9 Ways Learning Struggles May Manifest 

Like many parents, you may be wondering if your student is living up to their full potential. On one hand, you’ve witnessed your child’s intelligence, creativity, and wit over the years. But on the other hand, you’ve seen some struggles with grades, argued over unfinished (or unsubmitted) homework, and been to enough parent-teacher meetings to know that your bright child’s academic performance doesn’t seem to accurately reflect how smart they really are. So, what’s the deal?  

The truth is your student probably IS very smart. In fact, most of the children and teens that enroll in personal brain training at LearningRx are of average to above-average intelligence. Over the years, we’ve learned that the learning struggles most students experience have nothing to do with intelligence, laziness, poor teaching, or genetics. They come from weak cognitive skills that simply need a boost to help the student excel. 

What are cognitive skills? 

Sometimes referred to as “brain skills,” cognitive skills are the foundational tools we use to think, learn, read, remember and pay attention. They include logic & reasoning, processing speed, memory, auditory and visual processing, and attention. When these skills are strong, learning is fast and easy. When they’re not maximized, students can’t live up to their full potential in school, work, and life in general. 

What do these brain skills do? 

Before you can recognize how learning struggles might be manifesting in your student, it helps to understand what each of our cognitive skills do: 

• Attention can be broken down into three subcategories: 

1. Divided attention is the skill that enables us to remember information while doing two things at once. 

2. Selective attention is the skill that enables us to stay focused on a task despite distractions. 

3. Sustained attention is the skill that enables us to stay focused and on task for a sustained period of time. 

• Auditory processing is the skill that enables us to analyze, blend, and segment sounds. 

• Logic & reasoning are skills that enable us to reason, form ideas, and solve problems. 

• Memory can be broken down into two subcategories: 

1.  Long-term memory is the skill that enables us to recall information stored in the past. 

2. Working memory is the skill that enables us to hang on to information while in the process of using it. 

• Processing speed is the skill that enables us to perform tasks quickly and accurately. 

• Visual processing is the skill that enables us to think in visual images. 

How do weak cognitive skills manifest in students?

It’s likely that if your student has a learning struggle you’ve already picked up on some cues. Perhaps a teacher has mentioned that they’re easily distracted in class or the school has already taken measures to allow your student to take tests alone in a different setting. Or maybe the nightly homework battle is taking its toll on your family and you worry that less-than-stellar grades don’t put your student on track for a good college. 

These broader issues are probably indicative of a learning struggle, but you may be able to recognize even more specific signs that your student’s cognitive skills could use a boost. For example: 

1. Does your student have trouble multitasking?  

Solution: Strengthen their divided attention. 

2. Is your student easily distracted?  

Solution: Strengthen their selective attention. 

3. Does your student have lots of unfinished projects because they jump from task to task? Solution: Strengthen their sustained attention.  

4. Is your struggling with learning to read, reading fluency, or reading comprehension? 

Solution: Strengthen their auditory processing.  

5. Does your student frequently ask, “What do I do next?” or say, “I don’t get this” because they feel stuck or overwhelmed? 

Solution: Strengthen their logic & reasoning.  

6. Does your student frequently forget names, perform poorly on tests, or forget things they used to know? 

Solution: Strengthen their long-term memory. 

7. Does your student need to read directions again in the middle of a project or have difficulty following multi-step directions? 

Solution: Strengthen their working memory. 

8. Does your student take longer than his/her peers to complete tasks at school or homework? 

Solution: Strengthen their processing speed. 

9. Does your student have difficulties understanding or remembering what they read, reading maps, or doing word math problems? 

Solution: Strengthen their visual processing. 

Of course, we sometimes find that learning struggles come in clusters, so it’s possible that your student may have more than one cognitive skill that needs a tune-up. No problem! The one-on-one brain training programs at LearningRx are tailored to meet the needs of your student. 

How do I know which cognitive skills need some work?

Every initial consultation at LearningRx starts with a Brain Skills Assessment. This affordable test only takes about an hour and the results can help us pinpoint which skills are strong and which could use a boost to bring out your student’s full learning potential. 

Our team will use the results of the Brain Skills Assessment to create a personal brain training program to target and strengthen the skill or skills that need the most work. We’ll pair your student with a personal brain trainer who will work with them for the duration of their program. Using game-like mental exercises that are challenging but fun, you’ll see your student’s confidence soar as they get positive feedback throughout the program.  

Why didn’t tutoring work for my student? 

Many of the parents who bring their students to LearningRx have tried tutoring, with little or no success. That’s not because tutoring doesn’t work! It’s simply because it’s a solution to a different problem.  

Learning is made up of two parts: educational content and the cognitive ability to apply that content. Tutoring is helpful when you need to deliver or redeliver academic material. For example, if a student missed a chunk of instruction due to an illness, injury, or mid-schoolyear move, it can get them caught up on material they missed. 

But for students who are falling behind in multiple classes year after year, the problem is more than likely that their brain skills just need to boost to help them learn, understand, and remember the information they were taught (or read) when it was initially presented.  

Rather than reteaching the material in hopes that maybe it will “stick” this time, personal brain training addresses the root cause of the problem. By targeting and strengthening the foundational tools that your student needs to excel, they’ll be able to learn ANY subject faster and easier.  

Ready to get started? Visit www.LearningRx.com to find your nearest LearningRx center and schedule a Brain Skills Assessment.