Brain training and tutoring
have provided help for many families of children who are struggling with
reading or learning. Is one better than the other?
Actually, tutoring and
brain training are both great solutions, but they are not interchangeable. In
fact, tutoring
and brain training
are two very different answers to two very different problems.
There are circumstances
in which tutoring will be more effective than brain training, and circumstances
in which the reverse is true.
It really boils down to
this: Learning requires two things: strong educational content, and strong
cognitive skills to learn and apply that content. Typically,
tutoring is the preferred method of delivering (or redelivering) educational
content, while brain training is the preferred method of strengthening weak
cognitive skills.
When is tutoring the
right choice?
Is your child:
• Struggling as a result
of missing classes due to illness or vacation?
• Struggling as a result
of moving to a new school, or relocating frequently?
• Struggling in a single
class due to poor presentation of information (inexperienced or absent teacher,
missing class materials, etc)?
• Demonstrating a
special gifting or passion, and you want to hire someone knowledgeable in that
subject to tutor your child at an advanced level?
• Good at catching on
right away if a concept needs to be explained a second time?
Since tutoring
redelivers educational content that wasn’t grasped the first time it was
presented, hire a tutor when your child needs help getting “caught up” because
something has interfered with the delivery of that content the first time
around.
When is brain training
the right choice?
Do any of the following
statements describe your child?
• Has received tutoring
in subjects in which he/she still struggles
• Is struggling in more
than one class
• Has always disliked or
struggled with reading
• Takes a long time
doing homework
• Has chronically
struggled in school or with tests
• Has to work harder or
longer than other kids to achieve good grades
• Says he or she feels
stupid, can’t succeed, or isn’t as smart as other kids
If even one of the above
statements describes your child, there is a good chance that brain training
will prove more effective than tutoring. This is because each of the
above statements describe common experiences when one or more cognitive skills
are weak.
Brain training
strengthens foundational cognitive skills the brain uses to think and learn,
making it the right way to address weak skills that are making learning harder
than it should be. This is not uncommon, by the way. Studies show that the
majority of learning struggles are caused by one or more weak cognitive skills.
One-on-one brain
training, a form of cognitive training, pairs clients of all ages with their
own personal brain trainers. Programs consist of fun, challenging mental
exercises that strengthen attention, long-term memory, short-term memory,
auditory processing, visual processing, logic & reasoning, and processing
speed. The improvements are often dramatic (see www.learningrx.com/results).
If weak skills are at
the root of your child’s struggle with reading, learning, or paying attention,
brain training is the best approach.
Begin by having your
child take a one-hour cognitive assessment
Whatever you ultimately
decide in terms of the right intervention for your child, a good first step is
to have your child take a cognitive assessment so you can know for sure if weak
cognitive skills are at the root of the struggles. If the assessment shows that
your child has strong cognitive skills, then the root of the problem lies
elsewhere, and tutoring
is probably the better choice.
If the assessment shows
one or more weak cognitive skills, those skills need to be strengthened, and
brain training is probably the better choice. A cognitive skills assessment is
the right place to begin, and will give you a detailed look at your child’s
cognitive strengths and weaknesses. Cognitive assessments are offered by
LearningRx, the largest one-on-one brain training company in the world with 80
centers across the nation and 40 locations around the globe.
Contact us today and
schedule a cognitive skills assessment for yourself or your child.
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