BY TERRI O. JOHNSON

For many of us the upcoming Presidents Day holiday mostly means a day off, or the annual bombardment of mattress commercials and car ads. But for thousands of kids across the country, it’s much more than just a brief reminder of George Washington or a reason for another three-day weekend. For them, Presidents Day brings the perfect opportunity to share an accomplishment – the ability to quickly recite from memory all 44 U. S. presidents in order. They can do it forward and backward, and often while blocking out intense distractions, or performing tasks like hitting baseballs.

This impressive memorization feat isn’t designed to give kids an advantage in American history class; the goal is to build a better brain. The training used to learn this strengthens the underlying mental skills that we all need to think, reason, remember, learn, read and pay attention. By building up these cognitive skills, people actually become better learners with faster, more efficient brains.

Learning to recite the presidents is one of the first things students master when going through a brain training program at LearningRx. They use a memory tool called a mnemonic – a colorful picture of all the presidents linked together in a story-like list.

Learning to memorize the presidents with this mnemonic not only strengthens long-term memory, it can also grow visual processing skills, increase processing speed and strengthen attention.

At-home brainbuilding exercises can help in similar ways.

One way to strengthen memory is by creating paperless lists. Simply imagine your items strung together in a colorful, memorable way.

Often the more funny or vivid the image, the easier it is to remember.

Ready to give it a shot? Let’s say you need to remember four things at the market:1) toilet paper, 2) carrots, 3) cereal, and 4) chicken.

First, picture yourself walking into the store following a roll of 1) toilet paper to the 2) carrots. The toilet paper is wrapped around the carrots which are stuck into an animated box of 3) cereal. The cereal is holding a flying 4) chicken by the leg. As you add more things to your paperless list, grow the picture. If you remember you need cheese, expand your image to include the chicken eating mozzarella.

The presidents exercise also helps strengthen the three types of attention:Sustained attention is strengthened by focusing on recalling the presidents from memory.

Divided attention skills are honed by working on more than one task at a time.

Selective attention is improved by working to block out unnecessary distractions.

Here’s a way you can help your child strengthen the three types of attention while practicing basic math facts:Gather ability-appropriate math fact worksheets for your child.

Time him as he completes it as quickly and accurately as possible.

Next, warn him that you will try to distract him as he tries to beat that time. Start with low-level distractions like tapping or humming. After he can meet or beat his best time, add higher-level distractions like singing off-key or blaring the TV.

Make it fun and reward effort and accomplishments.

High-fives and verbal encouragement go a long way, as do small rewards like M& M’s or extra screen time.

Next, add a task to help strengthen working memory and divided attention. Explain to your child that while he works, you’ll say three words that he must repeat immediately after he finishes the worksheet. This will force him to choose which information to remember and which to ignore.

Finally, combine the timed element, the distractions and the additional task for the ultimate brain-building exercise.

Can you see where these types of targeted attention drills are especially beneficial for people who struggle with ADHD? It not only enhances their ability to pay attention, it also helps them multi-task and ignore distractions.

Still need a little motivation to get you working on improving your own cognitive skills? Visit LearningRx in Chanhassen from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 21, for a Presidents Day celebration, a unique opportunity to learn more about our leaders through crafts, brainy games and a chance to watch students recite all 44 presidents in as little as 15 seconds. Terri O. Johnson is director at LearningRx in Chanhassen which helps students to improve their learning ability through cognitive brain training.

She is an Eden Prairie mother of three and is heavily involved with organizations supporting dyslexia, autism, ADHD and other learning differences.

LearningRx is at 600 Market St., Suite 120 in Chanhassen. For more information and questions about these and other learning topics, contact Terri at 952-949-6900 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              952-949-6900      end_of_the_skype_highlighting.

Copyright, 2011, Eden Prairie News (MN). All Rights Reserved.

