WowzaBrain - "Building Brains. Better." Blog 2019-04-18T11:48:00-06:00 WowzaBrain 2019-04-18T11:48:00-06:00 2019-04-18T11:48:41-06:00 Five Brain-Friendly Spelling Techniques for Difficult Words Bridget Mosley, MEd, Cognitive Learning Specialist Introduction

I get a lot of questions about spelling because there’s so much debate about how we should teach it. I’ve worked with struggling spellers for over 30 years, and I want to share with you these five, easy, no-cost techniques that have worked best for my students. I’ve worked with some of the most challenged spellers you’ll ever meet, so I know these brain-friendly techniques work and can help your child too.

You may be skeptical. When your child’s spelling looks like a license plate (Cn u spl?), you have cause to be deeply concerned. Let me encourage you: your child can learn to spell and with far less effort.

Is Spelling that Important?

Strong spelling skills are crucially important to writing. Kids who often stop to think, “How do you spell that?” cannot maintain their train of thought well enough to write adequately. Poor spelling becomes a ball-and-chain to the writing process, and they become stressed and resist writing. Cognitive psychologists tell us writing is one of the most burdensome mental tasks we ask of our kids. We want to make sure they’re strong spellers so they can write without the cognitive load that poor spelling places on them. The more familiar your child can become with a word, the easier it will be to spell.

Why Does My Child Struggle with Spelling?

Your child is struggling because he’s studying words at a reading level rather than a spelling level. This means that he is briefly glancing at the spelling word and creating a general impression of how it looks. The representations we build for words we’re learning to read don’t need to be as accurate as the ones we create when we’re learning to spell. For example, your brain can make sense of, “Do yu wnt sme cookys?” even though I’ve misspelled most of the words.

Good spellers build clear, accurate mental representations of words. You can think of these representations as “templates” you see in your mind’s eye. Good spellers have an accurate picture of what the word looks like, readily seeing each letter in the correct sequence. They are good at building a template for each word and can effortlessly reference it whenever they need it. They know when a word doesn’t look right because it isn’t matching the template in their head. Some kids come at this naturally. Their brains just do it. The good news is that we can teach this skill of “templating” words. Kids who learn to template words well find spelling much easier to learn.

Let’s return to the general templates we build for reading words: they don’t work for spelling. Spelling requires your child to make a precise, clear, totally sequential template for words. By studying at this in-depth, more analytical level, the brain can accurately recall the word template later. You see this happening all the time. A child will study a word like “because.” The first time he spells it, he may write: “becuz.” He studies it again, and the next time it is “becuase.” He’s working from a better template than the original, but he hasn’t formed a complete and stable template yet. And, until he does, he will continue to misspell “because,” and become an expert at misspelling it. This process of building a fuzzy template for a word and then practicing its misspelling is why kids struggle so much with spelling. As the great philosopher Winnie the Pooh astutely noted, spelling can be “wobbly” because “the letters get in the wrong places.”* A child who can build a robust template for a word will not have to endure wobbly spelling.

What Spelling Basics Should My Child Know?

We should discuss some fundamentals of learning to spell before we dive into my five favorite techniques. Your child should know two foundational ideas about spelling. His spelling program should cover these and have him automate the most common spelling words.

  • Every syllable has a vowel.
  • We spell meaningful word parts, like suffixes and prefixes, the same way every time.
  • The 100 Most Common Words. These words should be some of the first kids learn to spell, and you should teach them to automaticity because they help form all the sentences your child will ever write.

If your spelling program isn’t covering spelling basics like these, look for another program.

The 5 Best Spelling Techniques for Learning “Booger” Words

Every child has what I call “booger” words. That is, there are certain words that he will struggle to learn to spell. I tell my students this and reassure them that if they use these techniques, they can get rid of this nasty problem and make writing a lot easier.

1. Word Templating

All brains benefit from visually analyzing spelling words. Most words a child struggles with are the visually odd ones that don’t look like they sound, such as “rhythm” and “beautiful.” Visualizing these words makes a lot of sense. William James’ work on eye-accessing cues, from the late 19th century, is the basis for this technique.

To make it easier for your child to template any word in his mind’s eye, have him follow these steps:

  • Print the word with a black marker on a white 3x5 index card. For most kids, a printed template rather than a cursive one seems clearer and thus easier to recall. Black is helpful because it provides the greatest contrast to a white background, making it easier for the brain to create a memorable image.
  • Have your child put the card in his left hand and place the card in the air so that he must look up high and to his left to see it. If he is left-handed, he should hold the card in his right hand and do the same but to his right. We don’t ask kids to spell the word aloud because we want them to focus fully on what the word looks like.

    Proper arm and eye Positions for Word Templating. 

    • Tell your child, “Take several mental photos of this word. Now take the best photo and put it in your brain so you can pull the word out whenever you need it.”
    • Remove the index card and have him continue to look up at where the index card was. Ask, “Can you pull the picture from your brain and see each letter clearly?” If he says no, no worries. Repeat step c. as many times as he needs. The more he tries to create mental pictures of his spelling words the easier it will be for him to create clear, accurate word templates.

