Archive for the ‘Brain Training’ Category

A Solution That Works!

For over twenty years Little Giant Steps has been providing evaluations, academic testing, screenings, developed neuro-developmental programs, neuro-educational curriculum, tools, and learning aides. We have witnessed thousands of children (despite age or I.Q.) discover learning can be fun, fulfilling, and confidence-building by utilizing programs that change the root of functional problems by addressing and changing the connections in the brain – the source of our cognitive, physical, social, and spiritual development!  Please investigate. Then, take advantage of the free articles, auditory test kits, visual test kits, free webinars, and  free consultations. When you discover the program that makes sense to you, follow up and do it!  We work with people in our clinic, but also have great at-a-distance programs. In fact, Jan Bedell, our founder and mother of a challenged child, is so passionate about making the neuro-developmental/educational approach available to all who are searching for help, she’s developed a program that is done at home only. Developmental Foundations is one of many things she’s developed to help your child.

As a mother recently told me, “I realize with the changes I’ve seen in my daughter’s abilities to learn, and the her whole outlook on life improve, I can dedicate myself to working with her for however long it takes, because I now see and know that the time I invest with her will be a short time in MY life, but the benefits will for HER will be a whole LIFETIME!

Good luck!  Parents know their children better than anyone. You can do anything you set as a priority. Go to www.littlegiantsteps.com and gain the knowledge you need to proceed in changing your child’s life. Help them experience their true God-given potential!

What Is A Parent To Do?

There is nothing more frustrating than not knowing what to do when your child clearly needs help! In my personal case, I knew something wasn’t quite on target, with my youngest son. Even his pre-school teacher talked to me about him.  She said, “He is so bright, articulate, and comprehends beyond his years, but there’s a “glitch” somewhere. He can’t seem to do things he should be able to do. He may have a learning disability. Don’t misunderstand, your son has very high intellect, but I don’t know what we’re looking at, but I will tell you to watch and see how he develops in the next two years. You may need to find some intervention – I wish I knew more – just be aware.”

Seeking A Solution Can Be Frustrating

She was right. My son definitely had trouble learning things. While I’d watched my oldest son breeze through acquiring academic skills, my poor little one seemed like he was trapped in a glass bubble with no access to anything easily. He was so determined, and most painful of all, was that he was very much aware of what was happening around him and he would ask me, “Mom, what’s wrong with me…. I should be able to do things like other kids.” Then came the real heart breaker when he announced, “I’m just dumb, stupid! I can’t do what normal people do!”

It took me ten (10) years before I found a solution! It wasn’t because I wasn’t asking for help, either.  I even became known as the pain in the” you-know-where” to all of the elementary teachers.  They saw me as a meddling, over-protective mother hen.  The schools wouldn’t test him, because he was doing above average work, even though they recognized he struggled terribly!  He was so aware of the things he should be able to do, but couldn’t execute regardless of how much we drilled, coached, suffered. He could do advanced math in his head perfectly, but couldn’t translate that to paper. He showed all the signs of dyslexia, but no one would test him!!!!

Finally, I gave up on the school and drove 250 miles to a Montessori school to talk with them (I was ready to commute with him, because as each year went by, he got more and more discouraged and depressed.) They saved his life by telling me it sounded like he had a developmental problem. They thought I should seek out a professional neuro-developmental specialist. Was this a doctor? I’d never heard of such a professional. (I had a medical background and was surprised that I’d never heard of a neuro-developmental specialist.)  No, most of them are teachers with specialty training in neuro-development, academic testing skills, and understand how to get these kids like my son on track. They even told me some of the kids they knew had their learning disability eliminated! Needless to say, I found a neuro-developmental specialist with these skills. I had my son evaluated. He had dyslexia (even though they were not big on labels), he also had some serious eye tracking/ hand coordinating problems and they had us see a developmental optometrist. They put a program together. We saw our son begin to blossom in so many ways. Today he’s the one with the doctorate in our family!!    See us tomorrow for part 2.

 What a Difference A Neuro-Educational Program Can Make

Meet Timothy.  Little Giant Steps,(LGS) and his dedicated family had the pleasure of working together toward making learning easier, successful, and opening doors that seemed to be closed to him. I hope his story will encourage you, and if your child needs help, then visit our services page on our website.

