My Son Announced He Was Dropping Out of High School: Mary’s Story

• September 15, 2011 by Norene Wiesen

This post is the fourth in a series aimed at sharing the success stories, both personal and professional, that Scientific Learning employees witness every day.

Mary’s Story:

I was hired at Scientific Learning in 2007 to educate people about the products as an Account Manager in the Midwest.  At the same time that I got the phone call to find out if I had interest in talking to Scientific Learning, our ninth grade son announced to us that he was not going to high school and he was going to drop out.  It took my breath away. Both his father and I have been educators for many years and we both hold advanced degrees. 

I said, “Todd, you have to go to high school,” and he said, “But I don’t want to go.” I said, “But you have to,” and he asked, “Well, what would happen if I didn’t go?” I said, “It’s the law, Todd.” Then he said, “I can’t read.  I can’t keep up with it.  You guys have done everything for me that is possible but I can’t read.  I can’t read at grade level.”

I called my son’s teacher (we convinced him to go to school) and I said, “Here’s the carrot.  My son doesn’t have to do any homework until he finishes this product.  This is his homework at night.”  And every night he came home and did Fast ForWord. 

And what he did is committed to doing 90 minutes a day and he was done is less than 4 weeks, and he did the post test and when I looked up the score my son had gone from seventh grade, one month reading level to tenth grade, two months reading level. He was a year above grade level and for the very first time in his life he said, “I love to read.”

All I can say is thank you to all the scientists that did all the work to bring this product to not only my son but to the parents and kids out there in America who need it so desperately.

Related Reading:

Language Skills Increase 1.8 Years After 30 Days Using Fast ForWord

Implementation Fidelity: Maximizing Your Fast ForWord® or Reading Assistant™ Investment

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Categories: Brain Fitness, Family Focus, Fast ForWord, Reading & Learning

Tags: academic success, accelerate learning, below grade level, employee stories, high school learning, improving reading skills, increased test scores, reading comprehension, self-esteem, struggling readers, student growth, success stories, technology in education, video

My Nephew Was A Struggling Learner (Not Anymore!): Carrie’s Story

• September 6, 2011 by Norene Wiesen

This post is the third in a series aimed at sharing the success stories, both personal and professional, that Scientific Learning employees witness every day.

Carrie's Story:

My name is Carrie. I'm a Marketing Specialist with Scientific Learning, and I have a story about Fast ForWord with my nephew, Izaak.  Back in 2006, he went to kindergarten for his first year.  At the end of kindergarten, his teacher told my brother and sister-in-law that although he had a beautiful smile and that beautiful smile could get him through the third grade, it wouldn’t get him past the third grade. 

He started with the Fast ForWord Language Basics program.  It took him five days to get through the product and then he went in to Fast ForWord Language.  Three or four days into Language Basics for Izaak, he was able to have a complete conversation with my brother and sister-in-law and my brother was just amazed that Izaak was able to actually have a conversation as opposed to short answers or short sentences. 

He got through the Language program.  He got back into kindergarten for his second year in the fall of 2006 and today he is at the top of his class.  It’s just very, very exciting to know that these products are life changing and they can make such a difference, and I am very grateful to all the founders and the people that have made the software what it is today so that kids all over the US and the world can…have their lives changed forever.

Related Reading:

Jolene’s Story: “I Saw Tremendous Change”

Leigh Ann’s Story: Making a Difference in Children’s Lives

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Categories: Family Focus, Fast ForWord, Reading & Learning

Tags: academic success, early learning, employee stories, language learning, oral language skills, student growth, success stories, technology in education, video

Leigh Ann’s Story: Making a Difference in Children’s Lives

• August 4, 2011 by Norene Wiesen

This post is the second in a series aimed at sharing the success stories, both personal and professional, that Scientific Learning employees witness every day.

Leigh Ann’s Story:

“Hi, my name is Leigh Ann.  I’m a BrainPro Representative with Scientific Learning and I have a few stories I would like to tell today about some outcomes that have really touched my heart.

The first story I want to tell is about Henry.  He’s eleven.  He lives in Michigan and his mom was really very excited to tell me this story. At eleven, he couldn’t spend more than fifteen to twenty minutes reading, and a month after he started our software he spent three hours in the hammock in his backyard reading a book from cover to cover.  And when he was finished he ran in the house and he goes, ‘That was fun!’ And his mom was just so thrilled when she told me that story.

