Why, at this time in our history, when we know more about what an infant and developing child needs to gain optimum brain and body growth, many parents are unaware?  Little Giant Steps has been doing all they can to get the word out so parents can be raising healthier, brighter, and happier children.

What is most distressing, from our vantage point, is that learning disabilities have become an epidemic force in our educational systems.  Teachers are being more and more stressed by the wide diversity of learning readiness in their students. More children are coming to school with low processing abilities, disorganized thinking (which means a disorganized brain), and behaviors that reduce their ability to receive, comprehend, store, and recall information.

The Neuro-Educational Specialists know that symptomatic functional learning deficits are typically caused from early developmental insufficiency (lack of required developmental activity). They see in their daily practice of working with children and their families that these issues can be eliminated by doing specific brain stimulating activities with a child for whatever time it takes for the brain to develop the neuro-pathways or connections.  As one researcher states, “Those undeveloped (incomplete) neuro-connections are in the brain just waiting for the developmental stimulation process to complete the circuit.”

All Parents Need to Know

A child must have focused attention from the parents for its whole health, and for its complete and fullest potential to be realized. They need sleep ~  sleeps that’s recommended. Most of our kids are sleep deprived in our country! They need nutritious and balanced food intake. They need to be stimulated and nurtured by their parents.  They need to be allowed to be on the floor during their waking hours, from the time they are new born babies, until they have mastered the art of walking, because it is on their tummies that their neuro-musculature develops, their brains and bodies become mapped, so the impulses of thought and action, cognitive thinking, comprehension, organizing thoughts, processing information and all the many things for which the brain is responsible can be efficient and effective.  I’ve said this many times, but it bears repeating,”Becoming neurologically efficient is like going from a dial up connection on the internet to a high speed optical line.”  Both ways work, but the dial up line leaves people frustrated, with many items never being completed, and almost all, eventually, give up!

Please, if you’re a parent, take a look at the free articles we provide for your journey to becoming a well informed parent who desires the very best for their children, and not just give them lip service with good intentions.  You’ll be surprised how much you can learn and how much you can do to change the course of your child’s academic journey.  Leaving children in infant seats, jumpers, swings, high chairs for most of their day, is literally putting their early and complete neuro-development in jeopardy.

Little Giant  Steps is truly the best head-start program ever.  Yes, there must be parent involvement, but that is at the heart of achieving the best parent a child could ask  or pray for.

 She Loves To Scuba Dive

That’s what I knew about Joanna!  What I didn’t know is how much she’d overcome in her early years.  Here’s what I learned from her mom:

“Three and one half years ago, our youngest daughter, Joanna, was struggling socially, academically, and relationally.  After 14 months on Little Giant Steps program she had improved in all academic areas; 2 grade levels math and more than 5 grade levels in Word Recognition and Reading Comprehension.  She now has been off the LGS program for two years, and last week we had her evaluated again.  During these past 2 years she has gained more than 3 and ½ grade levels in math and maxed out reading comprehension.  Joanna is rapidly finishing high school with the most dramatic improvement in math. Her brain is still sharp!”

What was related to me, is that to fine tune her brain for rapid decision making needed for her hobby—scuba diving & underwater rescue!  It is so gratifying to see young adults who come up and through challenges.  Little Giant Steps exists for people like Joanna.  We are so blessed to see that when the brain gets organized, the visual and auditory processing increased, and dominance issues are addressed; a new life emerges. A life full of potential and adventures that earlier were never thought possible.  Thanks to Jan Bedell, M.Ed, M.ND. who has worked so diligently to create programs to serve those who deserve and desire the elimination of learning issues, poor memory, and many  learning disabilities.

From a client’s mom:

“He is doing so great.  I have a science test that he took recently.  It was so hard!  He got a 108%!  I was super proud of him!”

“This young lad came up seven grade levels in reading in 18 months from 6.8 to 13.8 (grade level placement scores used by schools) and completely maxed the comprehension in a year! He started out at a sixth grade level there, too! He’s only 12 now!  He did not like reading or learning before and after 18 months he loved it!”  ~ from his ND who tested him, provided him with a neuro-developmental/educational program, and then re-tested him every 4 months. 

