subject: Processing Training First - Tutoring Later [print this page] Learning problems are complex and it is sometimes hard find the most direct path to a permanent solution. Even testing can overlook some important areas of difficulty, if not directed at specific problem areas. Tutoring is readily available and seems to be the first destination on the road to a solution. If you have tried tutoring and like an addiction, your child needs to go back for more each year, this extra help becomes a crutch. This cycle of catching up and falling back can continue throughout a child's school experience and into adulthood. It is a one step forward but two steps back approach and it is a frustrating experience for any child.
Let me suggest an alternative approach. The first step on the road to a permanent solution is to identify your child's problems. Learning difficulties that reoccur are usually information processing problems. The next step is to find a program to help your child absorb and process information faster and easier. These problems affect every area of learning. Some of the most common processing problems are:
lack of concentration
cannot finish work on time
makes careless mistakes
forgets information soon after instruction
easily distracted
makes careless errors
works hard but is constantly behind
poor spelling and reading
rereading material over and over to comprehend
If your child has one or more of these difficulties, process training should be started as soon as possible. Children have within themselves a measure of cognitive skills and abilities. When these skills are not functioning optimally the child is not able to perform to his or her highest potential. To learn requires that attention, comprehension, memory, visualization skills, and other cognitive processing functions be operating at peak performance.
Children must develop these skills to have academic success and to rely on their own abilities. Fortunately, these skills and abilities can be enhanced and developed by training. In only a few weeks, a child can improve 2 years or more in cognitive functioning, and be prepared to tackle any subject with confidence. After processing problems have been resolved, tutoring can then be incorporated into the learning solution plan to bring the child up to grade level.