We provide professional neuro-developmental and academic testing followed by an individualized Neurodevelopmental Program and Training, which is what Timothy’s family chose to do.  However, we also have programs that will meet the learning issues or problems, regardless of where you live.  Jan Bedell, M.Ed., M.ND., founder of LGS has created neuro-educational programs such as  ”At-home Programs,” “Developmental Foundations“ and “At-A-Distance Programs” so you have a choice.  If you live outside of our home state of Texas, we can help you help your child, teen or adult to become neurologically efficient, and make learning easier regardless of age or I.Q.  Whether your loved one is gifted, typical or challenged; receiving, comprehending, storing and recalling information can be improved and you will see a confident and successful individual emerge as a result.  Now, listen to Timothy’s mom in 2009:

“When we came to Little Giant Steps two years ago, Timothy was barely passing 2^nd grade.  He wasn’t reading very well, couldn’t remember things that he learned the day before, couldn’t concentrate because the noise in the classroom bothered him and he was just really frustrated.  At home, just cleaning his room was extremely overwhelming for him.

     One of the first things we noticed after he was on the program for about four months is that he was able to clean and organize his room with little supervision.  It is like we have a different child!      

     Timothy has been back in public school for 4^th grade (after being home schooled for 1½ years and focusing on the Little Giant Steps program) and is making mostly A’s and a few B’s.  His reading has improved beyond our wildest hopes.  He has improved exponentially in every academic area.  His teacher said, “I don’t know what you did with him, but this is not the same child as in 2^nd grade.” 

     I met with Timothy’s dyslexia teacher recently because she sent out results of her end of year testing. Even though the report showed that his scores increased in every area, I wanted to know if this was satisfactory progress. His teacher said, “No, it wasn’t just ok progress, it was GREAT progress!”. She said he was the “STAR of the class” and that all of the students look to him. For example, at the beginning of the year he could read 15 out 50 words.  At the end of the year he could read 45 out of 50 of the words on this specific test. She said most kids do not make this much progress the first year!!!  She said, “You know, he still has a whole year left in this class.” 

     Here are Timothy’s TAKS scores for this year: 

• · Reading:  93 (only missed 3 out of 40). This score is one point away from “commended”.
• · Math:  82 (only missed 8 out of 42). Because of this score, he will not be pulled out of class next year for math tutoring.
• · Writing:  72 (only missed 7 out of 28).  His writing improved a lot this year and I know it will continue to improve next year.

     We are so proud of him and he is proud of himself, also. These scores are just more evidence to substantiate that the ND approach to learning is incredibly successful!”   D. C. in Frisco,

NOW…FOR THE UPDATE WRITTEN IN APRIL 2013!

” Timothy is doing great!  He is making mostly A’s in school. The teachers are blown away with the fact that he really doesn’t need any accommodations especially when taking the standardized tests.  He reads very well but struggles with spelling.  I cannot tell you how many times he notices how much better he reads than his friends who are dyslexic. He says, mom, they need Jan Bedell’s program!

The reason I am contacting you is because Timothy is on the tennis team at his middle school and will try out for the high school team in May. He has found that if he does the skip cross before he plays his match, he does better. So, he wants to know if there are any exercises or movements that would increase his coordination. He really is doing very well in my opinion but he wanted me to ask anyway.  Tell Jan thank from us.” D.C.  

Ask the Brain Coach                                       

Developmental Tip: Handwriting

Your child may know how to form letters and numbers but doing it neatly is a challenge. You may have taught your child to hold a pencil right but there is still a struggle. These types of symptoms are typically from a lack of good brain/body connections. The distance from the brain to the finger tips is a long way for signals to travel. The Neurodevelopmental Approach can provide specific stimulation to the brain to remediate these issues. The activity that is typically recommended for these symptoms is called “Deep Pressure on Hand and Arm” and provides stimulation to the brain to build neuro-pathways from the deep tissue in the arm to the brain. The parent uses his thumb and pointer to press or squeeze each of the child’s fingers, starting with the tips of the fingers and working into the child’s palm. Then the parent uses his whole hand to press or squeeze the child’s arm from the hand working all the way up the inside and outside of the arm all the way to the shoulder. “Deep Pressure on Hand and Arm” should be done one minute two times a day for six to eight months for lasting benefit.

Please Visit Us, Like Us, And Get Special Discounts (there will even be Freebies)!

Little Giant Steps is please to announce we have joined the Homeschool Block! We invite you to drop in, see our booth,  and don’t miss out on the book shelves! Be sure to scroll down from the booth and get a great view of our best products to help your child or family member become the best student, improved communicator and have the highest performance possible! 