    Mental Pictures of Spelling Words Lead to Accurate Word Templates.

    • Once he spells it correctly, you can make the template stronger by asking him questions about the word. He should be able to look up where the card was and answer these questions without looking at the card itself. But, again, if he can’t, encourage him to take more pictures of the word.
    • How many letters are there?
    • How many vowels? What are they?
    • How many consonants? What are they?
    • Are there more consonants before or after a particular vowel?
    • Can you start with the second letter and spell the rest of the word?
    • Can you start with the last letter and spell it in reverse sequence? For example, “because” is “e-s-u-a-c-e-b.”
    • Spell the word by first spelling the vowels and then spelling the consonants in order. “Because” would be spelled “b-c-s-e-a-u-e.”

    A student who can answer these questions has developed a robust template for the spelling word. It’s unlikely, but if your child answers these questions but then doesn’t remember how to spell them the following day, you should try spaced practice with these words. Since this is such a deep level of study, there should be only a smattering of words that require the additional step of spaced practice.

    Additionally, if your child seems to have trouble seeing the word in his mind’s eye try the following:

    • Have your child try the other side. Most kids find it easier to create a first-rate image of the word when it’s on the opposite side of their dominant hand, but there is a small percentage who prefer working from the same side as their dominant hand.
    • Once he’s taken a picture, have him spell it aloud immediately. The longer he waits, the harder it is for him to visualize the template he created.

    Quick Story

    When my students are trying to remember what a word looks like, I have them look to the spot in the air where they template their spelling words. Even if they didn’t learn the word this way, I’ve found they are far more likely to be able to visualize and spell the word correctly if they look to their “spelling spot.”

    2. Backblasting

    Backblasting is a technique we created to make learning to read easier for kids. It’s also great for improving spelling because taking a word apart and reassembling it sound by sound helps your child’s brain see how the sounds of a word map onto the letters.

    Here’s how backblasting works:

    • Choose a booger word from your child’s spelling list.
    • Have your child read the word repeatedly, dropping the foremost sound each time. Make sure he looks at the word while doing this.
    • When he says the last sound in the word, have him rebuild it, one sound at a time, until the word is whole again. Note: the goal is to analyze words by sounds, not letters.


    The Backblasting Sequence for Simple WordsAs your child progresses to more complex words that are three syllables or larger, backblast by syllable. For example, let’s backblast the word “remember.”

    The Backblasting Sequence for Complex Words.

    3. Speed Spelling

    This is the technique for those kids who get 100% on their spelling tests but still have poor spelling in their writing. What’s happened is they learned the words well enough to retain them for the week’s spelling test but not deep enough to make them stick for the long haul. When a child only has to think about how to spell the word “because” in a spelling test, he may be able to spell it correctly. But this can all fly out the window when he’s writing. Now, not only does he have to remember how to spell “because,” but he also must remember the next several things he wants to write. His brain becomes overloaded, and the first thing to go for most kids is spelling because the expectation to get something on paper is higher than to spell accurately.

    Follow these four steps for speed spelling:

    • First, quiz your child and be sure he can get a 100% on the words. The last thing you want to do is practice error. Consider breaking the list into two or more sets if your spelling program covers a lot of words in one lesson. For example, breaking 20 words down to two 10-word lists feel more manageable to the brain.
    • Quiz your child as before, but for speed spelling you time yourselves. How fast can he write down the words you give him? Consider yourselves a team. As he’s writing a word, you should give him the next word on the list. When we ask the brain to respond quickly, we help it automate that task. Speed spelling gently pushes his brain to learn the word more deeply and prepares him to use the word in writing, since, as writers, we must be able to hold more than one thing in our heads as we write the current thought.
    • Give the spelling quiz repeatedly in this way, until you feel there’s no way your child can shave another second off his best time. At this point, he’s automated the spelling words, and he’ll not only get an excellent grade on his spelling test but more importantly, he’ll be able to spell these words in his writing.
    • Celebrate! Give your child a fist-bump, a few extra minutes on a favorite activity, or extra read-aloud time before bed. These are just a few ideas. Highlighting growth is important. You’ll see more of it when you do.

     4. Active Ways to Review

    Just staring at a spelling word doesn’t help your child’s brain build a richer template of it. This is a passive way to study spelling words, and passive studying is inefficient. Since the brain doesn’t have to recall anything, it isn’t working so it can’t form a robust template. Here are a couple of ways to help your child actively review his spelling words:

    Hidden Words

    This game is a fun and simple way to study actively. Look at the word and see if there are any smaller words in it. In our example, “because” the words “be, cause and use” are “hidden” within the word. Even if there are no hidden words in a word, like in “light,” looking for smaller words within a word still forces the brain to slow down and analyze the letters and their sequence. It makes the word less wobbly and builds a stronger template for the brain. 

