• Is Cognitive Skills training Program Research Based and what is it?
• There is a lot of research from different fields like psychology, education and neurosciences to understand the neuroplasticity of brain and the science of cognition. Dr. Mary Meeker’s extensive research proved that intellectual abilities could be measured and could be developed with the proper training She developed the testing and training program suitable for children. and adults based on Dr. J. P. Guilford’s work on Theory of Intelligence called Structure of Intellect. Dr. Mary Meeker designed the program SOI systems for assessments and Cognitive Skills training for the children as well as adults.
  
  SOI is a complete system– assessment, diagnosis, and treatment in the same system. The SOI tests measure learning abilities. These assessments are then related to learning requirements. The result of this comparison is a diagnosis of the students' strengths and weaknesses in learning. Most importantly, the weaknesses can be developed and strengthened with SOI Training Modules/Personalized Workbooks which are based on the Structure of Intellect theory.
  
  Working in close collaboration with over 1,000 independent educators, doctors, scientists, researchers and other professionals in more than 700 training locations, clinics, schools and hospitals, Dr. Ken Gibson developed a proven assessment and training program that has successfully helped students greatly improve their cognitive skills and overcome reading dif?culties. This program is called BrainRx program which is a computer based digital program for the students to strengthen their cognitive skills.
  
  The developers of Brainware Safari, another computer based program developed by Dr Roger Stark accomplished this by bringing together multiple clinical disciplines (vision therapy, speech and language pathologists, neurologists, occupational therapists, learning specialists, vision and auditory development experts) to weave their best practices together, overcoming the tremendous divides among them in their thinking about what will work to develop cognitive skills in a comprehensive manner. Bringing the clinical disciplines together with the video-game developers was a further hurdle that needed to be overcome to make our vision a reality. Once BrainWare Safari was developed, we needed to demonstrate its effectiveness. In peer-reviewed published research, the program has improved cognitive skills by an average of over four years in just 12 weeks of use. The evidence base continues to confirm and expand on the value of the program for different population segments, including virtually anyone aged 6 to 106.
  
  
• How is Brain Training different than Tutoring services?
• Cognitive Skills Training (also known as mental or Brain training) is different from tutoring at a very basic level. Tutoring is simply re-teaching material that a student missed the first time it was presented. The hope is that the material will stick this time. Here is how to tell if tutoring will work for your child.
  
  If you’ve ever sat down with your child and gone over, or repeated, school assignments—and he or she immediately got it and needed no more help—then re-teaching or tutoring will work. But, if simple explanation did not solve the problem, or if a few days later the problem persisted or was repeated, there is most likely an underlying skill weakness that tutoring or re-teaching cannot correct.
  
  Until the underlying skills required to learn are strengthened, tutoring can only produce temporary progress at best. Struggles will re-emerge because the root of the problem—weak cognitive skills—has not been addressed. If your child faces recurring problems with each new academic year or challenge, training (rather than tutoring) is your best answer.
  
  Brain training provides you and your student the chance to get to the root of the problem and literally rebuild his or her basic ability to read and learn with specifically designed and delivered training exercises. To understand the advantage brain training has over tutoring consider how different your expectations would be if you enrolled in a 12-hour lecture on piano basics versus 12 hours of piano practice with a good one-on-one piano coach. In the lecture you would be receiving information about the piano—you would be tutored. In the piano practice, you would end up actually playing the piano—you would be trained. Tutoring increases information. Training builds skill.
  
  
• Tutoring vs. Brain Training - The Right Training Makes All the Difference!
• You can easily see why (for anyone for whom learning trouble stems from an underlying inability to process information) training (and not tutoring) is the answer. Empowerkidz brain training represents a unique approach to provide educational help. It identifies and targets the specific skill weaknesses that hold students back from learning and reading success.
  
  Specific training is available to strengthen key cognitive skills such as auditory processing, visual processing, memory, reasoning, and processing speed. Skill gains at this foundational level of learning capability result in easier, faster, and more successful learning.
  
