KoolMinds BrainWorks Cognitive Skills Program
Bridging the Gaps Dyslexia Center is excited to partner with Kool Minds for this program. This program can be done at home at the fraction of the cost of other similar programs. However, you can have the option of a hybrid program if you want our trained staff to conduct part of the sessions.
What Makes an Effective Cognitive Skills Program?
Is This What My Child Needs?
AUDITORY DISCRIMINATION
The ability to recognize similarities and differences in the different parts of language.
CONCEPTUALIZATION
Allows us to take abstract concepts to concrete to get to the real meaning of how something is structured and how to apply it.
A necessary skill needed to identify the positions of structures relative to other structures or location. Seeing “b” as “d,” or “p” as “q,” reading “was” as “saw,” writing from right to left and not knowing right from left are all symptoms of low directional skills.
DIRECTIONAL ORIENTATION
This program hones key cognitive skills, including:
FIGURE GROUND
The ability to focus on the “figure” or the important stimuli against a background of competing stimuli. The volume of stimuli coming to the brain at any given time is incredible. this skill is needed to maintain concentration while being distracted.
CROSS-PATTERNING
Engages both hemispheres of the brain to help activate more neuropathways for the brain to communicate. Cross-Patterning is the epicenter of most processing abilities and allows free open communication between the right and left brain hemispheres which is a vital skill in retention.
FOCUS/CONCENTRATION
Being able to give the appropriate attention to a task until it is completed. A student's ability to keep the eyes and mind on a task long enough to gather all pertinent information can have a profound effect on how the student learns.
PROCESSING SPEED
TRACKING
VISUAL SPATIAL AWARENESS
The pace at which we take in information, make sense of it, and begin to respond. The ability of the brain to respond within a given time frame. Weak processing speed is often a problem for students who have difficulty with reading fluency.
The ability for the mind and eyes to gather all necessary pieces of information. One of the major visual skills needed to perform the act of reading is the ability of the eyes to track. During the act of reading, the eyes must accurately follow the lines of the text and move precisely from one word to the next.
WORKING MEMORY
Allows us to process and transfer new information from short term memory to long term memory.
How we recognize space and the positions and shapes of objects in that given space. This is the skill we use in determining where we are in relation to our physical and emotional world. Frequently, low positioning will cause an inaccurate perception of one’s relationship with others. The skill of size is the skill we use in understanding volume. When perception is too large, tasks may be seen as overwhelming. When perception is too small, tasks may be left to the last minute when completion is impossible.
CROSS-PATTERNING
Engages both hemispheres of the brain to help activate more neuropathways for the brain to communicate. Cross-Patterning is the epicenter of most processing abilities and allows free open communication between the right and left brain hemispheres which is a vital skill in retention.
FOCUS/CONCENTRATION
Being able to give the appropriate attention to a task until it is completed. A student's ability to keep the eyes and mind on a task long enough to gather all pertinent information can have a profound effect on how the student learns.
WORKING MEMORY
Allows us to process and transfer new information from short term memory to long term memory.
Who Can Benefit from the Cognitive Skills Training Program?
Students of all ages! This training has the power to improve the quality of life and learning for almost any student regardless of their current level of learning or reading success. We can help anyone who wants to learn, read, and think faster and easier. Our cognitive skills program exercises the brain in the same way that a fitness coach works with your muscles, and results are similar – more strength to accomplish the task. Over the past decade we have recorded dramatic results including but not limited to, improved performance in learning, reading, and math skills. We love to help anyone: students of all ages facing new challenges, career professionals looking for a competitive advantage, or those simply wanting to keep or refresh their mental edge for a fun, productive life.
We are committed to helping our trainees improve their thinking and brain function: we teach students how to learn.
Anyone can benefit from our Brain Works cognitive skills program, from children to adults; those with learning disabilities will especially see great improvements in their cognitive skills. Among the learning problems our program addresses are:
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attention deficit disorder (ADD)
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attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
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central auditory processing disorder
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reading struggles
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math struggles
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memory challenges
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moderate focus struggles
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high-functioning autism
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visual processing disorder
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nonverbal learning disorder
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Asperger’s syndrome
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sensory integration disorder
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dyslexia
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aphasia
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dyspraxia
If you don’t see your child’s or your learning problem listed, please give us a call; these are just some of the many issues we can cater to with our therapy methods.
Often, these learning disorders are due to processing deficits. In other words, it takes too much conscious effort to comprehend reading or math problems. While a fluent reader doesn’t need to sound out each word, for instance, someone with a learning disorder may have to do so. Through our testing, we may find that a student’s crucial brain skills, including attention, memory, auditory and visual processing, and processing speed, may need to be strengthened.
Ideally, these processing skills will become automatic by shifting them into the subconscious. This can be achieved through a very precise and distinct strategy called “loading,” which requires students to do multiple tasks at once. They start with two and, after those are mastered, we add a third task, and then a fourth, and so on. The theory is that the conscious mind can only handle a limited number of tasks at a time. Therefore, some processing tasks are forced into the subconscious, where most processing skills should be. This frees up the conscious mind to do higher-level work, such as comprehension and reasoning.
Learning will now be faster, easier, and more fun!