    Spell What’s Missing

    Here’s another, near-effortless way to study a word actively. In our example, “because,” I’d write some of the letters and have my child fill in the missing letters. I might write “b_ca_s_,” and have him fill the blanks in with the missing letters, “e-u-e.” You can flip this technique and have your child write the word with the missing letters for you to fill in. Have your child “correct” your work as this will cause him to look closely at the word’s spelling, another active studying of the word. 

    I recommend working on a dry board for two reasons:

    • We don’t want kids to see misspelled words and unwittingly template the misspelling. Dry boards allow you or your child to erase the misspelled word quickly.
    • Dry boards are forgiving. If your child makes an error, it’s easy to wipe away and forget it occurred. Not so with paper, and for some kids, their study time becomes hijacked by their embarrassment and frustration over the errors the crossed-out or erased marks leave.
    5. Loading Words

      When you create a load for a spelling word, it’s like a football player who wears a weighted vest during practice sessions. During the game, without the load, everything seems a little lighter and more comfortable for him. We do the same thing mentally when we load kids during spelling.  The words will effortlessly pop into his head, and he will get through his work more accurately and quickly because he’d been “loaded” when he practiced them. This load is intentional, temporary, and beneficial, unlike the one I mentioned earlier in this post.

      Add a load once you’re sure your child can accurately spell the words. You’re helping your child to overlearn his spelling words so that he can get them right in his writing as well as his spelling test.

      Learning to spell words isn’t a favorite activity for a lot of kids, or parents. Loading lends itself to fun. It’s easier to remember what you’re learning when you’re in a light-hearted, positive state. Here are some ways not only to load your child so he can develop a stronger template but also to keep spelling time a little lighter and fun:

      Pool Noodles

      Have your child whack a chair, or you. Each time he hits the object, he calls out a letter. You can also join in and take turns calling out the letters. I have found pool noodles to be one of the best investments in “educational” equipment.


      Simply have your child say the letter of each word as he completes each sit-up. A lot of kids have weak core muscles because they are not playing and exercising much. Sit-ups are a great way to build up those critical muscles.

      Bounce on a Mini Trampoline

      Each time your child bounces, he says a letter of the word he’s studying. Many kids are sitting too much. Get them up and moving whenever you can.

      These are just a few of my favorite ways to load. The list is endless. The point is to get your child to do a second activity as he reviews his spelling words. Think about what your child enjoys and try to incorporate it into a load. Does he love soccer? Have him dribble the ball calling out each letter of a word every time he taps the ball with his foot. Vary the loads, so he doesn’t get overtired or bored with a particular load. The fun and novelty of a load can wear off fast.

      Why Do These Spelling Techniques Work?

      The techniques work because they can help your child build the rich, distinctive template he needs to analyze words and recall a word’s correct spelling accurately. It doesn’t matter if he is in 1st or 11th grade. The techniques work because they create the robust visual memories necessary for any word he needs to learn.

      Can I Use These Spelling Techniques with My Child’s Spelling Program?

      Sure. Your child will learn to spell some of his words through the program. Use the techniques in this post for words the program doesn’t seem to help him with.

      Is It Worth the Work?

      It will cost your child some extra work to study spelling words at this deeper level.  While this is not exciting, his alternative is to be weighed down by spelling errors as he tries to write. Don’t let apps that check spelling and grammar fool him into believing he doesn’t need to learn to spell. The more errors an app flags, the more time your child will lose in correcting them. Also, poor spelling will still be costly because the apps don’t catch everything. Finally, spelling is a proxy for intelligence. Even if your child writes the most compelling essay in his class, researchers tell us his readers will think he is less bright even if he makes just a few spelling errors. Helping your child build his spelling skills is well worth the time.

      Do you know someone who could benefit from this article? Be sure to share!

      Quick Story

      I recently worked with a bright 8th grader who hated to write because he was such a poor speller. (He ranked in the 5th percentile.) After about eight weeks of using these techniques, his spelling improved markedly. He began keeping a journal, and the quality of his writing samples took a leap because he wasn’t trying to “write around a word” (that’s when kids use simple substitute words so they can avoid spelling the more accurate, but difficult word they wanted to use.) He wrote a paragraph about a rocket he wanted to build and used words like “explode” and “parachute.” Being able to write more easily about rockets excited him and motivated him to do more research on it. That’s the power of spelling.

      What’s the Idea Behind These Spelling Techniques?

      The basic idea to remember is that spelling is simply a visual representation of sound mapped onto letters. Unfortunately, the English language doesn’t always use the same letters to make each of its 44 sounds. Spelling varies from word to word. For example, the short u sound is the first sound in “umbrella.” There is a logical match between the short u sound and the letter “u.” But this same sound is in the word “does.” Here the short u sound matches, or “maps onto” the letters “oe.” Crazy! But it is what it is, and we must help our kids develop perfect templates for unfair words like “does” because English is loaded with unfair words.

      Do I Need to Use All the Techniques for Each Spelling Word?