1. The Army has developed a blood test to detect traumatic brain injury (TBI).                      (SOURCE: http://abcnews.go.com/WN/blood-test-flags-concussions/story?id=11894974&page=3)

2. Increasing your cognitive reserve appears to greatly reduce your risk of developing dementia.                                                                                                        (SOURCE:www.nature.com/nrneurol/journal/v6/n9/full/nrneurol.2010.113.html)

3. Taking Omega-3s may help athletes prevent brain injury.                                         (SOURCE: www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/213158.php)

4. Kids who are neglected or abused or around parents who are depressed produce extra cortisol, which is damaging to their brains.                                                (SOURCE: www.changingbrains.org)

5. Pregnant women who took folic acid AND iron had children with higher reasoning skills, stronger cognitive abilities, better motor skills and enhanced inhibitory control.                                                                                                                        (SOURCE: www.aolhealth.com/2010/12/22/moms-to-be-iron-folic-acid-smarter-babies/?icid=maing%7Cmain5%7Cdl3%7Csec2_lnk1%7C32897)

6. The main ingredient in turmeric (which is used to make curry) is thought to dramatically help fight and even reverse the symptoms of traumatic brain injury and stroke.                                                                                                                        (SOURCE: www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/211621.php)

7. Children born to mothers living near a freeway have double the risk of autism due to the effects of pollutants on the brain.                                                         (SOURCE: www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/211959.php)

8. Brain training was shown to help prevent, slow and treat Alzheimer’s and mild cognitive impairment.                                                                                          (SOURCE: http://parentinprogress.wordpress.com/page/2/)

9. Researchers believe that eating apples (which contain phloretin) may fight Alzheimer’s.                                                                                                                            (SOURCE: www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/208352.php)

10. People who speak at least two languages appear to have a huge delay (as many as five years) in the onset of symptoms of Alzheimer’s.                                              (SOURCE: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/207205.php)

11. Text messaging after bedtime might add to ADHD in teens.                                     (SOURCE: www.healthjackal.com/health/2010/11/01/te xt-messaging-after-bedtime-for-kids-can-lead-to-cognitive-problems-and-adhd/)

12. Becoming a mom may cause your brain to grow via an increase in gray matter.                                                                                                        (SOURCE:http://chealth.canoe.ca/channel_health_news_details.asp?channel_id=131&relation_id=1883&news_channel_id=131&news_id=31382&rid=)

13. Walking six to nine miles each week might actually stop age-related memory decline later in life.                                                                                                                (SOURCE: www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/204578.php)

14. One in five siblings (thought to be unaffected by the autism gene) of kids with autism experienced language delays or speech problems early in life.                              (SOURCE: www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/203249.php)

15. Kids drinking tap water with the highest concentrations of manganese had an IQ that measured SIX POINTS below children with little or no manganese in their water supply.                                                                                                                       (SOURCE: www.ehow.com/how_5738410_prevent-oz_s-ultimate-anti_aging-checklist.html)

16. Vitamin D-3 is believed to help your brain function, especially with memory and thinking. Take a supplement (1,000 mg/day); your body produces FOUR TIMES more Vitamin D from the sun when you’re 20 compared to age 70!             (SOURCE:www.healthzone.ca/health/youdocstipoftheday?t=Feed%20Your%20Brain%20Vitamin%20D-3&p=1&rec=1&fr=Article)

17. Although “brain training” video games do not appear to improve mental fitness in any significant way, the opposite is true of one-on-one personalized brain training. In one study, adults aged 20 to 80 who went through personalized cognitive skills training had an IQ jump of 11.4 points!                                 (SOURCE: www.LearningRx.com)

18. Adults who are obese by middle age are 30 to 50 percent more likely to develop dementia later in life.                                                                                          (SOURCE: http://dukeandthedoctor.com/2010/01/study-links-middle-age-obesity-to-dementia/)

19. According to Dr. Oz, taking just one 162-milligram aspirin (or two baby aspirin) daily reduces buildup in the brain and helps prevent mini-strokes.                             (SOURCE: http://www.ehow.com/how_5738410_prevent-oz_s-ultimate-anti_aging-checklist.html)

20. Researchers suggest that there’s a strong link between ADHD and PFCs. PFCs are chemicals found in everyday items like food packaging, Teflon products and stain-resistant coatings (like Scotchguard products).

(SOURCE: www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/195450.php)

To learn more about how you can participate in Brain Awareness Week, visit the Dana Foundation at www.dana.org/brainweek/.

Seldom have two words caused such anxiety for both students and parents. For some, poor grades can reflect feelings of inadequacy (as a student or a parent), worries about being held back a grade, or fears of not getting into a good college.

Who’s to blame for learning struggles?

For parents, these fears often manifest as blame; blame on the student, the teacher or themselves. And while the assumptions that less-than-stellar grades are a reflection of poor teaching, lack of intelligence or laziness on the part of the student, or poor parenting, they are almost always untrue.

