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At
the Malibu Learning Center we help students
overcome their inefficiencies in learning and encourage
their areas of strength and uniqueness.
Each human brain
is unique. Some are wired to create skyscrapers while others
are designed to build computers, care for animals, fly airplanes,
teach yoga or write song lyrics. As adults we are able to
follow the path that is most suited to our mind's learning
strengths.
Children, however, are not always able to
practice their brain's specialties; in the classroom they
may be ruthlessly evaluated on how well they do everything.
Through no fault of their own, some children
have brains that are not easily suited to academic requirements
such as quick and accurate reading, automatic recall of arithmetic
facts, accurate spelling and sustained attention to mental
tasks. Children who can't seem to meet the demands of academic
learning end up paying an exorbitant price for
having the mind they were born with. These children, who are
often very bright and creative, may experience failure at
an early age rather than the thrill of accomplishment. Instead
of reaching for success, their goal in school is to avoid
the humiliation of failure.
A child with
a learning problem usually has difficulty in the way he processes
or thinks about information. His processing may not be wrong
but it may be inefficient for academic tasks.
Because he is obviously intelligent, parents and teachers
may say that he "does not apply himself." Although
a lack of motivation is probably related to the learning problem
it is most often the result and not the cause. With very few
exceptions, learners of any age want to be successful and
would if they could.
The key to teaching students with learning
challenges is to help them develop the underlying thinking
processes that will allow them to absorb, remember
and use information efficiently. When the mind has been trained
to attend to, hold onto and understand information it can
then be taught the basic academic skills more successfully.
"But we've already
done tutoring.
Why didn't it work?"
Tutoring focuses on academic skills and subject.
Students are also taught compensation strategies to help them
cope. These are essential but they are seldom enough!
For students who struggle with
learning, the primary focus must be on the underlying thinking
processes. It is critical not only to strengthen inefficient
areas of processing, but also to teach students how to use
those skills for academics.
For may students, going more slowly, reducing
the amount of information or repeating the directions over
and over again, simply doesn't make a difference. They can
pay attention all day long, but until they can process the
information they will continue to be lost.
Diagnostic evaluations
Malibu
Learning Center provides diagnostic evaluations to determine
the student's level of academic functioning and examine the
underlying thinking processes.
We offer a FREE comprehensive screening to
diagnose a student's processing skills.
Educational therapy
Individualized educational therapy is designed for the needs
of each student and progress is evaluated weekly. The Lindamood
Phoneme Sequencing (LiPS) and Language Programs are used to
strengthen phonemic awareness. Both programs are soundly based
in research. Over the past twenty years a wide body of research
has shown that phonemic awareness is the most significant
predictor of success or failure in learning to read.
Cognitive processing
PACE - Processing and Cognitive Enhancement
PACE is an intensive 12 week
program that focuses on developing the cognitive processing
skills critical to comfortable learning in an academic setting.
Skills will be developed in the areas of auditory and visual
processing, short and long term memory, processing speed,
attention, logic and reasoning, and phonemic awareness.
Skills are highly integrated throughout this program, as
successful academic learning requires integration of skills.
PACE is often followed by Master The Code, a reading and
spelling program that combines the critical elements of
reading instruction (including phonemic awareness) with
further development of processing/learning skills.
Samonas - Auditory Processing Training
This gentle but powerful music and
sound program strengthens and retrains the auditory system
for improved learning, attention, behavior and language.
The auditory processing system is like the captain of the
cognitive team. When it is wek, it interferes with the integration
of information to the other team members. Specially modified
classical music and nature sounds that stimulate the hearing
mechanism to take in a full spectrum of sound provide a
tremendous tool that results in dramatic changes after several
weeks. Improved listening has a huge impact on learning.
Call The Malibu Learning Center if your child
has some of the following behaviors:
- Is unable to sit still; cannot stay
on task for any length of time; is easily distracted
- Has difficulty comprehending and
remembering
- Has problems sounding out words.
- Does written work very slowly; often
fails to complete a task.
- Has difficulty copying material;
constantly looks up and down.
- Often needs instructions repeated
- Has trouble reading and spelling
- Makes reversals - for example: confusing
the words "was" and saw"
or letters "b" and "d."
- Is disorganized and frustrated when
studying
- Makes frequent, "careless"
errors.
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Jill Greenberg,M.Ed.
is the director of The Malibu Learning Center. She received
her BA in special education at the University of Michigan
and her MEd in early child development at Tufts University.
After working as the Director of Child Life at the Great Ormand
Street Children's Hospital in London and as a special education
teacher in Detroit and Boston, she moved to Malibu to live
with her husband,Tony. They have lived here for 25 years and
raised three great kids,Adam, Ari and Alison.
Jill was drawn back to education when she
was trained in the Lindamood Phoneme Sequencing (LiPS) program.
She realized that what had been missing in her earlier work
with learning disabled children was an understanding of phonemic
awareness - the crucial cognitive skill that is necessary
for early reading ability. This training at the Kelter Center
in Los Angeles led to her current work as an educational therapist
in Malibu.
About Our Facility
Jill currently works with the PACE program
in her beautiful home office. This office was originally built
as an apartment for her wonderful in-laws, Jack and Roxy,
who sadly were never able to enjoy it. Today it is the home
of the Malibu Learning Center - a place where children grow
to be comfortable, independent learners.
Contact Information:
Phone: 310-457-3707
E-Mail: jill@malibulearning.com
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