      No! That would wear you and your child out and isn’t necessary. Every child has certain words that he will struggle to learn to spell. You only pull out these techniques when you run into those booger words.

      Experiment with these techniques. You may find one that works particularly well for your child, and it’s the only one he needs to use when he’s working on a tricky word. Some kids need to apply more than one technique to template a huge, green booger word. Deeply analyzing a word from more than one angle is their ticket to becoming good spellers.

      Your Take-Aways

      • It’s common for kids to struggle with spelling because the English language doesn’t consistently “map” sounds to letters.
      • Kids who learn to analyze words at the spelling level, rather than only well enough to read them, become strong spellers.
      • Good spellers build rich, robust templates for words that they can readily see in their mind’s eye.
      • While building these templates takes a little more time and work, it’s well worth the effort. Good spellers are mentally freed up to share the fullness of their ideas.
      • This post shows you five simple, highly effective spelling techniques: word templating, backblasting, speed spelling, active ways to study spelling words, and loading. You can use one or all these techniques with your child to help him learn any words that he is struggling with. Goodbye booger words!

      Do you want to learn more about how your child learns? Join our mailing list (below), and we'll let you know of new blog posts and announcements. We never try to sell you stuff through our emails. 

      Have questions? Ask me below. I’d love to help.

      Bridget Mosley, MEd, is a WowzaBrain cofounder and a Cognitive Learning Specialist with more than 30 years’ experience as an educator, reading clinic director, and parent workshop speaker. She is a die-hard fan of parents who believe they can help their kids overcome learning challenges.

      *Milne, A. A. (1926) Winnie-the-Pooh. London: Methuen & Co. Ltd.

      ]]> 2019-04-03T09:19:00-06:00 2019-04-15T10:37:10-06:00 Overlearning: How to Practice Fundamental Skills to the Brain-Friendly Level of Automaticity Bridget Mosley, MEd, Cognitive Learning Specialist Introduction

      This is my final post in a series on memory. So far, I’ve given you three ways to improve your child’s working memory, improve her retention of important information through spaced practice, and ideas for you to help make information more memorable via focus, memory priming, and metaphor. My next post after this will be about brain-friendly spellng techniques for difficult words, but here, I’ll introduce you to overlearning. 

      The Two Basic Levels of Knowing Something

      There are many levels that describe how well we know something we’ve learned, but I want to focus on the two final levels of learning something: mastery and automaticity. Throughout this post, I’ll talk about these levels in the context of a child learning her multiplication facts, though they apply to any subject.

      1. Mastery

      In education, “mastery” has a different meaning from how we often use the word in daily life. For example, a “master” chef means a cook with superior skills who oversees the kitchen. He understands food in an intuitive, almost uncanny way. His knowledge and quick skills win him respect and deference.

      In education, the term is entirely different. Psychologists define mastery as recalling and applying about 70% of the material you have learned. Not very impressive, is it? Mastery also suggests it takes effort to bring the material to mind and requires you to pay a lot of attention to the task. If your child has mastered her multiplication facts, she knows them, but not well. So, if she has mastered the multiplication facts, she works hard to recall the answers, isn’t highly accurate, and probably doesn’t like recalling them because it takes some significant effort.

      2. Automaticity

        Now let’s compare mastery to automaticity. Automaticity means you know the material to the highest level of accuracy— 100%. It also suggests you can recall the material effortlessly. So, if your child has automated her math facts, she knows them well, and she can easily and quickly recall them. Stay tuned! Later in the article, you can download a free game to help your child learn her math facts to automaticity. Even if your child doesn’t need this game, look at it because it shows you the principles behind building any skill to automaticity.

        The Power of Overlearning.

        There are now decades of research to show that learning to automaticity produces a superior performance because the first few times we practice something we form a fragile memory at best. The added practice we put in strengthens the memory and makes it much easier for the brain to pull out or retrieve. This deeper level makes learning much easier. It is also helpful since material learned to an automatic level is more accessible when you are stressed, like when taking a test. So, automaticity can be especially beneficial to kids who are prone to stressing over test-taking.

        So, of course, automaticity for some skills is what you want for your child. The question is: How do you get her from mastery to automaticity? In a word, “overlearning.”

        What is Overlearning?

        As the name implies, overlearning is learning beyond mastery. You rehearse it repeatedly. You may be thinking of musicians and athletes. Yes! They understand that overlearning their music pieces and athletic plays is essential to improving their performance. And like them, overlearning is what can lead your child to the deep level of automaticity.

        Won’t My Child Resist This Extra Work?

        Kids sometimes ask me, “Why do I have to spend more time practicing my multiplication facts when I already know them?” I explain that while they do know most of their facts, there are a few they don’t know, and they are working far too hard to recall the ones they do. They are at a level of mastery. I tell them I don’t like to see them work this hard and that I want them to complete their homework faster, so we are working toward a deeper level of learning, automaticity.

