Anita says:
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
Brainware Week 7 ~
Sorry, it's taken a while for me to get to this.
Susie blew me out of the water Monday when she finally beat that Level 2 Sky Scanning! We were both so excited. Yesterday she beat level 4 on two more games. There are definitely some positive changes taking place. Her confidence is coming up, and even on a day like today, when she doesn't beat any games, she still walks away with an ok attitude.
Barbara is still very limited on her time. With all the morning shifts she's doing at work, we're not getting the recommended number of days in. However, Colleen has encouraged us to keep working at the Brainware as much as she can. We will see results, it will just take longer when less time is being dedicated to the work.
The encouragement cards that Colleen sent were AWESOME! That was a nice surprise for the girls.
Guess that's about it for now!
Blessings~
I will complete a full report early next week for Week 8, but I just had to share really quick. I was so excited that Barbara's memory has improved enough that she was able to beat Level 3 Sky Scanning! What a confidence booster for her!! Despite the shorter number of days per week, we can honestly say she is making progress!
Blessings!
Anita,
This is wonderful news for you and Barbara! You both are doing a great job. Remember, it is the journey that is most important with the brain training. The longer you are able to do the work, the more opportunity the brain has to adapt and predict, build pathways and strengthen skills.
If Barbara can only get to BWS a few times a week due to work, than just let it be for now. You definitely do not want to tax Barbara where her brain will be mentally exhausted while trying to get through the training.
Keep up the great work!
Colleen