Hi.
My 5 year old daughter is having some problems with expressive language. She also was slow to learn her letters and still has problems with numbers and sequencing. She has been tested cognitively bright and we have no formal diagnosis at this age. She seems to be picking up on things more and more and making great improvements. we do not know if there are any auditory processing issues at this point.
We are seeing a speech pathologist and an OT and I was interested in some kind of computer software (she likes the computer a lot)
I looked at fast forword which seems too intense at this age and not necessary at this point. The listening program seems the same.
But, I did see Brainbuilder and wondered if that might do some good.
can anyone tell me what it does/how it works/if it works? And, does anyone know of any other kind of learning software that might help?
Thank you.
Trixie
Re: Brainbuilder?
What I would suggest instead of BrainBuilder is Audiblox (http://www.audiblox2000.com ).
BrainBuilder is very narrowly focused and tedious. Audiblox works on a much wider variety of cognitive skills and has a variety of exercises. Audiblox is not computer-based but rather requires working one-on-one with an adult. However, the results would likely be much better than with BrainBuilder. Audiblox works on sequencing skills (both visual and auditory) among many others, and was originally developed as a preschool program, so it would be entirely suitable for a 5yo.
I second the idea of Earobics (http://www.cogcon.com ) and/or the Sound Reading CD (http://www.soundreading.com ) if you are looking for software that addresses auditory processing and reading skills respectively.
TLP is not too intense for a 5yo, but I would get two sets of headphones and a splitter so I could listen to the program while she does it. This ensures that the volume is not too loud, and 5yo’s generally like the comfort of a warm body. The extended program especially (one 15-minute session per day instead of two) is very gentle.
Nancy
Earobics vs. sound reading?
Thanks for the very helpful info- and from saving me from purchasing Brainbuilder; I do not think that would work at all at this point.
The Earobics and Sound Reading both look interesting— and affordable. I’m wondering if anyone has a preference. I’m leaning towards the earobics….
If she does have auditory processing disorder, will these help/”work”?
Re: Brainbuilder?
Earobics and the Sound Reading CD work on different things.
Earobics provides a lot of practice in the “basics” of auditory processing. It is most likely to be helpful for young children (such as your daughter), and may help some if she has an auditory processing disorder. However, with APD it is not likely to be enough.
The Sound Reading CD works on developing reading and pre-reading skills. I actually like it better than Earobics.
What I would recommend is getting the SR CD. If your daughter can get through it, she does not need Earobics. If she cannot do the SR CD, then I would invest in Earobics Step 1.
Nancy
Hi Trixie
I have a son that had similar problems. Sequencing and difficulty learning his letters at the age sound just so familiar to me.
I did a number of things and now he is an average 4th grader. When we started he was at the bottom of his special ed class.
Difficulty learning letters can be a visual problem.
We did vision therapy and interactive metronome to address these issues.
They both worked wonders.
I personally believe audiblox has many of the components of things we did in vision therapy. I wish I did it with my son when he was 5.
It is a good program for young kids because it was originally developed as a preschool program. It develops cognitive skills like memory, sequencing, laterality etc… These skills are important building blocks needed to become a successful learner.
I use it with both my son’s 5 and 10 year, intermittantly and see a difference when I use it.
I think it would be better if I was more consistant but my 10 year old has just finished so much therapy, I think he just needs a break and so do I.
Our Brain Builder Experience
I think Brain Builder would be awful for a 5 year old. It is, as Nancy says, tedious. I tried it myself. However, my son, age 10 (traumatic brain injury with previous undiagnosed learning disability) has been doing it about 5 weeks and I have seen an improvement in his reading. I noticed that he has much more fluency. This is a very subjective account though.
You really, really have to focus to get the right answers. It’s so inexpensive that I thought we’d try it for a couple of months to see if he could get to level 7 consistently. I do not like that it moves you down a level if you can’t get at least 3 (of 6) answers correctly. This is discouraging and frustrates him. I can’t say he enjoys it but it does move very fast. He can do all six games in 30 minutes or less. This is time he would probably be watching TV so I can easily justify it.
There are visual games and auditory games and I do get to see the specific mistakes he makes. He frequently mixes up 5 & 9 visually and 7 & 0 auditorally and sometimes gets the number right but will reverse the order of two numbers in the sequence and that’s kind of interesting.
I just wanted to post in case someone say the heading and had a different age child.
brain builder is not a fun game type thing
It is very basic
You are presented with a sequence of number visually or auditorially(sp?) and you need to give them back
You strive to beat your score, but there are no bells and whistles. It also has an option to do this task backwards(my son did far better on this than me!!!))
I worked with it while my son was doing it and noticed an improvement in number recall with my job.
It was hard for both of us to stay with because its boring and 5-10 minutes a day is about the max. We havent used it like we should
I do believe it can help however-and sequencing is a tough one to remediate. My son STILL at age 12 cannot correctly recite the alphabet without a quick practice first.
I would also wonder if your dd is just too young. If she has just mastered number recognition, Im not sure she could ‘keep up’ with the pace.
Have you looked into earobics or Sound Reading CDs. Take a look-they are in the same price range