        I’ve yet to have a student resist me. They feel reassured that I see how hard they are working and are relieved that I want to make math easier for them. I can recall students at the mastery level who came in highly resistant to working with me who I won over quickly by my desire to make school easier for them. No one had ever told them, “You’re working too hard.” Usually, they’d heard they were not working hard enough, even though the mastery level requires a lot of hard work.

        How Does Overlearning Build Memory?

        When you overlearn something, you rehearse it until you know it without thinking. By repeatedly rehearsing the material, you’re helping your brain develop a rich memory trace for the information. A memory trace in your child’s brain is what allows her to recall something. You need to help your child build robust memory traces. There are many ways to do this. See my post on spaced practice for some other good ideas. We create a memory trace when we learn something and can recall it. Each time you rehearse the memory, you make the trace more vigorous, and this makes it easier for your brain to access it more quickly and effortlessly. The repetition makes it a dependable, sturdy memory.

        Overlearning: Practice Until You Know it Without Thinking.

        Overlearning enhances performance because what you’re learning becomes second nature; it just “pops” right out of your head, which allows you to focus on other things. So, knowing their multiplication facts to the level of automaticity frees our kids up to focus on the math task they are trying to accomplish, say finding the area of a rectangle, rather than stopping to consider (and hope) 8 X 7 is 56. Or is it 64?

        Your child only has so much memory space at any given time. Some psychologists refer to it as “mental desk space.” By overlearning the math facts, your child frees up mental desk space so she can focus on and remember the new concept she is working on.

        Quick Story

        Years ago, when I was first learning about brain training, I worked with a couple of high school students who attended a highly prestigious private school. Needless to say, they also had the best tutors money could buy, but they continued to struggle in math. While working with them, I discovered that they hadn’t automated the multiplication facts. We worked on this as well as their general processing speed and working memory skills. By the next quarter, each student had gone up a full grade level. Overlearning their multiplication facts was an important piece in their grade-level performance jump because it freed them up to focus and learn the math concepts they were trying to learn. This story is one of my favorites to share because I never worked with them on any of their actual math homework, yet our work had a significant impact on their grades.

        Who Uses Overlearning Well?

        As mentioned earlier, musicians and athletes understand this concept well. We can learn a lot from them. One of my favorite researchers is K. Anders Ericsson, a well-renowned researcher in the field of expertise and human performance. Ericsson studies experts and says their ability to store critical facts and strategies is what allows them to perform at a higher level. He says their willingness to overlearn by doing deliberate, targeted practice is what makes them extraordinarily successful. Experts automate key skills; novices don’t.

        Overlearning is not just for the physical realm. We can apply this research to academics as well. Unfortunately, most curricula and teachers are not teaching kids about it or how and when to use it.


        What Kinds of Information Should My Child Overlearn?

        By now you know your child needs to automate multiplication facts. Additionally, she needs to automate the foundational skills for any subject because she’ll need them to use the higher-level skills she will develop in that subject.

        For example, in reading, WowzaBrain automates all the basics: like letter sounds and the 100 most common words known as “sight words.” If a child just masters the basic skills, which sadly is all many reading curricula require, she may struggle with learning to read for years simply because she didn’t reach the level of automaticity with these foundational skills that overlearning affords. For kids who struggle to learn to read, overlearning the foundational skills can mean the difference between feeling confident and curious and feeling ashamed for struggling with reading.

        In many subjects like science, it’s worth automating vocabulary words for each unit. Students who can quickly access the meanings of the concepts they learned earlier can make more rapid, deeper connections between them and ones they’re currently learning. This ease with thinking about and applying science concepts comes from being able to apply the terms automatically. If your child is struggling in a class, this may be due to a mastered rather than automated level of understanding of the subject’s key concepts.  

        Overlearning allows the brain to go on cruise control with basic concepts so it can make richer and deeper connections with new or more complex ideas.

        What Doesn’t My Child Need to Overlearn?

        Overlearning takes a lot of time and effort. So, you want to be thoughtful about what you ask your child to overlearn. For example, I’ve seen curricula and teachers insist that kids overlearn all the United States state capitals. It’d be nice to have this ready mental reference, but I don’t think it’s worth overlearning since it’s so easy to look up simple facts like these. It’s your call, but particularly for kids who struggle to memorize, be selective with what you ask them to overlearn and use the strategies recommended in this post to help her do it.

        Be Selective With What You Ask Your Child to Overlearn.

        What is Important to Remember When Overlearning?

        You can help your child build a deeper, more fruitful level of learning by rehearsing efficiently and challenging her gently to retrieve the material a little faster each time she practices. Here are three critical components to overlearning:

        1. Seek Accuracy First

          Pilots and many others in life-or-death fields learn to be accurate before they seek to build speed. In training, their mantra is “accuracy before speed.” This instruction makes a lot of sense because once the brain learns something, it can really stick. The last thing you want to do is practice error. So this is where you, as your child’s coach, are so essential. You need to make sure your child is accurate. It’s impossible for a classroom teacher to reach every child on every skill. Sadly, I’ve seen kids practice mixing up their b’s and d’s and misspelling words for years before someone like me pointed this out them. This experience was unfortunate because they had to “unlearn” a deeply embedded error. Look closely at your child’s classwork and homework. Are they practicing the new skill they’re learning with accuracy? Mom, Dad, this is one of your most important jobs. Check your child’s work daily to ensure she is not practicing errors.

