Reading Success Unlocked

How cognitive skill-building reading program is different from most available reading programs

For the child who cannot read well, the world is a challenging place.  Many times, challenges are good, and can be instrumental in building character. But, in the case of a poor reader, the challenge to understand information, keep up with peers, or succeed in school is more likely to produce frustration, withdrawal, and failure. It doesn’t have to be that way. There are keys to good reading that can be strengthened in every child.

Reading programs are numerous and diverse. There are speed reading course, computer-assisted reading systems, and memory reading plans. There are phonics games, whole word reading methods, traditional classroom and tutor-based reading curricula. Each of these reading systems presume that students already have basic cognitive skills in place to process sounds and associate them correctly with letters and concepts. This presumption continues to be a source of heartache for many teachers, parents, and students searching for reading solutions.

Successful Reading Starts with Core Brain Skills

Many reading programs can produce some level of reading progress for students who possess underlying cognitive skill, but for those with weaker foundations, the wide variety of reading programs can become a trap. Every year, parents and schools spend thousands of dollars on programs which have little chance of significantly helping students with weak skill.  Here’s why they fail, Fluent reading is the by-product of strong cognitive skills, particularly the cognitive skill of auditory processing. To be successful, reading programs must start at this foundational level, build stronger cognitive skill, and then put these strengthened abilities to proper use. The mainstream research on reading programs and reading success agrees that a solid foundation in cognitive skills is the single most important component missing in most struggling readers.

Studies show that 85% of struggling readers have significant weaknesses in auditory processing, particularly phonemic awareness. Therefore, reading programs that start by strengthening underlying cognitive skills hold the key to long-term reading achievement.

Cognitive Skills Training at LearningRx

At LearningRx, our reading programs identify and strengthen the weak skills at the root of most reading struggles. We start with a comprehensive cognitive assessment to identify the core weaknesses, and then we structure and effective, one-on-one training strategy to strengthen those skills, laying the foundation for a lifetime of reading success.

As a result of decades of research and studies, LearningRx has developed several proprietary training programs that strengthen auditory processing, visual processing, attention skills, memory skills, processing speed, logic & reasoning and comprehension.  These are not traditional reading instruction or remedial tutoring programs. Instead, LearningRx brain trainers work one-on-one with students, taking them through a customized series of fun, challenging mental exercises that target and strengthen weak skill. In fact, before-and-after testing shows our clients gain an average of 3.6 skill years in auditory processing, one of the most critical skills for successful reading. And, for most of our clients, the time it takes to get these improvements is 24-32 weeks, meaning there isn’t an ongoing commitment year after year.

According to Diane McGuinness, Ph.D., “Everyone, it turns out, can be taught to read unless they have such deficient mental and/or linguistic skill  they can’t carry on a normal conversation.” If you child is struggling to read (or comprehend what’s just been read), cognitive-based reading programs like LearningRx’s ReadRx, Liftoff, and ComprehendRx might be exactly what he or she needs to succeed.

2017 Nation’s Report Card, National Assessment of Educational Progress