One of the questions I often receive is: “We are so busy after school with sports or other special interests Is there any way we can come less often; once a week like in-school therapy?”
To get good outcomes the answer is “no.” To improve cognitive foundation skills, intensity matters. Going one time a week for years will not get your child the outcome you desire. Most parents are looking for their child to perform in the “average” or “better than average” range. The best model has been an intense model for a short block of time, which is 3 – 9 month, but usually less than one school year. For skills that will last a lifetime and make overall learning in many subjects easier, it is a short term sacrifice of today’s time for less stress, better skills and more time gained in the future.
The sports analogy is actually a good one; if you or your child shows up occasionally for practice they eventually won’t be on the team any more. If they show up, but don’t practice intensely, they will be on the bench. If they are going to play in the game, they need to learn the skills and to practice. To accelerate beyond others, they need to obtain feedback, have awareness, new techniques and keep practicing at more challenging levels. Their skills need to be well practiced, automatic and ready to apply in changing situations.
Want your kid to be successful in the game of life? Give them the foundation skills they need for life. Teach them to make short term sacrifices and goals for long term achievement.