The truth is, most bad report cards are just a reflection of a struggling learner, many of who have an above-average IQ. That’s because IQ is simply an average of the combined strength of all our cognitive skills – the underlying tools we need to successfully focus, think, prioritize, plan, understand, visualize, remember, solve problems and create useful association. They include things like attention, visual and auditory processing, memory, logic and reasoning, and processing speed.

It’s very common for a student to have an average or above-average IQ score and a learning problem at the same time. For example, a child who struggles with reading may have a severe deficiency in the sound blending and phonemic awareness (two subskills of auditory processing), and be well above average in other cognitive abilities. When you lump it all together and average it out, it’ll look like there’s no problem because the IQ score is average. In fact, that score is masking what could be a serious problem.

What about genetics?

It’s not surprising that parents who struggled in school often experience anxiety over their children’s report cards. While it’s likely that most of the concern stems from the parent’s hope for their child to get better grades than they did, another fear is that they’ve somehow genetically passed on their learning struggles.

Certainly, genetics can contribute to a small part of learning struggles (like reading difficulties); but the majority of learning struggles are simply the result of weak cognitive skills. Students with ADHD, for example, tend to have weak selective, divided and/or sustained attention. Even learning struggles that are inherited don’t need to be lifelong labels or diagnoses; cognitive skills can be strengthened to make learning easier, faster and even FUN!

So how do you strengthen weak cognitive skills?

Cognitive skills training (also known as “brain training”) uses intensive, one-on-one programs to tackle the source of learning struggles and fix them with permanent solutions. Effective brain training customizes programs based on the results of an initial cognitive skills assessment and uses exercises founded on years of clinical and scientific research.

Unlike tutoring which is academic-based, brain training is skills-based. While tutoring can be effective when a student has fallen behind in specific subjects (such as history) due to an illness, injury or family move, cognitive skills training improves the underlying skills needed to perform tasks (like reading) to make learning easier in any subject.

Cognitive skills training physically changes the connections in the brain and it works for all learning disabilities: dyslexia (“trouble with words”), ADD, ADHD, dyscalculia (“trouble with numbers”), and certain autism spectrum disorders, including Asperger’s syndrome. In fact, because brain training treats the root cause – not the symptoms – of learning struggles, it can make anyone a stronger learner. From athletes looking for the mental edge and senior citizens fighting age-related cognitive decline, to soldiers and stroke victims fighting the effects of traumatic brain injury, cognitive skills training is changing lives by changing brains.

Let cognitive skills training change your child’s future by making learning easier. Make this your child’s last bad report card. Take the first step toward helping your child become a more efficient, effective and confident learner by having their cognitive skills assessed. You have nothing to lose and a future of better report cards to gain!

It appears that male sex hormones decrease RORA, a gene needed to develop the cerebellum and other processes that are impaired in people with autism, and female sex hormones increase RORA. In addition, RORA regulates a protein called aromatase, which converts testosterone to estrogen. So reduced RORA means reduced aromatase, which leads to a build up of male hormones, creating a vicious cycle.

Brain Training and Autism

Although these discoveries haven’t suddenly created a cure for autism, they may one day provide help to prevent the disease. In the meantime, one of the best ways to fight the effects of the complex brain disorder is to strengthen the cognitive skills affected. Cognitive skills include things like memory, logic and reasoning, processing speed, attention, and visual and auditory processing. In autism spectrum disorders (ASD), these weak brain skills inhibit a person’s ability to communicate and develop relationships, and may include cognitive and behavioral challenges.  These brain skills are the fundamental tools that help us learn.

“There’s no ‘cure’ for autism, but there are ways to help people with ASD improve their cognitive skills and independence,” says Dr. Ken Gibson, author of “Unlock the Einstein Inside; Apply New Brain Science to Wake Up the Smart In Your Child” (www.unlocktheeinsteininside.com). “Intense, one-on-one brain training can provide incredible changes to improve not only the lives of those affected by ASD, but also their family.”

Because ASD is an umbrella term for five different disorders (including autism and Asperger’s syndrome), the conditions vary greatly from person to person. Generally, an ASD diagnosis requires three symptoms to appear before age 3:

• Impairments in social skills

• Impairments in communications

• The presence of ritualistic, repetitive activities and interests

The results of brain training will be different for every person, but there is almost always significant improvement in confidence, social skills and learning skills.

Specialized brain training uses intensive, one-on-one, game-like exercises to quickly enhance weak cognitive skills. In one study, 49 students with ASD who underwent personalized brain training gained an average of 18 percentage points across seven key cognitive areas. For example, before training the average child tested in the 31^st percentile of his peers for logic and reasoning. After training, that average jumped 23.4 points to the 64^th percentile.