Many of our clients are homeschooling, and we thought it was high time we join the ranks of service providers on a national basis.  Jan Bedell, M.Ed., M.ND. also known as “The Brain Coach®”, has devoted the past twenty+ years to creating curriculum, educational supplements, tools, and aides that will “Make Learning Easier.” Little Giant Steps rescues those who are suffering from learning issues, struggle with memory, or have special needs. By the way, you are never too old or young to gain increased abilities!  The brain retains the ability to change for the better due to a unique feature called neuroplasticity. This  feature allows injuries to heal, new neuro-pathways (connections) to develop, and  offers developmental steps that may have been missed when you were small to be acquired.  One of our clients exclaimed, “This so great!  Now, I can remember what I know, I can retain what I’ve studied, and I can get 100% on my test scores!”  One of our adult clients said, “For the first time in my life, I can drive to a location without studying a map or using GPS….. I just remember and go ~ life is so much better without the anxiety and the frustration I’ve had all my life!”

Everyone can benefit from having a better organized brain, improved processing abilities, and internal efficiency in communication between the brain and body! Oh, by the way, this modality of making learning easier is called, The Neurodevelopment Approach!  It can be a family affair!  It can be fun, too!  All it requires is about 2 min. a day, twice a day.

Many of Jan’s programs give you video training,some are CDs and all give written instructions.  The activities are not difficult to do, they just need to be done as directed…. after all…. you are creating an environment in which more efficient neuro-pathways are being constructed in the brain.  All this is so you or your loved ones can think, remember, comprehend, and even perform better!  Please accept our invitation!  We’ll see you on the block!  God bless.

Need More Answers?

Little Giant Steps ~ Ahead of the Research

For over twenty years, Jan Bedell, our Brain Coach®, has been that voice in the dark  alerting parents to practices we, as a society, were doing with our children that was leaving them with gaps in their neuro-development. She also informed them there are ways to remedy these learning disabilities, issues, and deficits in function due to these practices.  Finally, the world of academia is pronouncing all this to be true.  Disturbingly true.  Please read the release of this body of research.  Then see our articles at our website

Science Daily, Your Source of Latest Research News:

It Requires A New Approach

Learning can be made easy! How? With all learning problems there is a root cause that can be identified and remedied. When the brain and body are communicating efficiently then sensory input is improved and the learning process can become a joy.

Learning Disabilities has become an epidemic in the United States. Labels like Dyslexia, ADD/ ADHD, PDD (Developmental Delays), andAutism. These disability labels have invaded the lives of children and their families and have forever changed the landscape of education. Has the joy of learning been diminished? Yes, it has without a doubt. The professionals at Little Giant Steps are trained to utilize the Neurodevelopmental Approach and have had many years of success in making learning fun again!

We address these “symptoms” by using a two-fold assessment. First, using a battery of educational tests, a baseline for math, reading and comprehension is established. Next, a developmental evaluation where nine levels of development in six areas of function are assessed. This information gives the neurodevelopmentalist the basis for writing an individualized program. The program will address the root causes. The one common element in all learning issues, from our point of view, has to do with sensory dysfunction. Built into the brain is the element of neuroplasticity which is the natural ability of the brain to repair those areas that are deficient, incomplete, or damaged. If you are the kind of parent who is a true do-it-yourselfer, we’ve developed many “at-home” programs and we put the tools into your hands by training you how to make a difference in your child’s functional abilities.  See our success stories to be encouraged.

We know from experience we can make a difference in the lives of our clients because we’ve seen it over and over again. Learning can truly be made a joyful experience that will last a lifetime! Educate yourself as to how you can make a profound change in your child’s academic life regardless of the age or I.Q.  Review our website: www.littlegiantsteps.com.  Happy New Year!

Early Brain Stimulation Is Key In Development

 Little Giant Steps is dedicated to provide the most comprehensive and research-based services possible. The study I’m sharing confirms our philosophy and validity of the services we provide. It confirms the knowledge we share and the basis for all the learning tools, aides and curriculum developed.  See what we have to offer to Infants and Preschoolers

Twenty-year research project shows that most critical aspect of cortex development in late teens was stimulation at age four.

An early childhood surrounded by books and educational toys will leave positive fingerprints on a person’s brain well into their late teens, a two-decade-long research study has shown.

Scientists found that the more mental stimulation a child gets around the age of four, the more developed the parts of their brains dedicated to language and cognition will be in the decades ahead.

It is known that childhood experience influences brain development but the only evidence scientists have had for this has usually come from extreme cases such as children who had been abused or suffered trauma. Martha Farah, director of the centre for neuroscience and society at the University of Pennsylvania, who led the latest study, wanted to find out how a normal range of experiences in childhood.

 Farah took data from surveys of home life and brain scans of 64 participants carried out over the course of 20 years. Her results, presented on Sunday at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in New Orleans, showed that cognitive stimulation from parents at the age of four was the key factor in predicting the development of several parts of the cortex – the layer of grey matter on the outside of the brain – 15 years later.   More…..