          2. Time It

            Once your child is accurate, not only do you want to rehearse it, but you want her to get faster at it. Improved speed in recalling the material is one of the most reliable indicators that she is overlearning something efficiently. In our WowzaBrain multiplication facts game, you’ll see that it’s not enough to just repeatedly rehearse the facts. I ask my students to keep playing until they can do the whole deck of cards in a minute or less. Try it. This speed is extremely fast. Anyone who can play the game at this quickly has automated their multiplication facts.

             3. Use a Metronome

            Trainers of all sorts, including speech pathologists and athletic trainers, have used the metronome for years. It’s not just for musicians. Hermann Ebbinghaus first used it in the late 19th century to understand how to improve learning, and at WowzaBrain we use it in almost all of our training. You can download a free metronome from your phone’s app store.

            Trainers of All Sorts Use Metronomes.

            It sounds a little odd, doesn’t it? Recalling information you’ve just learned to the beat of a metronome? I’d encourage you to try it.  It’s challenging to recall information quickly, but it’s even more challenging to recall it rhythmically at faster and faster speeds. Psychologists call this a “load.” It’s like when a football player wears a weighted vest during practice sessions. During the game, without the load, everything seems a little lighter and easier for him. We do the same thing mentally by using the metronome. When your child uses her automated math facts without the metronome, completing her algebra assignment will seem lighter and easier. The multiplication facts will effortlessly pop into her head, and she will get through her work more accurately and quickly because she’d been “loaded” when she practiced. I’ve had students beam at me when they completed a recall task like multiplication or reading sight words at 100 beats per minute (bpm) or faster. Students realize they’ve accomplished something significant, and it impacts their confidence as well as their performance.

            How Can I Tell if My Child Has Overlearned the Material?

            I’ve found with younger kids, those around five to eight years of age, performing with nearly a 100% accuracy at 80 bpm indicates they have overlearned, and thus, have automated the material. Older students usually need to hit a 100 bpm, though many are capable of much more speed, even 200 bpm!

            One of the best ways to tell if your child has overlearned the material is how easily she’ll be able to recall it. She won’t resist when you ask her to recall it because it’s effortless. In fact, she may enjoy showing you she knows it and how smoothly she can do it. We all like to look good.

            Another way you can tell is that your child will want to keep practicing. Many kids love the feeling of quickly retrieving material that once was exceedingly difficult to retrieve. It makes them feel smart. For many kids, sadly, this is a new feeling that they are hungry for.  Even though they have reached the point of automaticity, I love to tell my students to shoot for those faster speeds because I know their confidence needs a boost. After a while, with an exasperated smile, I say they must stop because I can’t match their recall speed, and they’re making me look bad! You should see the pride and satisfaction on their faces.

            As I promised, here's your free multiplication facts game.


            1. Automating foundational skills like multiplication is critical to your child’s school success.
            1. Overlearning is the tool that helps your child reach the expertise level of automaticity.
            1. Too many curricula don’t explain or train a child to automate foundational skills. You can help your child with this.
            1. Overlearning takes a lot of work so be selective on what your child overlearns.
            1. Rehearse accurately. Then, gently challenge your child to retrieve material more quickly to the beat of a metronome. These are effective ways to overlearn any material.


            Have questions? Ask me below. I’d love to help.

   2019-03-14T15:33:00-06:00 2019-04-05T12:12:37-06:00 Three Sure Ways to Help Your Child Build a More Robust Memory for Learning: Focus, Priming, and Anchoring to Metaphors Bridget Mosley, MEd, Cognitive Learning Specialist We expect our kids to learn so much, but we don’t teach them enough about how to learn efficiently. We don’t mean to fail them, but not teaching them how to learn leaves them to sink-or-swim. There’s a better way!


            This post is the third in a series of posts on memory. My goal is to show you how to make learning easier for your child. In my previous posts, I explain ways to improve working memory and how to use spaced practice. Both are crucial to efficient learning. 

            My final post in this series will cover “overlearning” and explain how you can use it to improve your child’s memory.

            This post will explain some critical concepts about how we learn so you can help you help your child make learning easier. Specifically, I’ll show you techniques to help build a stronger memory. A well-developed ability to recall information is crucial to your child’s academic success. If you understand how he can more easily recall information, you can give him a considerable advantage.

            One of the most challenging things about learning is storing the new material in your brain so you can “pull it out” later and use it. Students are expected to remember huge amounts of information if they are to make progress in their classes. They often understand the information when the teacher first presents it. However, when they need to recall it later to solve a problem or connect it to the next new concept, they fail because the memory was too weak and fragile for them to recall.