Reports like this are not unusual from our parents and teachers as they watch children who are on the Little Giant Steps Neuro-Educational Programs.  They have the fortunate vantage point to witness how our clients change and become academically successful when their brains become organized, their processing abilities improve, and their hemispheric dominance is firmly established.  It’s not really rocket science…. it’s what nature provides (demands) during those early years of neuro-development.  Unfortunately, we are doing things with our children in our society that has left many of them with gaps in their neuro-connections, and the mind-body communication doesn’t get the developmental stimuli it requires.  Sure our kids learn to cope and compensate, but by the time they reach 9 years of age, typically, you’ll see them begin to suffer academically, as they try and have failed enough times their frustration and feelings of failure cause them to turn away from all that is good about learning. They can’t function within the windows of opportunities  given in a school environment. No human being does well with a serving of failure each and every day.

Now, The Good News

And there is good news!  Little Giant Steps is here to make sure those learning difficulties are resolved, eliminated, and a new confident successful person emerges.  Please look at how fast these children achieve proficiency in math, word recognition, and comprehension by reviewing these tests of our clients.  If you know of a child, teen or even an adult struggling with learning, then you owe it to them to send them to this site.  We recognize we may not appeal to everyone, but more people than not, after they’ve investigated what Little Giant Steps does,  how we work, they take advantage of our screenings we do throughout the year, and most just call to make an appointment to be evaluated, because they know after reading our articles; they have found what they need.

We’ve been on the LGS Neuro-Educational Program and know it works….

“I finally completed the boys monthly status report and I am mailing it out tomorrow, but, I wanted to share something with you that happened this week that is not on the report. Trent wanted to invite a friend over to spend the night, but we were in the car and the number was not accessible. I told Trent that he could call him on my cell phone and amazingly he remembered his friend’s home number, but that is not even the best part. His friend was at his grandparent’s home (who he stays with quite often). I asked Trent if he knew that number and at first he said that he didn’t, then, Trent said, Wait, I think I know it and sure enough it was the right number.

My heart leaped for joy. Last year this 13 year old boy was doing good to remember his own phone number and now he is a walking phone directory. Praise God!!!!!! We have seen other signs of progress after being on the Neuro-Developmental Program that I included on our monthly report, but this one was a dozy. I think God knew that we needed the encouragement to keep going and finish the race. Thank you guys  at Little Giant Steps so much!”

Little Giant Steps is dedicated to helping all children learn easier, process information more efficiently and create improved short and long-term memory.  We utilize what God’s provided ~ the neuroplasticity of the brain.  A feature that can create new neuro-pathways, stronger connections.  Visit us online for more information.  Also, see the research we’ve completed in public schools.

Jan Bedell, The Brain Coach

Twenty Years Of Success

Little Giant Steps, a neuro-educational consulting group, founded by Neuro-Ed. Specialist, Jan Bedell, M.Ed. M.ND. has developed successful programs to eliminate the symptoms and reclaim the function in the brain which allows for the elimination of ADD and ADHD (Attention Deficit Disorders), as well as many other issues in learning.

Learning disabilities have a set of symptoms that will allow diagnosis or a description of a certain malady or abnormal function.  It’s a “naming” process. At Little Giant Steps we are more concerned with the root cause of the dysfunction and addressing the issues by helping the brain to function more efficiently and effectively.  This may sound pretty daunting, but the fact is as infants there are certain developmental steps the body and brain must achieve in order to become and have the functioning ability as God intended.

The Cost Of Missing The Developmental Steps

When an infant misses vital developmental steps, then we see symptoms and dysfunction typically in their ability to learn easily.  Babies were meant to be on their tummies on the floor where their movements begin to map the brain, so as their neuro-musculature system gains strength and grows the functional ability of the brain can organize movement on the floor with gross and fine motor skill development and eventually to higher levels of function that go on throughout our teen years.  Unfortunately, parents bring their infants home in seats, and keep them in some kind of seat most of their waking hours.  SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) which began occurring in the 1960′s resulted in parents being instructed to never put their babies on their tummies while they sleep.  However, putting your baby on his or her tummy during waking hours IS VITAL if you want a full and efficient neurological system to develop the communication between the brain and body.  If you choose not to follow these natural demands of the human developmental requirements, then you will have a child who will be functioning very much like a internet “dial-up” connection.  Eventually you’ll get the message, but for the most part the window of opportunity will have closed, or the frustration levels will have gotten so great you’ll put the whole episode behind you or ignore it.

