Mom says:
Well, last week was the end of week 12, but we will be continuing to work with the program.
Barbara was again very limited by her work schedule, but she is steadily showing improvement. She is at about the same place with Bear Shuffle and Sky Scanning. The latest level of Tic Tac toe with the "disappearing marks" on the grid, is really quite challenging.
I have found a new way to practice for Bear Shuffle with both girls on their respective levels. I'm using a deck of playing cards, removing the 10's and most of the face cards. Queens become "0's" and Aces are 1's. I then lay out the cards face down, the girls turn them over and back again, I do a couple of re-arranges, and then they try to do the sort. The "hands on" seems to really help them, and I know when Susie went back to the "computer version", she did much better with it.
While I don't necessarily advocate "medicating" kids (Barbara was on ADD meds for several years, and we are still experiencing negative repercussions from that), a small amount of caffeine does seem to have a huge impact on their speed, memory and processing abilities. As an "experiment" the other day, I allowed Susie to have about 1/2 can of cola that had been sitting in the fridge for several days (flat pop…ick). Within 10 minutes, I could tell a huge difference in her performance. She remembered numbers better on Sky scanning, and came very close to beating Bear Shuffle and Tree tic tac toe. There were not those huge "pauses" in her processing, and she did not get near as frustrated with herself. Interesting….
To date ~ Barbara has completed 125 levels, Susie 118. Both have done most of the Ancient Logic and reasoning. I would like to see both get to 150 levels, so I'm guessing we'll be at this a while longer.
This is a fascinating journey that we are on, and I pray for much success to others who are also on it.
Blessings to each of you!
Anita,
I am so glad to hear your journey has been a fascinating and beneficial one for your girls. I am also happy to hear that you will extending your time with the program. I will be happy to speak with you and keep in touch as you continue on your journey. Feel free to keep blogging your experience to share with others how your daughters continue to grow on the program.
Colleen
We have "eased back" into our Brainware program, after a week out of town visiting family, and doing a little vacationing. I was very glad to see that the girls don't seem to have lost any ground. I had been told that once cognitive skill was gained, it wasn't easily lost, I believe that to be true now.
Barbara seems to be making "steady progress" despite, very limited work on the game. A lot of her skills are improving….I'll have to tell you next time exactly what levels of each game she is on, I failed to check before starting this post.
Susie has really hit her "wall" on most of the games, and it's very hard for her (and sometimes me) to not get discouraged. She will go a week or more at a time without beating any levels of any game. I've tried every rotation and variation, Sky scanning first, in the middle or last….occasionally we'll have a little better day, where it seems like she might be starting to progress a little, and then the very next day, she will be back to performing at the same level. I believe she has completed somewhere around 120 levels, but that does include finishing all of Llama logic.
The memory issues she has are so obvious with the sky scanning, occasionally she'll be able to remember (and rearrange) all 4 numbers once, or on a really good day 2 or 3 times, but that's about the most we've ever completed without a lot of help from mom.
I've considered looking into Rhythmic entrainment, but first we may look into purchasing a good quality metronome, and utilizing it during various activities throughout the day (or even just have it ticking in the background all day). We have used the online metronome that Colleen recommended, but I want something I can take to different parts of the house and utilize frequently. I've been looking at some research that says use of a metronome may help the body's own natural rhythm or "clock" to repair itself (my very non-technical paraphrase).
I will try to post again in a week or two, and provide info about where the girls are in specific games, and what seems to be their current challenges and/or victories.
I encourage each of you to press on forward, as you seek to help your children "be all that they can be".
Blessings,
Anita
Anita,
Hi. It has been 2 months since your last post. I am just checking in to see how things are going. I hope your family is having a wonderful holiday season thus far.
How are the girls doing with their BrainWare Program? Have you completed, paused, etc.?
Let me know how things are going.
Blessings,
Colleen