            A “memory trace” in your child’s brain is what allows him to recall something. You need to help your child build strong, robust memory traces. There are many ways to do this. See my post on spaced practice for some good ones.

            I’m going to focus on the following three ideas to help your child build memories that are richer and more easily accessible:

            1. Focusing
            2. Priming
            3. Building “Sticky” Metaphors

            We’ll start with focusing because without it you can’t do priming or metaphor-building. Focusing is the first step to all learning; it’s the gateway that allows the brain to take in information.

            1. Focusing

            What Is Focusing?

            Focusing is the ability to pay attention to what matters or is salient. Our kids may be paying attention; the problem is they often are paying attention to the wrong thing. Perhaps they’re paying attention to their cell phones or what video game their friends have. Focusing is like a spotlight. Your child not only has to turn it on, but he also must know what to shine the light on.

            Focus is the Brain's Spotlight.

            Why Is It So Hard for my Child to Focus?

            There are many reasons a child can have difficulty focusing. He may not have had a lot of practice at concentrating or paying attention for the more extended periods that classes and homework need. The quick movement and rapid changes kids see on screens make for a weaker focusing “muscle” that many kids need to strengthen.

            Many kids have never needed to focus to the extent school requires. They’ve done fine at home, but school demands a much higher level of focus. Not only do teachers, schoolwork, and homework need kids to pay attention for longer periods, but they may also ask them to focus on material that may not be of interest to them.

            It could also be that the material is too far over your child’s head. He can’t make the necessary connections between what he knows and what he’s supposed to be learning. There’s too much of a gap between the two. When something is way over our heads, a common response of the brain is to tune it out so we can avoid the frustration of trying to learn something we are not able to learn yet. 

            Another possible reason is a weak working memory, which I address in a previous post.

            These are just a few common reasons it can be difficult for your child to focus. The good news is that the techniques in this series on memory can help your child no matter what the underlying cause might be. It’s also good news because your child’s focus can’t be too strong. It’s worth understanding how to build memory. The more you can help your child with building memory, the stronger life-long learner he can become.

            How Can I Help my Child Build His Focusing Ability?

            Here are Seven Ways

            I. If your child has trouble focusing due to lack of practice, increased demands, or uninteresting material, read this rest of this section.

            II. For poor focus due to an overly large gap between your child’s current knowledge and the new material, you can help by finding a curriculum that is more appropriate to his existing knowledge base and understanding.

            III. If your child has a weak working memory, see my previous post on the topic.

            IV. One of the best ways to help your child build more general focusing skills is to talk to him about his remarkable brain. He is the captain of the ship, and his brain works for him. Explain to your child that he can tell his brain to focus and pay attention.

                 “It sounds too obvious,” you say? It’s not. Many kids I work with haven’t considered this idea to help themselves focus and complete work. I’ve seen students’ eyes get big and wide as they considered this powerful suggestion. You can help your child by explaining and then reminding him about this technique. You might say, “Jacob, you oversee your brain. You are the captain. If your brain starts thinking about things other than your math homework, tell your brain, ‘Focus, Brain! Let’s get back to work on this problem. I’ll give you a quick break once you help me finish the next three problems.’”

            V. Explain to your child that it’s hard on his brain when he does more than one thing at a time. It seems like we can multitask between two or more activities at one time, but there’s a lot of research that says we can’t. Earl Miller, a neuroscientist at MIT, says the brain is particularly good at deluding us on this. He says we can’t focus on more than one thing at a time well. At best, the brain can shift between tasks. We must move our attention as we switch our focus, and this tires the brain out. So, every time your child checks his phone, he’s loading his brain and making it significantly harder to finish his work. He’s also more likely to make errors. In effect, he’s a second-rate captain. Encourage him to be fair to his brain by focusing exclusively on his homework.

            VI. Help your child plan out smart breaks. There’s debate as to how long we can focus. John Medina, a developmental molecular biologist who has focused his career on human brain development and known for his series of books called “Brain Rules,” says adults can only focus well for about ten minutes at a time. He breaks his 50-minute class lectures into ten-minute segments.

                 I’ve found that the right focus-period-to-break ratio varies a lot amongst learners. It’s important to understand what works for your child and meet him where he is. If he has a shorter attention span, accept it and help him take more frequent breaks so he can get the most out of his actual study time.

                 For example, perhaps doing two or three math problems at a time followed by a 3-minute break fits his focusing ability and helps him push through that page of problems. Over time, he will improve his focus muscle, but asking more than he can give right now will frustrate him, and he will lose his focus sooner. By helping him figure out what is reasonable for his brain, you’re helping him be successful and grow the amount of time he can focus.

            Quick Story: I worked with a mom who, understandably, was deeply frustrated with her son’s inability to focus. She had to sit right next to him and walk him through all his homework. I encouraged her to break down his homework assignments into five-minute “mini” homework segments. He would work as much as he could during the five-minute intervals until a timer went off. This monitoring did take work on his mom’s part, but over time he was able to focus longer and extend the time. After a month or so of doing this, he began to work for more extended periods and no longer relied on the timer as often.  

