Is homework a battle that causes tears and frustration in your family and leaves your child with little time for anything else? Does your child work diligently in school only to perform poorly on standardized tests? Does your bright child sometimes feel not so bright in school?

If you sometimes feel helpless to support your child, you are not alone. Your child may be one of the 14.9 million students who struggle with learning in spite of good intelligence. These children hide their test grades because of embarrassment and forget their assignments because they may be overwhelmed by the time and energy it takes to do the work. They get by with compensating behaviors to cope with their low self-esteem. School is a job that they cannot quit and that they are not very well suited to do. Parents say, “School is just not her thing.”

Sadly, many parents view their child as lazy or unmotivated. Others fear that they may not be very intelligent. Some children are taught to compensate by using their “strengths”. Others are given accommodations with special education support. Many parents hand over the responsibility of dealing with homework to academic tutors. These solutions may temporarily help but they rarely eliminate the problem. At the Malibu Learning Center we do much more than tutor. We help students, including those with dyslexia, ADHD, learning disabilities and auditory processing problems permanently overcome their learning challenges.

When a student struggles with school, there can be many reasons. Some students have just missed some information along the way. Others simply take longer to “get it”. And sometimes the work is just too difficult and there is too much to remember.  None of these things should be on-going for any student. Getting “a little behind” should only be a temporary condition. If it lasts for months or years, then it is likely that something else is going on.

Just coping with a learning problem no longer needs to be accepted. Today anyone with learning or attention challenges, including dyslexia, can learn to become a successful student.

Many neuroscience research studies on brain plasticity (the ability of the brain to change in response to proper training) have shown us that learning and attention problems do not need to be permanent. The brain can improve its ability to learn and remember as a result of targeted and systematic cognitive training. I use the most effective research-based and cutting edge programs to help students of all ages solve their learning problems by strengthening the weak underlying processing skills that are a barrier to successful academic and social skills. These underlying skills of attention, working memory, processing speed, logic, visual and auditory processing are often overlooked by school and tutoring centers. Here are some of the ways that my approach is more effective:

• Each student’s program is highly individualized to strengthen processing and academic skills.
• Using a wide variety of structured, intensive and well-researched programs, I first assess and then train the weak underlying skills in order to permanently improve higher level academic skills.
• After processing skills are strengthened, remediation of academics is much more successful and efficient. Study skills or “executive functioning skills” are also taught after cognitive skills are strengthened
• My students develop the cognitive tools that they need to become relaxed, confident learners – and they love it!.

Malibu Learning Center offers a very different approach from tutoring or special education.

I teach the skills that will help a child in school and throughout his life. Parents tell us that their child can read, write, pay attention and finish homework with more ease. But more importantly, I change the lives of students and their families by developing the skills that will last a lifetime.

Call me for an assessment of learning skills if your child:

• Takes three hours to do forty-five minutes of homework
• Is disorganized or frustrated when studying
• Seems lazy or unmotivated
• Avoids words that are complicated
• Misses even the small words when reading
• Has difficulty with spelling or handwriting
• Gets reasonable grades but does poorly on standardized tests
• Has difficulty listening or paying attention in school or at home