<p>I’ve been looking for a summer program for my low-achiever high-school sophomore. Someone suggested a place that has recently opened a franchise in our area called "Learning Rx’. The online reviews are very mixed…anyone have personal experiences to share?</p>
<p>What is your goal for your child? Have you asked the teachers or the school counselor for ideas? They should be able to give you some feedback as well.</p>
<p>If you believe that your child may have previously unidentified learning differences/disabilities, you may be better off to pay for a full evaluation by an educational psychologist. Then you could take the results to the school and have a proper IEP or 504 plan devised to help your child during the school year.</p>
<p>This is what a poster wrote in a PM to describe LearnRX. I found it fascinating because I teach elementary grades. Not sure how it works with an older student.
</p>
<p>happymom1, </p>
<p>My son has had difficulties in school and is not making satisfactory grades. He’s had A’s with occasional B’s until this year (2 C’s this report card - one in his only AP course and one in Spanish2). He has never been strong in math and has trouble grasping new concepts. I asked for advice in another thread and I almost had him tested for LD, but I talked to 2 of his teachers and a good friend who is a teacher. None of the three agreed with having him tested. They said that even if he has some mild LD at this point he has learned to work through it. That said, if Learning Rx could raise his cognitive skills it would be well worth the money. He struggles with reading comprehension. He can tell you what he read, but he can rarely get the “theme” or “what the author was trying to convey” questions.</p>
<p>I was planning on sending him to a PSAT/SAT course this summer. He scored around 150 on his PSAT - a fairly dismal score. I received a LearningRx brochure in the mail and it does sound interesting. It seems geared to younger kids and those with severe learning disabilities, but there was a section in the brochure about working with teens who struggle in school. They don’t offer tutoring - instead general “brain games” and strategies that supposedly “train their brains”. </p>
<p>I guess they are too new to have much of a track record, but I might go by and ask some questions. Your comment about a counselor made me laugh. My son who graduated last year met his counselor for the first time a couple of weeks before graduation. My younger son has never met his counselor. </p>
<p>limabeans, Was that person from CC? If so could you PM me her screenname? I’d love to ask her some questions.</p>
<p>" They said that even if he has some mild LD at this point he has learned to work through it."</p>
<p>I have friends who “worked through” LDs and suffered with them until they were well into college before the LDs were identified. One’s dyslexia wasn’t identified until she was half-way through a PhD program! Identifying the LDs in every single case (even the PhD candidate) meant that these people were able to get access to the types of formal instruction in learning strategies that are offered by special education instructors at decent public schools. Perhaps the teachers you know know something you don’t about the quality of the special ed programs in our school district, and that is why they pooh-poohed the idea of LD screening for your son.</p>
<p>As for the PSAT course, I say save your money. Depending on the state you live in, the cut-off for National Merit Scholar status can be above 220 points. Unless you believe in your heart that your child can get into the range for NMS status in your state, there is no reason to even take the exam at all. Better to prep for the ACT and/or SAT which will be useful for college applications.</p>
<p>Allthisisnewtome–What is your son interested in? Does he have any idea yet what he might want to study in college? Is he a hard worker? I ask all these questions because there are plently of careers out there and plenty of schools out there for less than stellar students.</p>
<p>Cayuga, So far the only class he really enjoys is Chemistry. He is a hard worker. </p>
<p>happymom, Yes, of course the SAT is the actualy purpose of the course, but they title it as PSAT/SAT - probably to attract the younger kids. I have no hopes for anything near a 220, but I hope he can do better than the 150 he go on his first try (sophomore year). We have an excellent public school system here. The teachers I spoke to seemed surprised that I was asking about DS2 and possible LD’s. His Spanish teacher said “he was one of her stronger students” - which made me roll me eyes - he has a 77 in that class :-(.</p>
<p>Here’s an example: he completed his math review for his test last Friday. He called out the answers and I checked them online. He had 95% correct. The two he missed he had made some type of mistake simplifying his answer. I just saw his test grade - 76 :-(.</p>
<p>He said he thought he’d done really well - that there were no problems that he didn’t know how to solve. They were very similar to the review. So HOW does he get a 76?</p>
<p>I have emailed this teacher and asked him to call me. I will see what he thinks.</p>
<p>Yup, I’d be checking this out with the math teacher too! Maybe he has a problem with the time limit in the classroom? Or maybe there is something in the school environment that makes him anxious, or distracts him? And I’m with you about Spanish. Just exactly how bad is the rest of that class?</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>allthisisnewtome,
i have a daughter experiencing a very similar scenario as your son. I have taken her to LearningRX for an evaluation and am curious to know if you ended up taking your son there? I want to know if its really worth the money. I hate to see her struggling. She studies for hours every night and then makes a couple C’s and now her first D. If you have had any further experiences with LearningRX, I would love to hear about it. Thanks!</p>
<p>Mrs. Turbo’s former boss had a kid that was diagnosed with mild LD’s and LearningRX was instrumental in getting him on track. A lot of work, and a lot of money (we’re not talking Kumon here :)) but from what the mom told us it was worth it. The kid was younger tho, maybe 10-12.</p>
<p>At least do the assessment and see what can happen. Also work with the school to see if they have any experiences or suggestions regarding LearningRX.</p>
<p>As I told 360mamma via PM, we didn’t pursue for a couple of reasons. I would have paid the money if I’d had some kind of trustworthy testimonial, but I didn’t. All of the kids I saw there were very young. </p>
<p>Also, bad timing - school was starting and he couldn’t be at LearningRX 4 nights per week! </p>
<p>Good luck!</p>