There was a seventeen-year-old boy in Canada, and the Internet where they lived was not strong enough to deliver our software into the home.  So he had to drive forty minutes one way to his dad’s office.  So he drove an hour and twenty minutes each day.  That boy’s life completely changed.  His parents said he’s a different boy.  He saw himself catching up to the smarter kids in class.  It completely, totally changed his life.

And those are the stories, those are the things that help me get out of bed every morning and get to work with a big smile on my face and know that I’m make a big difference in children’s lives.”

Related Reading:

Jolene’s Story: “I Saw Tremendous Change”

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Categories: Family Focus, Reading & Learning

Tags: academic success, child reading development, effort, emotions in learning, employee stories, high school learning, improving reading skills, learning to read, motivating students, reading comprehension, self-esteem, student growth, success stories

Jolene’s Story: “I Saw Tremendous Change”

• July 19, 2011 by Norene Wiesen

We regularly hear from our customers that Scientific Learning employees are tremendously passionate and committed.  For many employees, that passion comes from having family members who have experienced dramatic improvements after using our products.  We thought it might be nice to share some of those stories with you, and today’s post is the first in a series aimed at doing just that.

Jolene’s Story:

“Hi.  I’m Jolene.   I’ve been a Progress Monitor with the company about two years.  When I first heard about Fast ForWord it was actually when I looked at a job posting and I looked into the company a little bit. 

It was an interesting timeframe.  I kind of looked at it when I got the job as a Godsend, because I have two twin boys myself and a little girl and they were behind in their reading tremendously so that we had ended up having to hold them back for third grade and they had to repeat. 

I took the software home and I had them go through Fast ForWord Language v2 first.  And I did all the facilitating and the monitoring just as I was doing with the teachers so it worked out very well. I saw tremendous change. 

The boys are at reading level now; they were a year-and–a-half behind.  So, it brings tears to my eyes to think that I was very fortunate to get this job so that I can not only make a difference with everyone else, but see success in my own family.

And continued success because I’m going to be using it with my little girl, too.  Thank you for letting me share. “

Related Reading:

Fast ForWord Featured on ABC 7 News

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Categories: Family Focus, Fast ForWord, Reading & Learning

Tags: academic problems, academic proficiency, academic success, accelerate learning, below grade level, child reading development, employee stories, improving reading skills, learning to read, literacy, struggling readers, struggling students, student growth, success stories

Fast ForWord Featured on ABC 7 News

• June 17, 2011 by Norene Wiesen

For those of you who missed the ABC 7 News spot last night, here's another chance to hear the success story of students at Korematsu Discovery Academy in Oakland, CA, who have seen reading test gains of 1.5 years, on average, since beginning the Fast ForWord program earlier this year. 

"You don't normally see that kind of gains," said the school's principal, Charles Wilson. "And it's not the kids fault, it's the system's fault for not providing the interventions that they need."

Wilson made the program available to his students for the first time this year with a $30,000 tech grant he received from the district.  He is now working on getting another grant to extend the program to all students at his school next year.

Scientific Learning's own Dr. Bill Jenkins is featured as well, discussing the science behind the program.

For parents interested in home use, learn about our BrainPro service which provides Fast ForWord software and an online tutor.

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Categories: Brain Fitness, Brain Research, Fast ForWord, Reading & Learning, Scientific Learning Research

Tags: academic success, accelerate learning, brain training, child reading development, cognitive skills, improving reading skills, increased test scores, student reading growth, technology in education, reading test gains

Antidotes to Summer Brain Drain (Part 2): 5 Ways to Pull the Plug on Learning Loss

• May 5, 2011 by Norene Wiesen

Last month Terri Zezula doled out tips for math skills practice over the summer.  But what about keeping up in reading and “staying in shape” for learning? 

Here are 5 more ways you can help your child stay sharp over the summer:

1. Read, Read, Read…and Understand

   If your child is working on basic reading skills such as phonics and decoding, provide plenty of opportunities to read silently and aloud.  Generate excitement about reading by helping your child create a reading list at the beginning of the summer.  Ask for recommendations from your child’s teacher and friends and from the children’s librarian at your local library.  If reading is a struggle for your child, take turns reading a story to each other.  Talk about the story.  Ask your child questions—what might happen next, and why?  What does your child think about what has happened so far? 