School’s Are Needing Help!

Typically, these areas of need begin to show up with great clarity when a child goes to school.  Why?  Because the demands of the breadth of abilities in a classroom require the teacher to teach to the middle of the ability stream, and if your child is on a dial-up connection and unable to receive, process and store information at average and above, then they get lost in the dust. The school’s are saying we have a Learning Disability Epidemic and they can’t address all the needs being required with such diverse levels of comprehension, processing and memory failures.

Learning Disabilities Is Not A Life Sentence

Schools, parents, and others have been sold a bill of goods that their child will need to cope and compensate for their learning disability. That’s a lie.  Learning disabilities can be addressed at the root cause level in the brain by retraining the brain, developing strong connections between the brain and body and neuro-pathways made to operate more efficiently. One of the first things Little Giant Steps does is to help organize the lower levels of the brain, which happens when there is sufficient crawling, creeping, and other vital activities are accomplished during infancy. Our programs work on people of all ages. We have a senior program called Motion & Memory which we use to restore abilities to adults and senior citizens who have lost or are losing function.  Our programs developed for children utilize cognitive, physical, and sensory stimulation to create what was not created at the earlier stages of development.  No coping or compensating is needed when a person is functioning with neuro-efficiency.  That’s what Little Giant Steps is all about ~ leaving learning disabilities and learning issues behind.  The good news is that it matters not whether the individual is gifted, typical, or challenged. All will improve to function at their fullest God-given potential with the Little Giant Step Neuro-Educational Programs.  Have a great year!  If your child or even you need our help, then contact us. We have free consultations so your questions can be answered and most importantly this year can be one of the best years in your or your child’s life!

 Little Giant Steps has the fortunate history of seeing children, teens and adults leave behind their  struggling with learning for almost 2o years.  We are very blessed to work in a field now called “neuroscience” of which we’ve called “neurodevelopment”.  The good news for this year and all of the years we’ve been helping families, is that we get to see the potential realized in their children along side the parents.  Getting the brain and body’s connections functioning efficiently is a matter of doing what was missed during early development.  Yes, there is a discipline one must follow in order to accomplish that goal, but it is very achievable!

Please take a moment and read some of the histories of those with whom we’ve worked.  Then make a New Year’s Resolution that this year will be the year to set your child free from learning disabilities!  God bless you and yours in the coming year.  Thanks and much gratitude to all those who support Little Giant Steps and our sister non-profit agency, Steps of Hope.

The following test results are raw data from client files. All received a battery of preliminary tests upon admission. The tests establish baselines on educational grade level functional abilities. All received a neurodevelopmental evaluation and an individualized plan was written by the neurodevelopmentalist. All programs were executed by the parents after being trained in specific activities on their child’s individualized program, with the exception of adults participating on the program. This report also shows the educational grade level scores after four months on the recommended program via a repeat of the same battery of tests. Parents following initial training, were supervised via follow up calls. Support was available at all times. LGS cannot guarantee programs were followed as recommended, but tracking sheets were used to help parents stay on schedule. Many clients continued the program, and completion scores for those are listed, as well. Both males and females participated.

7.11 to 8.8 years of age

8.10 to 9.4 years of age

9.8 to 10.4 years of age

10.6 to 11.11 years of age

11.11 to 12.2 years of age

12.2 to 13.2 years of age

13.3 to 14.11 years of age

15.0 to 20.5 years of age

54 and 55 years of age

 Little Giant Steps knows the value of having a child who seemly has no self-control, despite the effort and good parenting that has been a part of his up-bringing, become a “normal” kid.  We also know a child will often mis-behave when his processing abilities are low, his brain is disorganized, or mixed dominance is going on due to the fact they have a few gaps in neuro-efficiency or neurodevelopment.  If you see the symptoms, then know there is a way to treat them without drugs or expensive intervention.  It’s a matter of development, and that is an opportunity for you to educate yourself and then get busy learning how to help change your and your child’s life for the better, just like this mom did!”  