The cost of doing nothing

This year, more children will be diagnosed with autism than diabetes, cancer and AIDS combined and the numbers are rising.  The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently updated the autism rate from one in 150 children born in the U.S. to 1 in 110. The rate for boys? One in 70.

And it’s not just affecting the child who is diagnosed; caregivers and family members are impacted mentally, emotionally and financially. The lifetime cost of caring for a child with autism in the U.S. ranges from $3.5 million to $5 million. Luckily, those figures can be cut by two-thirds with early diagnosis and interventions like cognitive skills training.

While scientists continue to search for clues on how to prevent or cure autism, brain training can help. Think of it as bringing order to a brain disorder by increasing the child’s ability to process information, think, reason and communicate. And as anyone with an autistic child can attest to, any improvements in living and learning skills are cause for celebration.

To find out more about how brain training can help your child, call….

What exactly is brain training? If you’re thinking electrodes, hypnotic trances and brain scans, think again. Brain training is basically a system of exercises and challenges that strengthens mental abilities. Simply put: brain exercises that make you smarter.

The idea of brain training is relatively new, because until recently, scientists believed IQ and intelligence were fixed at birth. However, modern brain science revealed the brain’s neuroplasticity — its ability to build new pathways, memory, and reasoning “power centers.” This plasticity means the brain can be strengthened, IQ can be increased, and quite often learning disabilities can be eliminated.

That revelation has led to a booming business of brain training tools: online exercises, computer programs, video games, and pocket gizmos. According to market-research firm SharpBrains, sales of “neurobics” (workouts for the brain) are estimated to jump from $265 million to $5 billion by the year 2015. Some focus on specific skills, some target seniors’ age-related cognitive decline, and others aim specifically at enhancing sports performance. Do they work? The jury’s still out on many of them, but some brain training methods are proven to bring profound improvement, and the best results come from one-one-one personalized brain training with immediate human feedback.

During a one-on-one brain training session, personal brain trainers focus on strengthening the weakest cognitive skills. Cognitive skills are the underlying mental skills that allow us all to think, learn, reason, remember and pay attention. They include skills such as memory, attention, processing speed, logic and reasoning, and visual and auditory processing. After testing to determine which skills are weak, personalized brain trainers will target those weak areas with brain-building exercises. They quickly push their student onto faster, harder, more intense exercises, with lots of quick corrections, immediate feedback, and extensive distractions. For the students, it’s a heavy mental workout, but since they’re not learning academic material, it’s more invigorating than a homework load or tutoring session.

Brain training differs from tutoring in another way. Tutoring is a short-term fix. It addresses the symptoms of learning struggles by simply re-teaching academic information that the child should have already learned. Brain training is a lifetime fix. It attacks the source of learning problems by strengthening core learning skills, and eliminating the problem.

For example, consider a student diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Cognitive skill testing will likely determine that student has deficits in several areas, including the three types of attention. Brain trainers will target the cognitive weaknesses and focus on building up the three different types of attention to strengthen them to the point where there is no longer a deficit of attention skills. When attention skills are strong, quite often the symptoms go away, the need for medication is eliminated, and the label no longer fits.

Reading struggles are another example of how brain training can revolutionize learning. Studies show that more than 80% of reading problems are caused by weak auditory processing skills, more specifically phonemic awareness. That’s the ability to analyze, blend and dissect sounds. Once that skill is successfully trained, reading and learning become much easier and faster.

But brain training isn’t just for struggling learners. Across the country, people are hiring professional brain trainers to slow age-related cognitive decline, get a mental edge at school or at work, and reverse the effects of stroke. In many areas, U.S. soldiers enroll in brain training programs to help recover from traumatic brain injury. And they’re seeing amazing success.

The 2011 Report of LearningRx Training Results shows impressive gains for students of all ages and levels of academic abilities, including adults and “gifted” children, and those diagnosed with TBI, dyslexia, ADHD, speech and language disorders, autism spectrum disorders, and general learning disabilities. That study of more than 2,500 students showed LearningRx brain training programs resulted in an average IQ increase of 14.9 points.

If that’s the type of impressive results you’re looking for, you’re not going to get it from a $10 pocket gizmo or Sunday morning crossword puzzle. Look for a brain training program with a proven record of value and effectiveness. And before you spend money on any brain training product, ask for referrals, results, guarantees and testimonials – sort of a no brainer.