   If your child is good at decoding, broadening her exposure to life may be the key to improving reading comprehension^[i].  Find creative ways to associate new experiences with reading—such as pairing a field trip with a book.  After a trip to an art museum during which your teenager is taken by Matisse, visit the library for a book about Paris in the 20’s.  Or visit an observatory and follow up by reading about the constellations; then, take your child out into the dark night and see if you can identify the constellations yourselves.

2. Take Up a Musical Instrument

   Decades ago, families gathered in the evening to play music together.  Revive the tradition!  However poorly you might play, you’ll have fun together and stimulate your child’s brain to develop in beneficial ways.

   Research has shown that actively playing a musical instrument has positive effects on the brain.  In one study, six months of formal musical training resulted in positive changes for participants, such as improved perception of pitch in spoken language and improved processing of speech. The study authors concluded that a relatively short period of brain training—just 6 months—can have a significant, positive impact on the organization of children’s brains.

3. Cultivate a Growth Mindset

   Regardless of your child’s ability, the right attitude is essential in fostering risk-taking behavior and perseverance in learning. Research has shown that learners with a “growth mindset” who believe that their ability is fluid and that life is filled with opportunity thrive on new and challenging experiences, while those who believe their ability is fixed and unchanging are more likely to balk at challenges.

   To help your child develop a growth mindset:

   • Explain that the brain develops new neural connections in response to challenging learning experiences.
   • Give your child a challenge, and provide support by praising effort and progress rather than intelligence.
   • Model a growth mindset for your child – take on a challenging learning opportunity of your own and be up front when you encounter difficulties.  Talk with your child about how you plan to overcome obstacles that you encounter, and then follow through.
4. Give Your Child Stronger “Learning Muscles”

   All learning takes place on a foundation of critical cognitive skills, including memory, attention, processing, and sequencing.  A child must be able to hold information in working memory in order to complete all the steps in a multi-step task, and to stay focused on the task long enough to complete it.  A child’s brain must be able to process information rapidly enough to keep up with new incoming information, and to put all the elements in the right order to comprehend and use that information.

   Fun, web-enabled learning programs like BrainPro® software with consulting (for learners who are below grade level and need some extra help) can help strengthen your child’s cognitive skills to accelerate learning.  Learners using these programs typically improve up to 2 years in reading level in just 12 weeks and often see improvements in other subjects that rely on reading as well, such as math and social studies.

5. Unstructured Play

   While it’s easy to write off summer vacation as downtime from learning, it’s important to remember the importance of unstructured play in a child’s development.  Summertime can provide your child the freedom and opportunity to grow and explore in ways not possible during the busy, and often over-scheduled, academic year.

   Your child uses play to develop a host of important characteristics such as self-confidence and creativity, as well as social skills like negotiation and working in groups.  Opportunities for active, physical play set the groundwork for lifelong healthy habits and promote physical well-being.  Physical activity is an effective way for the body to rid itself of the stress hormones^[ii] that build up during the challenges of daily life.  Make time for play.

6. [i] Strauss, Valerie. Active Summer, Active Minds: Educators Seek Ways to Prevent Learning Losses During Vacation. Monday, June 15, 2009.

   [ii] Cotman CW, Berchtold NC. Exercise: a behavioral intervention to enhance brain health and plasticity. Trends in Neurosciences.  2002; 25(6):295-301. doi:10.1016/S0166-2236(02)02143-4

   Related Reading:

   5 Reasons You Should Limit Screen Time

   Fit Bodies Make Fit Brains: Physical Exercise and Brain Cells

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Categories: Brain Fitness, Family Focus, Reading & Learning

Tags: arts, auditory processing, child reading development, cognitive skills, emotions in learning, exercise, health and well being, how children learn, learning environment, learning through play, learning to read, literacy, motivating students, musical training, oral language skills, play, reading comprehension

Our Changing Education Landscape: Cutting-edge Research and Strategies for Today’s Educators

• March 15, 2011 by Norene Wiesen

Where is K-12 education headed? What might the future look like for educators and students? Join us for a free webinar and get the answers with Dr. Willard R. Daggett, Friday, March 18, at 10am Pacific.  A nationally acclaimed education expert, Daggett will discuss cutting-edge research and strategies to address today’s education challenges, improve teaching and accelerate learning for all students.

What are the real challenges facing schools today? How can we effectively and intelligently address student performance, leadership, finances, and the use of technology? Learn how K-12 educators can work to proactively address these issues in today’s accountability-driven climate.