“Kyle (age 9) has settled down a bit and really good news. We spent over 3 hrs getting our cells phones changed out and he didn’t do any of the personal body space invasion or intense attention getting antics he usually does when we are in a public place. He was just your typical bored 9 year-old. Woop woop! Thanks for everything!”

Listen to this parent’s experience with their son following the implementation of the Little Gaint Steps‘ Neuro-Educational Program.

“We are already seeing progress! Edward (age 7) is looking us in the eyes when he talks to us and when we talk to him! This is huge, because this has been a point of frustration for years. We always assumed that he was more interested in TV or toys than looking at us, but apparently not. I was shocked the first time I called his name and he looked right at me a couple of days ago instead of looking off to the side. We have not changed anything other than adding his LGS program to our routine, so it is clear that the program is responsible for the change.  Thank you, LGS!”

Little Giant Steps has been working with families for over 20 years showing them how they can be the “game-changer” when it comes to helping their child through math or reading difficulties.  In fact, over these many years, Jan Bedell, The Brain Coach, has been developing programs that not only help a child grasp the concepts of math, but work at helping the child process information much better.  A Neuro-Education Program, whether it’s addressing functional issues found in ADD, ADHD, Dyslexia, Dysgraphia, Sensory Disorders, PDD, Down syndrome, or Special Needs, works on the foundation of learning at the root causes in the brain!  If the brain is not organized, and neuro-pathways are not complete, then the child may show signs of some or all of the learning disabilities mentioned above.

 Learning Disabilities or Difficulties Are Not A Life Sentence!

 Here are some parents  telling of their experiences who have taken advantage of our in-home programs (Developmental Foundations (5-Adult), Early Learning Foundations (2-5 yr.),or who’ve  had an Evaluation with Individualized Programs:

“When I was asked to use one word to describe my experience with Little Giant Steps, I said, life-changing. When our daughter started the program, she was highly frustrated, emotional, and her attention span was terrible. The only way she could focus on school work was in a totally quiet environment. She wanted to help and follow instructions but could not remember. She was also hyper-sensitive, we had to cut out all tags from her clothing. Megan improved two grade levels in math, word recognition and comprehension in one year.“  T.E., Plano, TX

“My son was 10 years old, in the 4th grade and having problems at school (and other places), becoming too emotional in class and causing problems with off-task behavior. When he did get really upset, it took him a very long time to calm down. He was brilliant at some times and totally absent-minded at others; having trouble recalling what he had mastered the day before. Focusing on tasks for 15 minutes was a real challenge and his work required constant supervision for him to complete assignments. He longed to play with other children but would withdraw when playmates were around. He was hypersensitive to touch and had trouble controlling his hands. There were other issues as well.

We took our son to an Educational Diagnostician and a Pediatric Neurologist. Both professionals agreed he was a bright child with mild ADHD. One advised medication and the other did not. Then, I heard a talk given on neurodevelopment and what kinds of problems it can correct. It was as if they were talking about our son. We had our son evaluated and began a Program of Neurodevelopment. By the end of 6 weeks, he began to be able to skip; he had never been able to do this. By the end of four months, he was going to the principal’s office less than once a week, before it had been 2 — 3 times a week. By the end of the school semester, at about 5 months, his interaction with his peers had dramatically changed and he was not so solitary as before.

During the summer, he surprised us by swimming in a straight line across the pool (without any coaching). In summers past, he always swam in a curve, since one side of his body would not do what the other side would (3 years of swimming lessons had been unable to correct this). This year, in the 5th grade, we have seen steady progress. Our son can now stay on task for hours a time and can remember much better what he has learned. He has not been to the principal’s office once!  This Neuro-Educational Program really works! Everyone is a lot happier at our house these days. Neurodevelopment is an answer to prayer.  Grateful in TX.