1. Messy handwriting: Don’t assume your child is just being lazy. For younger kids, an inability to form letters correctly may be more about “motor dysgraphia,” or slow-developing motor skills. For school-age children and teens, writing illegibly may be a sign of dysgraphia (“problems with writing”), which is more about a lack of ability than effort – often due to weak cognitive skills like visual processing.
2. Misspelled words: Sometimes referred to as “dyslexic dysgraphia,” misspelling words when writing is often a sign that certain brain skills like phonemic awareness are weak. One quick way to evaluate the problem is to ask your child to copy written work from another sheet of paper. If the copied work has few or no mistakes, the issue may be less about poor handwriting and more about weak reading and spelling skills.

3.   Extra, reversed or omitted letters; heavy pressure: A 2007 study found                       that students with attention deficits (like ADHD) were more likely to have                       dysgraphia. In addition to these graphemic buffer errors, writers with ADHD                     tended to write faster and exert “abnormally high levels of pen pressure.”

If this at-home evaluation brings up any concerns, consider having your child’s learning skills tested. Nationally standardized assessment tools like the Woodcock Johnson Tests of Cognitive Abilities, (WJ III-COG) and the Woodcock Johnson Tests of Achievement, (WJ III-ACH) measure cognitive skills and academic abilities. Once the weak cognitive skills – like attention, visual processing or phonemic awareness – are evaluated, a personalized brain training program can be created to strengthen those skills and make learning easier for ALL areas of academics – not just handwriting.

There are many factors to consider when reviewing a child’s handwriting: age (motor skills), gender (girls tend to write more clearly), size of hands (to hold a pen or pencil), and even personality (a “people-pleaser” might try harder to impress a parent or teacher). And while handwriting skills will improve over time for some, those who struggle due to weak brain skills will only excel when the cause of their dysgraphia is treated.

If you suspect your child’s handwriting is a sign of weak learning skills – like attention, visual processing or phonemic awareness – consider having his cognitive skills tested. Remember, poor handwriting usually isn’t the problem, it’s the symptom.

During the summer, kids lose an average 2.6 months of grade-level equivalency in math computation skills and 25 percent of their reading skills. That explains why teachers usually spend four to six weeks re-teaching materials in the fall. So what’s a parent to do? Fight back against the summer slide with these tips.

1. Make a rainy day toybox so kids don’t end up watching TV all day. It can consist of age-appropriate puzzles, Playdoh, circle-the-word booklets, art supplies, craft ideas, board games, playing cards, etc.
2. Bookmark or print out brainteasers from sites like the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (http://kids.niehs.nih.gov/braint.htm). Sites like www.Funbrain.com offer entertaining material on spelling, reading, math and grammar, and www.GamesForTheBrain.com has classic strategy games.
3. Buy or create a book of games you can play in the car. Even a simple game like “20 Questions” can help improve a child’s logic and reasoning and memory.
4. Limit television, computer and video game time. Invite your child’s friends over frequently to encourage creative play and interaction.
5. Have your child create a reward system for the number and level of books he/she reads over the summer.
6. Take your children to summer library and bookstore programs. Most will post them online but you can also request a calendar of events.
7. Consider registering your child for summer camps that encourage kids to use their minds on science projects, exploration, creative writing, music and art.
8. Use the summer to strengthen your student’s cognitive skills through one-on-one brain training to improve memory, visual and auditory processing, attention, and logic and reasoning. A core of strong brain skills will help them head back to school with the tools to succeed at learning in any subject. Unlike tutoring, which focuses on academics, brain training addresses the root causes of any learning struggles.
9. Encourage your child to learn an instrument or another language. Studies have shown a strong correlation between “Arts” and “smarts.”

10. Learn how to choose age-appropriate books for children and teens. Reading is Fundamental (www.rif.org/documents/us/choosing_books.pdf) has a great brochure that offers basic tips on what to look for. Your local librarian can also help you select books for your child’s interest and reading level. According to Scholastic Parents Online, reading just six books during the summer break can be enough to keep a struggling reader from falling behind.

Research shows that ALL young people experience learning losses when they don’t engage in educational activities during the summer.

“It doesn’t have to be that way,” says Dr. Ken Gibson, author of “Unlock the Einstein Inside: Applying New Brain Science to Wake Up the Smart in your Child” (www.unlocktheeinsteininside.com). “Think of it like this: The brain is like the body. If you exercise it, you improve it, but if you let it sit idle, it’s going to lose ability.”