Daggett is the CEO of the International Center for Leadership in Education, and author of numerous books, articles and studies about learning and education. He brings a comprehensive expertise in moving education systems toward more rigorous, relevant skills and knowledge for all students.

Join us for this free learning session! Register now for “Our Changing Education Landscape” with Willard Daggett—and visit the Scientific Learning webinars page to learn about other events about brain fitness and accelerating learning.

Related Reading:

The Technological Lives of Today’s Students

Creating the Optimal “Internal” Learning Environment

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Categories: Education Trends, Reading & Learning

Tags: academic problems, academic success, accelerate learning, how children learn, learning environment, Scientific Learning events, student reading growth, teacher effectiveness, teacher impact, technology in education

6 Ways to Empower Your Students as Contributors in the Classroom

• February 8, 2011 by Norene Wiesen

If you attended our Fall Brain Fitness Webinar by Alan November, Creating a New Culture of Teaching and Learning, you know what an inspiring thinker and speaker he is.  It should come as no surprise, then, that he’s an inspiring writer as well. 

I recently discovered an article on his website outlining 6 ways to engage students as contributors in the classroom as a way of supporting their natural drive to participate in an active and meaningful way.  Here are the first 3:

1. 1. Engage students as tutorial designers to create supportive content for each other
   2. Assign official student scribes to take collaborative class notes
   3. Designate a student researcher to find the answers to classroom questions

This partial list is just the tip of the iceberg.  Be sure to read the full article, Students as Contributors: The Digital Learning Farm, on the November Learning website to discover 3 more ways that educators are empowering their students in the classroom right now, and find out what tools are available to bring these ideas into your own classroom or school.

Be sure to join us for our Spring Brain Fitness Webinar Series featuring Alan November (April 12) and Bill Daggett (March 18), thought-leaders in education that you don’t want to miss.  Subscribe to this blog to receive all the details about upcoming webinars in your inbox!

Related Reading:

How to Motivate Students: The Psychology of Success 

Using the Human Element to Make Science Fun and Approachable

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Attend one of our popular webinars with thought leaders in learning. Live and pre-recorded webinars are available. Register today!

Categories: Brain Fitness, Education Trends, Reading & Learning

Tags: academic success, Alan November, creativity, decision making, how children learn, middle school learning, motivating students, Scientific Learning events, technology in education

Sing the Alphabet Backwards Sometimes: Kindergarten Phonemic Awareness Activities

• November 30, 2010 by Norene Wiesen

In Kindergarten, phonemic awareness skills acquisition is a focal point in language and reading development.  Kindergarten phonemic awareness challenges  include memorizing the consonant sounds that are associated with each letter of the alphabet and learning to detect the part of a word where a specific consonant sound is heard.

Your Kindergarteners can practice honing their phonemic awareness skills with some of these activities available via the Web:

Kindergarten Phonemic Awareness Activities from PBS Kids

PBS Kids offers several fun online games that even young children can play to develop phonemic awareness skills:

Elmo Rhymes

Elmo shows the child a selection of objects on the shelves of a closet.  He names one of the objects and asks the child to select all of the items in the closet that rhyme with the named object.  As the child mouses over an object, Elmo says the name of the object.

Pounce

The child hears a short word spoken and is asked to look at three written words and click on the word that he heard.  The child gets multiple chances to get it right, and after making a correct match, sees the written word next to a picture of the named object.

Fuzzy Lion Ears

The child sees a picture and a word label for the picture.  A letter is missing from the word.  It is the child’s task to select the missing letter from three letters provided.  The game also provides a little help: the child can mouse over several letters to hear the sound each one makes before selecting an answer.  

Alphabet Chant from EFL Playhouse

While the website is geared toward teachers of English Language Learners, the Alphabet Chant is appropriate as a general classroom Kindergarten phonemic awareness activity. The chant is designed to be fun, can be incorporated into the classroom in just 5-10 minutes, and over time helps young learners associate letters with sounds.

Kindergarten Phonemic Awareness Activities from “Patti’s Classroom”

From Los Angeles County Office of Education, “Patti’s Electronic Classroom” (http://teams.lacoe.edu/documentation/classrooms/patti/k-1/activities/phonemic.html)  provides many resources for teachers of students in grades K-3—including a selection of kindergarten phonemic awareness activities:

• Word rhyming
• Syllable segmentation
• Beginning sound substitution
• Sound isolation
• Phonemic segmentation

Kindergarten Phonemic Awareness Activities from SaskEd

Books and Language Play (link updated 04/02/2012)

These phonemic awareness activities from SaskEd encourage the use of books and songs that rhyme as well as tongue twisters, alliteration, and other types of language play.  The end of the article features a list of books for young children that highlight language play.

