Brainware on a daily basis. We're relying on the headphones more, and it does seem to make a difference. The larger monitor is easier for her to work at.
The biggest improvement was beating level 4 tic tac toe. She is still working on level 4 sky scanning, and level 5 bear shuffle is very difficult for her has well. She has completed level 6 in a couple of games. Differences in academics will be difficult to see, unless/until she begins some college work.
It is very interesting to note, that she now has chosen to attempt her Bible studies using KJV….something that she would not likely have done in the past (those who are familiar with the various versions of the Bible, will know that this is a much more challenging read, than some of the more modern versions).
Susie is still having a very hard time recalling the 4 numbers for Sky scanning level 3. Headphones or not, she just really struggles with this. The visual skills necessary to find the numbers in the large field also seem to be very weak.
She is improving on the level 4 tic tac toe….she can actually remember which grid to play on when it is her turn, but she is still learning how to "see" the computers moves, and where she has to go to block them. She is improving on Bear Shuffle level 4….while I still have to help with figuring out the new arrangement of cards after moves, she does manage to get them placed in numeric order. She has completed level 5 in a couple of games.
In working on one of the "arrow games" that requires you to rotate the arrow 90 degrees clockwise, it's been fascinating to me to see her able to do this in her head! While she's not fast enough to get them all within the time limit, she is progressing.
As we've started schoolwork, I have seen some improvements in thought process (in areas like math, and recognizing parts of speech in sentences). When she makes a mistake in spelling, if I can point her to a word that she previously got right with the same pattern, she can now see where her mistake is, and fix it herself. (example: for the word could, she wrote cloud.
When I told her it followed the same pattern as would~that she'd written earlier, she was able to look at would and fix her cloud to read could). This is a really big deal, as she's recognizing patterns, something that I don't think she would have been able to do last year.
I guess that about covers it for this week!
Anita
Anita:
Please reassure Susie that the fact she is on level 4 of Sky Scanning is a major accomplishment. Most children have a very difficult time with this game. They find it to be the most challenging.
*Note: As is typically the case, different students mentioned different games, likely reflecting the specific areas where their individual skills were not as strong. Sky Scanning, an exercise that develops integrated auditory and visual skills and that most users find challenging, was mentioned by several students as being difficult (LEC 2009).
Everyone is progressing along nicely and you are doing a very good job as a Very Important Parent (VIP) to coach your children to success.
Keep up the good work, Anita and girls!
Blessings,
Colleen
Colleen,
I emailed this post to you….but I've had a few issues with emails not going through, so I will post now. If you end up with duplicate posts, hopefully you can clean it up on your end.
Week 11
Susie is still working on Level 3 sky scanning….progress is very slow, much as when we were working on level 2…but we keep pushing on. She's working on level 4 bear shuffle and tic tac toe. She has completed level 5 on about 6 other games. As we work on her schoolwork, I do see some improvement in her spelling. On math, I'm really torn between approaches. The past few years, we'd been doing "workbook style" curriculum, where she wasn't required to copy her own problems, she would just work directly on a page. This year, I pulled out the Saxon 54 her sister had used. It starts out pretty "basic", so I know the work is mostly within her abilities, but the physical act of writing down her own problems does stress her system some. However, I'm learning from brainware that stress can bring about growth, so I have her write them, but occasionally give her a 'break' and write one or two for her. I am still a little concerned in how she will skip words when reading, especially if she is tired.
I am so excited! Barbara is getting closer and closer to beating that level 4 Sky scanning. Her biggest improvement seems to be the speed at which she is finding the numbers. She is still working on level 5 tic tac toe and bear shuffle, and has completed level 6 on 7 games. Her total levels completed to date is 124. When I can catch her in a positive mind-set, she does feel like she's a little "sharper" than she used to be.
There is an "extended family" member who had provided me with some materials when the girls were first diagnosed with these learning issues. She is an elementary school teacher at a small private school north of here, and she has seen a lot of these sorts of difficulties with her new students each year. I am looking forward to sharing with her about Brainware, and some of the advances that kids can make utilizing cognitive skills training.
We will likely continue working beyond week 12….I will continue to send through updates.
Blessings,