Brain Training with Learning Breakthrough

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Something that many people do not know about me is that I have a degree in neuroscience.  My fascination with the brain and how out entire body is integrated had me excited to review the book A Life in Balance ($18.95 suggested retail) from Learning Breakthrough Program. 

 

Brain fitness and brain training are riveting disciplines and this book is a great introduction for the lay person within the context of supporting learning.

 

A Life in Balance is in essence the memoirs of Frank Belgau, a pioneer in the field of neuroscience community with a focus on improving education for those challenged to learn in the traditional school setting.  His hands on approach to helping find the root cause of the issue and find ways to fix it really went against the mold of the day.  This particular resource is geared for adults, especially parents with a child who might be struggling to learn.  However, some teenagers might find it both engaging and informative.

 

This title begins by sharing a bit about his own struggles to learn to read in a family of high achievers.  Unlike his older siblings, he was unable to make it through even the simplest of books to read aloud and share his accomplishments at school.  By happenstance, he developed a training routine one summer with a focus on getting control of his physical clumsiness which had the added benefit of improving his ability to focus on the skills needed to read and thus learn.  From that point on, he was able to learn by leaps and bounds in that school setting and ended up with a passion for education and life long learning.

 

As he shares about his personal journey as an educator seeking to help those children labeled as “brain injured”, he also shares the stories of people who entered his life and helped him move along that path.  Some of the individuals were the children who entered his classroom in need of help learning to read.  Others were fellow educators willing to think outside of the box and go to bat for him to use ‘unconventional methods’ which could help improve the situation.  Finally, others were from a variety of disciplines (e.g. optometry) and entered his life through professional contacts or as the parent of a child seeking help.

 

Like any good scientist, Frank found that not every idea he tried panned out.  Those that did have an immediate, measurable difference in the ability of a child to read were kept while others got set aside.  Some ideas (e.g. the balance board) were honed after observing why some students had positive results and others did not.

 

From years of research, Frank eventually left academia and developed the Learning Breakthrough Program to be used by specialists or even parents.  The program included all of the key components which helped to strengthen both the body and mind through movement and balance.

 

My overall impression of this title is WOW! 

 

I have to admit that once I started reading the book I didn’t want to put it down.  Frank’s son (who penned the title from conversations with his father) has a wonderful way with words which drew me into Frank’s life experiences as well as his discussions about what is now known to be happening within the brain and its interaction with the body.  THIS kind of research and the ability to apply it to helping others is the epitome of what attracted me to studying neuroscience in graduate school many moons again.

 

As a parent, this title is fascinating as I’ve seen that my boys do not learn the same way that I do.  One of them would most likely have been tested and labeled as ADD or ADHD if he had continued attending school rather than switching to being homeschooled.  I am very appreciative of the more detailed explanations of the program components as well as the inclusion of how to set up a Space Walk to evaluate a child’s ability to navigate through three-dimensional space.  Even though said son has found some coping mechanisms for learning, I am contemplating putting the Space Walk on the summer schedule and considering if ordering a Learning Breakthrough kit for the house might not be a warranted move. 

 

After all, while Frank Belgua’s program might have started out as a way to help ‘learning disabled’ kids improve their reading skills, he and other researchers have since seen that ANY individual whether young or old can benefit from brain training.  I don’t know about you, but I’ll take anything that helps me maintain my mental faculties or even improve them which does not require medication or extreme interventions.

 

Do you or one of your children struggle with learning?Have you ever tried different exercises to help train the brain? 

 

Don’t just take my word for how awesome this book is!  Visit the Learning Breakthrough post on the Schoolhouse Review Crew website to see what other homeschooling parents thought about it.