Graphophonic Strategies and Activities (link updated 04/02/2012)

In addition to the book list and language play suggestions, SaskEd’s graphophonic strategies and activities are perfect for helping kindergarteners discover the alphabetic principle, the idea that each letter of the alphabet is associated with one or two sounds.  Activities include making and reading one-letter books and a fun challenge to sing the alphabet backwards sometimes.

Have fun with these phonemic awareness activities and help your Kindergarteners begin to develop a lifelong enjoyment of language and reading and become a successful reader.

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Categories: Family Focus, Reading & Learning

Tags: child reading development, cognitive skills, early learning, elementary school learning, how children learn, learning through play, learning to read, phonemic awareness, phonics

Announcing the Create a Character Contest Winners!

• November 19, 2010 by Norene Wiesen

Boy did we have fun judging the Back-to-School Create a Character contest!  Who knew there was such fantastic creativity and imagination out there just waiting to be unleashed?

I am pleased to present the winning entries:

1^st Place: “Danny Dinosaur” (Written description only)

“Danny Dinosaur is a dinosaur, a T-rex to be exact.  He’s a T-rex who loves food and destruction.  He’s blue and green and loves potatoes.  That’s why he lives in Boise, Idaho, “Home of the Potato.” But that’s not all Danny Dinosaur eats.  He also eats any thing that’s alive.

There’s a bird named Short Stalk who follows Danny Dinosaur every where he goes.  Short stalk is a small, yellow, and pink beaked fella but Danny Dinosaur is a large Dinosaur with an evil smile and sharp teeth sticking out.  Although they have several differences, they are still best friends.  That proves what a unique but odd dinosaur Danny dinosaur is.

The game Danny Dinosaur will be in is called the Flying Dino.  There will be a sentence above the dinosaur, which he will read.  The sentence will have one word missing and the player needs to fill in that blank with the correct word.  If it is right the bird will pick up the word with its beak, fly towards the sentence and fill in the blank.  That would be 3 points.  If it is wrong the bird will correct you and you will get 0 points.”

Danny Dinosaur’s creator, an 8^th grade student in MA, wins a Flip Video camera!

2^nd Place: “Silly Snake”

“Name of character – Silly Snake
He is green with blue eyes and a red tongue.
Silly Snake lives in a cave.
He eats various animals with words on them.
If it is a word he did not say, he spits it out.
When he eats a correct word, he gets closer to his cave.
When he eats incorrect words, he moves away from his cave.”

Silly Snake’s creator, a 4^th grade student in RI, wins a $25 gift card from amazon.com!

3^rd Place: “Randy de la Cruz” (lives in Miami FL)

“My character’s name is Randy de la Cruz.  He lives in Miami, Florida.  He has a girlfriend named Maria and he loves his family.  My character has 4 arms.  It has a blue shirt, orange pants, long boots that are blue, a hat that is black, yellow, and red.  He wears a white belt, glasses, and a necklace.  The two top arms are bigger then the lower arms.  His two feet are like human feet.  He has a head like an alien.  On his hat he has a G for Great Man.  This character has pointy hair.  He is 20 years old.  Randy likes eating meat and rice but, his favorite foods are fish and chicken.  He works at Universal Studios in Florida as an actor.  When he was 17 to 19 he used to work as a carpenter with his step father.  Randy likes drawing and at night he likes to look at the stars.

Randy also likes to help the kids learn new words and he reads stories to kids on the computer.  After he reads a story, Randy asks question to see if they were listening.  The other thing he does to help the kids is to break hard words from the story in parts.  Then the kids have to read and say it completely.  For example, he reads the word “generous” and he breaks it in parts like ge ne rous and the kid hears it on a headphone.  Then the kid says the word completely in a microphone.  Randy is a nice man and likes helping people and making friends.  He will like to be your friend too.”

Randy de la Cruz’s creator, an 8^th grade student in MA, wins a $25 gift card from amazon.com!

The contest judges here at Scientific Learning would like to extend a big “thank you” to all of our contest entrants for entertaining us with your inspired drawings, stories, and game ideas.

And might I just say, nice showing New England!

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Categories: Fast ForWord

Tags: arts, creativity, Fast ForWord characters, learning through play, writing