To avoid the summer slide, Gibson recommends brain games and exercises that build cognitive skills, the underlying skills needed to learn.

Parents can request a free five-page summer slide guide from LearningRx (www.LearningRx.com) that includes dozens of brain-building games and exercises, as well as tips on how to incorporate brain building into daily activities.

And don’t assume that your kids will roll their eyes when you suggest ideas to keep their brain skills strong all summer. More than half of students surveyed say they want to be involved in a summer program that helps them keep up with schoolwork or prepare them for the next grade. Besides, unlike abdominal crunches, exercise for your brain is actually FUN!

For some of us, the temptation to spoil our kids is never stronger than at Christmastime. We want to see the surprise on their face on Christmas morning when they unwrap their gifts and giggle with glee at the sight of new toys.

But there’s usually guilt involved – from overspending, giving mind-numbing toys or both. Luckily, there are some great compromises for parents who are willing to accept a little guidance!

There are hundreds of toys for all ages that can develop complex learning skills, like attention, processing speed, memory, auditory and visual processing, and logic and reasoning. These brain training games can actual strengthen the cognitive skills needed to make learning easier.

For example: Does your child have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)? Look for toys that strengthen the three types of attention (selective, divided and sustained). Is reading a struggle for your little one? Select toys that work on phonemic awareness (letter sounds) through rhyming, sound blending and segmenting.

Where once researchers believed that IQ was stagnant, we now know that the brain is capable of change and that learning skills can be taught – and therefore improved. Brain training – like in these games that parents can play with their kids –­ does for the mind what exercise does for the body.

Here are a few simple games and materials you can use at home to help build your child’s brain skills. Best of all, they’re all under $10!

1. French Toast and Friends Matching Game ($9.99 on Walmart.com)

No reading is required for this game of pairs. Includes bonus stickers.

Ages: 3+

Cognitive skills: memory, attention

2. High School Musical 2 Recorder Pack ($9.97 on Walmart.com)

Let your children teach themselves to play the recorder! The instrument comes with a songbook that features nine easy songs from the Disney Channel movie, a fingering chart, instructions and coloring pages.

Ages: 7+

Cognitive skills: auditory processing, memory, attention

3. Rory’s Story Cubes ($7.29 on Amazon.com)

A pocket-sized creative story generator for all imaginations!

Ages: 8+

Cognitive skills: Problem-solving, logic and reasoning, creativity, visual processing

4. Set Game ($9.69 on Amazon.com)

Players review images on dealt cards for logical sets.

Ages: 4+

Cognitive skills: Sequential thinking, processing speed, visual processing

5. Wooky Mathable Board Game ($7.14 on Wayfair.com)

This board game provides fun challenges of mathematical equations.

Ages: all ages

Cognitive skills: Problem solving, math skills, analysis, attention

6. Battleship – Travel Edition ($8 at ToysRUs)

This classic game teaches kids to narrow down where their opponent has put their battleships.

Ages: 7+

Cognitive skills: Analysis skills, visual processing, logic and reasoning, attention

7. My Word! (blister pack) ($5.99 on FunAgain.com)

Players search dealt cards and call out words using at least three cards.

Ages: 7+

Cognitive skills: Sound blending and segmenting, sequential thinking, word analysis, visual processing, processing speed

8.  Brick by Brick Stacking Puzzle ($9.59 at ToysRUs)

Players try to build the 60 configurations to match the challenge cards. Now with a storage bag!

Ages: 6+

Cognitive skills: Counting, visual processing, creativity, planning

9. Rubik’s Slide Electronic Puzzle Game ($9.98 at ToysRUs)

An upgraded twist on the classic handheld puzzle, with over 10,000 puzzles.

Ages: 8+

Cognitive skills: Processing speed, problem solving, deductive reasoning

10. Fifteen Puzzle ($9.99 at ToysRUs)

Just scramble the puzzle then try to slide the numbers back in order.

Ages: 8+

Cognitive skills: Memory, attention, planning, visual processing

Look for games that are appropriate for your child’s age, as well as any cognitive weaknesses of which you’re aware. You’ll know they’re learning but they’ll just think they’re having fun!

For a free list of more than 30 games and the skills they strengthen, visit www.unlocktheeinsteininside.com.

