"Barbara" (19) has completed level 5 in several games, however she is still struggling with level 3 Sky Scanning and level 4 Tree Tic Tac Toe. I am beginning to suspect more auditory issues with her, and/or perhaps issues with sustained attention (she was on ADD meds from about age 11- 17). When she repeats back to me the numbers that she "heard", sometimes she doesn't get them right, even the first time. A week or so ago, we tried her writing them down, and calling them to me. She can get them written down correctly, so it may just be a very weak working memory. When she can hold them in memory, she is able to rearrange them in the correct sequence. The three grid Tic Tac Toe is especially challenging for her. She has improved, and one of the things I'm doing in "practice mode", until she gets better is to "call out" which grid she needs put her next mark in (1st, 2nd, or 3rd). This gives her a few more seconds to focus on which spot the mark should go in. At this point, we are battling a lot of negative self-talk especially on these two games. I've been reading some material on the value of physical activity prior to "brainwork", so this week hopefully, I will be able to get her to do some jumping jacks, or perhaps a quick walk around the block before beginning. She is working some odd hours this week, so getting our time in is a bit more challenging.
Susie has completed level 4 in a few games, but she is still wrestling with level 2 Sky Scanning, and Level 3 Bear Shuffle. Reverse alphabetical is still very hard for her, and once she has moved a card, it is very difficult for her to remember what the new sequence is.
Interesting occurrence with the Jumping Jaguar ~ we spent almost a week on Level 3 ( a quick glance of several blocks that contained 5 characters each, and be able to tell which one is different). level 4 was 6 blocks, but only 3 characters per block, and she was able to beat it right away.
I am seeing some improvement in her reading. She still skips words occasionally, but it seems to be a bit less frequently. Some of her "summer reading" time is dedicated to a church assignment of reading the book of Mark. We are using an NIV version that is fairly small print. I have been really surprised and pleased that she has done so well reading this orally to me, and missing so few words.
I think I need to find some ways to add in some "fun" or rewards as we progress through the program. Both girls still have that tendency to not see their progress, and I know that a sense of success strongly affects how much success actually occurs.
I have been working on going through Colleen's webinar on memory, her explanations are wonderful, and I hope to have Barbara listen to it soon, as it will help her understand why she struggles so, and hopefully will come to a better understanding that it's not that there is something really wrong with just her, but that a lot of kids struggle with these issues.
I should have mentioned the importance of hanging onto the logic and reasoning games…. spreading them out so that on those really tough days, when we couldn't pass a single level of anything, you can end the day on a positive note, by talking through the answers. Even if you don't get it on the 2nd try, you can read the explanation, and you get credit for completing something. Several sessions that would have ended with tears, instead ended with a smile.
P.S. We tried a couple minutes of jump rope, and a nice big glass of water before starting brainware today. I let Susie start with Turtle Recall, and when she got it right (Level 4) on the first try, she was so excited she jumped up and hugged me and said "I got it right, and I got it without getting all frustrated". She then did much better with her hearing/recall on Sky scanning. We haven't beat Level 2 yet, but I really believe it's coming soon!
I guess that about sums our week up!
blessings to all of you.
Anita
Anita,
You are doing a great job with your girls. The girls are doing fantatic, too! Great point to post about keeping the logic questions for a rainy day! I always remind the moms to keep them limited on a daily basis. The kids love them and want to keep moving through them quickly.
I would like to recommend another game, if you do not already have this at home. This game is called SET. http://astore.amazon.com/enh-20/detail/B00000IV34
This award winning card game is for one or more players. It is recommended for ages six and above. The object of the game is to identify "sets" of three cards. Each card is unique in its four features; color – red, green or purple, symbol – diamond, squiggle or oval, shading – solid, striped or open, and number – 1, 2 or 3. A "set" consists of three cards on which each feature is either the same on all of the cards, or different on all of the cards. This game contains complete instructions for play, 81 cards, and a durable plastic carrying case.
This type of game will help to strengthen visual, processing, attention logic/reasoning skills and most importantly, it is fun.
Blessings,
Colleen
Week 6 update ~ Colleen, thanks for the mention of the game SET. It was also loaned to me by the lady who loaned me the "vision card set", and I am seriously considering purchasing it myself. I haven't gotten to play it with Barbara much yet, but the younger two have really enjoyed it.
Ok ~ Biggest development….Susie beat Level 3 on Bear Shuffle! It was exciting to see her starting to get reverse alphabetical order, and she seems to remember the cards she has viewed a bit better now. A couple of days we've been close on beating that level 2 sky scanning, but we're just not quite there. Either she tires too quickly….or sometimes I think it's her slow processing speed. I'll say "ok what were the 3 numbers", and it's like she's struggling to pull them out. She eventually gets them out of her mouth, but sometimes takes so long between them, that she can't remember what she just said. I try to encourage her to "pick up the pace", or say them to a fast rhythm, to get them out several times quickly and close together, so that she will hear herself say them, remember them and be able to re-arrange. She has completed Level 4 on about 8 of the other games. I am seeing her reading more smoothly and confidently, as we work on books for the "summer reading program" at the library.
Barbara has had quite the battle this week. She has worked a lot of hours, and her shifts have been such that she cannot complete Brainware before work. After work, it's much more difficult to make progress. Yesterday, she was off, and I had planned for a full "workout" on Brainware. Unfortunately, we had a "family situation" with my non-brainware child, that ended up taking a good part of the day to work through. I think Barbara only got in about 2 days this week. If anything, she sometimes seems to get worse with the Sky Scanning level 3. A couple of variations I'm trying is….leaving the game alone, and just giving her 4 random numbers to remember and order. Today I tried to set a goal of just completing 3 sets of numbers on the game (promising that we would move to something else once she hit that goal). Despite numerous attempts, after 10 minutes, she had only gotten 2 sets completed correctly. This was after working an 8 hour shift, and I also did not incorporate the "physical exercise" prior to the attempt. It is becoming increasingly difficult to keep her thinking/feeling positive about this exercise when she has such a hard time remembering. She's admitted to the "Some days, I just want to get it over with" thinking, and I need to get her out of that mode. I've sent her a link to Colleen's memory webinar, but she hasn't listened yet (I may have to block her FB, so she'll have to ha ha!!) She has completed level 5 in a number of the games, but she is still on level 4 of the Tic Tac Toe game. It is imperative that she not give up!
One of the things both of these girls battle is wanting to give up when things get hard. My youngest, I am able to push, and when she cries, I can comfort her, but at the same time encourage her to go on. My oldest will sometimes just "shut down"….and it's very hard to counsel her through that. Before it's over with, I may find myself issuing some ultimatums, to get her focused on trying. If she will try, I will do everything I can to help her, but I want the personal cost to her to be very high, if she chooses to give up.
Guess that about wraps it up!
Anita
Colleen, it's great to hear the progress the family is experiencing with BrainWare Safari. It's not uncommon to get stuck — many users call it "hitting the wall" — at some point when you're working in an area that's weak. But then when your brain finally makes those connections, it's so exciting.
Saying the number out loud and repeating them in Sky Scanning is another technique that can help a lot. Often we find that the need to do that fades away after a time and that the rehearsal takes place internally. Another approach is to just focus on the first number, then the first two numbers and celebrate those smaller victories before pushing for all three numbers.
I'd just also like to congratulate Anita on her commitment to helping her children — sometimes parenting is harder than you think, but it will be worth it!
Keep up the great work!!!