  
• What is Multi-Sesnsory Instruction?
• What is meant by the term multisensory instruction? Multisensory instruction is the coordination of input from all the senses, having the hands, eyes, ears, and voices working together to help the students organize and retain their learning. So that means that teachers have to ensure that their students are seeing, saying, hearing, and manipulating materials during learning time.
  
  
• Why is such instruction important for students?
• Multisensory instruction is a powerful tool in reinforcing our language teaching in three important ways. First, it helps get the information across. Second, it helps the students process the information. And, third, it helps students retrieve information already learned. The principles of multisensory instruction mandate that students with be taught with simultaneous visual, auditory, and kinesthetic/tactile input; that it be systematic, cumulative, and direct; and that the teaching be related to the student's level of understanding. The content for literacy must include phonemic awareness, letter knowledge, sound/symbol relationships, decoding, spelling, handwriting, syllable types, fluency, and comprehension
  
  
• Why should extra attention be given to the development of language skills for students?
• Language plays a major role in learning. Some children acquire the language components that are the precursors of literacy with ease. Reading and writing are language-based skills and must be taught. The reason extra attention must be given is that the influences of oral language knowledge and the development of early decoding processes and subsequent comprehension are interrelated and lie at the foundation of successful learning.
  
  
• Can multisensory techniques be applied to other disciplines (outside of language arts) as well?
• Yes. Multisensory techniques can be applied successfully in many areas of the curriculum. For example, in learning math concepts students could use concrete materials that help them compare and contrast quantity and discover math relationships themselves. For some students, a hands-on multisensory approach to social studies holds their attention and keeps learning alive and exciting while helping them to retain facts, concepts, skills, and vocabulary. There are many ways to learn and to display competence. Multisensory learning is a great confidence-builder and leads to successful experiences that often encourage children to put effort into the hard work of learning to read and write.
  
  Multisensory learning was first promoted in educational settings by Maria Montessori for preschoolers and young children, who learn by seeing, hearing, touching/feeling, tasting, and smelling. It is the way children naturally learn.
  
  In the 1930's, Dr. Samuel Orton and Anna Gillingham devised a system of teaching structured, systematic, rule-based phonics using multisensory reinforcement to cement new learning into long-term memory. In the Orton-Gillingham Approach, learners trace letters to reinforce shapes, names and sounds. When spelling words, students are encouraged to break each word into its phonemic elements or sounds to make the phonemes recognizable and to assure correct sequencing of sounds. Learners assign one sound to each finger and then spell the sequence of sounds to create a word. This is called finger counting, finger spelling, finger tapping, Touch Spelling and various other descriptive titles.
  
  
• How We Help!
• Assessments (cognitive, sensory-motor, and focusing skills)
  A computerized analysis of the assessment results.
  Creation of Student Profile.
  Developing Individual’s customized Intervention Plan.
  A detailed individualized treatment plan to address the student’s needs
  Unique activities for developing processing/ perceptual skills, visual/auditory processing, gross/fine motor.
  Learning enrichment programs for math, reading, language, history, and science.
  Continuous monitoring of each student’s progress.
  Frequent reports on the student’s progress.
  Confidentiality of clients is preserved.
  Referrals to appropriate professionals if client’s needs are deemed out of the realm of our expertise.
  
  
• Who benefits from Cognitive Skills Training?
• Cognitive skills training strengthens skills used in all learning, work, and life situations. Individuals of all ages and ability levels work with EmpowerKidz trainers. Some examples are:
  » Middle school and high school students in schools wanting to improve their processing. » Adults wanting to improve their job performance
  » Athletes wanting faster reaction time, processing speed, and memoryCreation of Student Profile.
  » Individuals with learning difficulties, reading problems, or slow performance.
  » People who want improved memory skills.
  » Gifted students and high achievers wanting to get ahead and improve their overall school performance.
  » Elementary school children
  » Students preparing for competitive exams for college placements.