While you might be more than ready for your child to head back to school in January, it’s not always easy for them to make the adjustment after a long holiday break. In addition to being off their usual sleep schedule and out of their homework routine, some children also experience an “academic slide” during the long vacation. And while it may not be as big a drop as the “summer slide” (in which kids lose an average of 2.6 months of grade-level equivalency in math computation skills and 25 percent of their reading skills), it still stings. Here are some ideas to fight the holiday slide and make next year the best one yet!

1. Keep your child reading over the break. Whether you read to them or they do it on their own, set aside some time just for books. Make sure your child is reading age-appropriate material; if they’re too old (or advanced) for a book they may get bored. If they’re too young for a book they may get frustrated. You can ask your librarian to help you select books for your child’s interest and reading level, and they’ll likely know which books have won awards. Reading is Fundamental also has a great brochure offering tips on what to look for (www.rif.org/documents/us/choosing_books.pdf).
2. Cut back on TV, video games and computer time. There are countless studies showing that too much use of these devices (rather than free play) can add to learning struggles, behavior issues, sleep and attention problems, weight gain and depression. Also, keep an eye on WHAT they’re watching. Many TV stations now use the TV rating (TV-Y is suitable for all children, TV-Y7 is for kids 7 and older, etc.) Kids who view violent acts on TV are more likely to show aggressive behavior at school. Here is a link to TV parental guidelines:

http://kidshealth.org/parent/positive/family/tv_affects_child.html#

3. Get them playing music. Encourage your child to learn an instrument. This could be through lessons, video instruction or even a self-taught booklet. There is a strong correlation between music and grades; not surprising since music enhances language learning and spatial reasoning, among other things. You can read more about the correlation between “arts and smarts” here:

http://media.learningrx.com/arts-the-correlation-between-the-arts-and-grades/

4. Try teaching them another language. If you don’t know one, find a class on the computer or get a book or video from the library and learn together! Learning another language strengthens major brain skills like executive control, increases multi-tasking skills and can help delay the onset of Alzheimer’s later in life. Read more about the advantages of a bilingual brain:

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/216955.php

5. Have you child’s brain skills tested. Cognitive skills training centers usually offer low-cost tests to measure and evaluate skills like attention, visual and auditory processing, logic and reasoning, processing speed and memory. If any weaknesses are found, the skills can be strengthened with one-on-one brain training. Unlike tutoring, which focuses on academics, brain training addresses the root causes of any learning struggles. If you improve learning skills, you improve grades and confidence. Find out more about brain training here: http://www.LearningRx.com.

6. Set up a learning station. How many times has your child procrastinated on homework by searching for sharpened pencils? Or struggled finding a space on a cluttered dining room table to do their take-home quiz? Find a quiet space away from the distractions of a father’s TV or a sibling’s video games and set up a fully stocked desk: pencils, dictionary, calculator, etc. Here’s an article about creating an inspiring space to study: http://www.wikihow.com/Organize-Your-Desk-at-Home—Kids-Version

7. Increase their brain food. You know that soda and candy are bad for your kid’s brain (sugar, caffeine and food dye, oh my!), but did you know there are foods that can actually strengthen their brain? Among the best: wild salmon (for its omega-3 fatty acid DHA), walnuts (good for your gray matter!), and blueberries (they boost cognition and memory). Here’s a link to get you more information on brain foods: http://www.learningrxblog.com/brain-food/

For more ideas on fighting the “holiday slide” – including a free 5-page brochure of learning activities – contact your local LearningRx center through www.LearningRx.com.

Here are a few of our favorite breakthroughs and news stories from 2011:

1. Brain training in schools. The National Science Foundation is funding a $1 million study to examine how cognitive skills training can help students not only improve their learning abilities, but also physically change their brains. The one-on-one brain training, which is already underway at Waskom Independent School District in Texas, is being provided by Shreveport LearningRx. LSU Health Shreveport will provide the brain images before and after the brain training. For more information, visit:

http://media.learningrx.com/top-medical-center-joins-1-million-brain-training-study/

1. Music training’s effect on cognition. A study of under-privileged 3- to 5-year-olds from Head Start preschools found significant cognitive improvements after “musical intervention.” Children who received music training had improvements in non-verbal IQ and numeracy and spatial cognition compared to their own pre-intervention test scores. You can read the study here: http://www.dana.org/news/publications/detail.aspx?id=10752
2. 3. Taxi drivers in London. In London, wannabe cab drivers have to learn 25,000 streets and 20,000 landmarks, as well as the intricate layout, in order to get licensed. Only about half of those who attempt it eventually pass the exams. In a recent study, those who passed were found to have more gray matter in the back part of the hippocampus after the three or four years of training. In other words, they physically changed their brains with external stimuli (learning the streets and landmarks). Read more here:

