Even for a child who is making good grades, a day of learning at school brings a vast array of emotions into play. There will be excitement and anticipation, and moments of discouragement, with a whole host of emotions in between. Just as life is filled with highs and lows, so too is the learning process. Perhaps you have heard the saying “learning is work,” but for children learning is their work.
For school students who are struggling with academics each day, negative emotions such as frustration or discouragement begin to slowly erode confidence and self-esteem. Depression, avoidance of schoolwork, apathy, and even anger are emotions that learning disabled children often deal with every day. They ask themselves the questions such as, “why can’t I do the work” or “why am I always the last to finish my tests,” or “why do I make bad grades even when I study extra hard.” As adults, if we were faced daily with little or no productivity or success on a daily basis, especially over a long period of time, what would we do? Most of us would want to quit. However, children do not have options and they are locked into this cycle of attempts and failure until someone intervenes to help.
Cognitive training addresses the emotions of struggling students, as well as the learning difficulties they are confronted with each day. This foundation training not only builds concentration, memory, processing speed, visual memory, visualization and other cognitive thinking and processing skills, but self-esteem as well. A child’s confidence will grow at every session as they are motivated by frequent challenges and successes. Once a child begins to feel the joy of accomplishment, confidence will grow quickly.
There are excellent home kits that are easy for parents or teachers to administer. All children deserve to feel the challenge of learning without frustration or fear of failure and to feel the joy of accomplishment and a job well done. When basic foundation skills are in place and confidence is restored, there is a world of knowledge waiting for the child who has the tools, abilities, and the confidence to discover them.