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/238895.php

1. Alcohol rehab. A new study has discovered that although recovering alcoholics can produce the same number of finger taps per minute as non-alcoholics, they use a different part of the brain to do it. It’s a compensation for impairment of the part of the brain that controls motor function. There appears to be a disruption in the pathway between the frontal lobe and the cerebellum in alcoholics – although the causal relationship could also be the other way around: people with this disruption are predisposed to alcoholism. Read more here:

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/237757.php

1. Deep brain stimulation for Alzheimer’s. A team in Canada did a study on the effects of deep brain stimulation in people with early Alzheimer’s. They found that when they applied electrical pulses directly to the fornix (part of the brain that shrinks first), they: improved memory, improved cognitive function and reversed some of the existing damage caused by Alzheimer’s. The biggest news is that in two of the six patients, the hippocampus action GREW after one year of the brain stimulation. One person’s grew by 5 percent and the other by 8 percent. The lead researcher said he has never seen the hippocampus grow in anyone with Alzheimer’s. Brain researchers believe this method works because it grows new brain cells and new connections between brain cells. Learn more here:

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/238309.php

1. Adolescent IQ changes. It can be scary when your teen demonstrates impulsive and risky behaviors, but at least now we understand where they’re coming from – and that they’ll likely go away. That’s because the structure of the brain is constantly changing during adolescence in a number of ways: Some of the deep structures in the brain are affected by changing hormones. The prefrontal cortex, which helps inhibit risky behavior, doesn’t get fully developed until age 25. The connections between the prefrontal cortex and other areas are still developing. Read more here:

www.cnn.com/2011/10/19/health/mental-health/teen-brain-impulses/index.html?hpt=he_c1

1. New AAP guidelines for ADHD. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is recommending that doctors evaluate preschoolers for ADHD – and keep evaluating kids until they’re 18. The earlier guidelines said kids ages 6 to 12. The six key action statements in the new guidelines (in layperson’s terms) are: First, doctors should do an ADHD evaluation for kids 4 to 18 who have school or behavioral problems and symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity or impulsivity. Second, doctors should rule out other possible causes of issues. Third, the evaluation should include consideration of other conditions that might coexist with ADHD. Fourth, kids with ADHD should be considered “special needs.” Fifth, treatment varies by age. Sixth, prescriptions for ADHD should be set to give maximum benefits with minimum adverse effects. Learn more here:

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Wellness/adhd-evals-preschoolers-guidelines-stir-overdiagnosis-fears/story?id=14756347

8. Brain training for dyslexia and dysgraphia. Yet another study shows that intensive brain training to strengthen certain cognitive skills is what really works for dyslexia and dysgraphia. The study followed 50 9-year-olds who had reading and writing struggles go through 40 minutes of brain training for 12 weeks. (Group #2 was given traditional “remedial tuition” that is offered by public schools.)

Group #1 worked on: linking phonemes and graphemes (sounds and letters), phonetic awareness, guided reading aloud, and reading in general (to strengthen reading fluency and speed). There was also “space for creativity, play and curiosity.”

Group #1 made significant progress AND had higher self-esteem and self-confidence. The members of Group #1 also did better in tested word decoding, spelling, reading speed and reading comprehension (after the individualized training). Learn more here: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/235538.php

1. CTE caused by contact sports. A new study done on the brains of 17 athletes who died of suicide, drug abuse or in accidents found that 11 had Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy. CTE is caused by multiple hits to the head and it’s recently become more common to hear it in the news as brain researchers see professional athletes demonstrate significant behavioral and cognitive changes after retirement. CTE is similar to Alzheimer’s in terms of symptoms, but there are significant differences in how it manifests. Read more here: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/231745.php

10. Relearning erased memories. A brain research team has shown that synaptic strength is controlled by the amount of a molecular complex called CaMKII/NMDAR. The complex determines not only how strong synapses are, but also how well a memory is stored. The fewer the CaMKII/NMDAR complexes, the weaker the synapse. The team “saturated” the synapse (strengthened it as much as possible), then “erased” the memory (the complex) with a chemical called CN-19. Then they re-stimulated the synapse and found that it could once again “learn.” Read more here:

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/229525.php