            VII. Finally, you can help your child build his focus by looking closely at how he studies. Is your child doing a lot of passive study or passive task review? This style of studying could be part of the reason for his struggle to maintain or grow his focusing skills. When the brain is more actively engaged in things like taking notes as opposed to a more passive task like rereading a chapter, it’s easier to stay focused. Another example of an active study task is to ask him to write his own short quiz on the secti he read. These engaged ways of studying are called “active learning” and not only does active learning build more robust memories, it helps your child keep his focus on the material so he can learn it.

            2. Prime Your Child’s Memory

            What Do You Mean by “Priming” Memory?

            Priming is a way to say to the brain, “I don’t want to dump this new and important idea on you only to have you forget it. So, I’m going to give you some familiar concepts to connect it to so it sticks. They will help you remember this important idea so you can pull it out when necessary.”

            How Does Priming Affect Memory?

            The brain is a fantastic association-building machine. For example, when you see the word “dogs,” your brain begins to make associations that you may or may not be aware of. Your brain may recall all sorts of things about dogs, like their playfulness, or the sound of their barking. Because no two people have the same experiences, no two people have the same associations, but the brain is busy bringing lots of associations to mind.

            By bringing all these connections to mind, each brain creates a web of ideas or concepts with many places for new ideas to connect. When new ideas attach to things we already know, they anchor themselves to this web. Because of this, any new idea or concept we learn has a much better chance of being recalled.

            Here’s a typical example of weak memory you’ve probably experienced: learning and immediately forgetting someone’s name. Why does that happen? In part, it’s because the brain didn’t connect the person’s name to anything. One way we can learn and remember someone’s name is to make an association. For example, I recently met a woman named “Tammy.” As soon as she introduced herself, I made an effort to create an association so I would remember her name. I connected this Tammy to one who used to live next door to me.  As Tammy spoke about herself, I pictured her standing on my former neighbor’s feet and the two of them dancing. I knew one Tammy, and I connected her to the new Tammy. (Keep reading. I’ll explain below why I created such an odd image at the end of this post.) I love using this technique. People are surprised when I see them weeks later and remember their names. I like it not only because I remember their names, but it also takes so little effort to do so.

            Now here’s an example that your child may experience with schoolwork: Say he is trying to remember that an octagon has eight sides, a simple way to prime his memory is to remind your child that an octopus has eight legs or tentacles and “octo” and “octa” means “eight.” Have your child picture an octopus holding each side of an octagon with one of its eight limbs.

            Prime Your Child's Memory to Make New Ideas Easier to Remember.

            You don’t need a lot of associations to make a good connection. One or two quick, solid associations help kids connect a new piece of information to what they already know, especially for a simple idea like an octagon having eight sides. Kids have a lot to learn, so we don’t want to overload them unnecessarily. 

            How Does Priming Build More Vibrant and Robust Memories?

            When you prime a brain to remember something, it takes the new information and connects it to the established web of associations it has already built. For example, if your child is learning about photosynthesis, one way to prime his brain for all the new information he needs to learn is to ask him to read the vocabulary list from the chapter on photosynthesis. The words “glucose, chlorophyll, and carbon dioxide” will prime his brain to make stronger associations with the concepts in the chapter, making it easier for him to recall and understand the new concept more deeply and thoroughly. He’ll make more and richer associations than if he had just started reading the chapter or his notes. Priming is a clever way to help the brain learn something, so it’s easier to recall later.

            3. Build “Sticky” Memories by Using Metaphor

            What is a Metaphor?

            A metaphor is a comparison that asserts that “this thing” is “that thing” for the sake of quick understanding. For instance, “the sky’s the limit” is a metaphor. So is “it’s a piece of cake.”

            Metaphors help us to think about something more deeply by making connections between two things. As we compare one thing to the qualities or attributes of another thing, the comparison evokes more meaning so we can understand the initial thing more clearly. Clear as mud? Read on.

            Why Does Metaphor Help You Remember?

            A metaphor is chock-full of ready-made associations for your brain to connect an idea to and develop. For example, in the common metaphor, “love is a battlefield,” there is a dense web of associations. All kinds of ideas, symbolism, and relationships can be pulled from this phrase such as: war, victory, teamwork toward a common goal, courage despite challenge, soldiering on for the greater cause, the need to conquer self to sacrifice for love, and fortitude in the wake of exhaustion for love’s sake.

            This is just a brief list of the numerous associations this metaphor provides. It’s impressive how many associations the brain can make when you give it a metaphor. The brain is a busy beaver for building connections. (Did you catch the metaphor I just gave you?)

            Metaphors Provide Multiple Points of Connection Between Old and New Ideas.

            Without the metaphor, “love is a battlefield,” you might otherwise read “love can pose a lot of difficulties and rewards.” This phrase doesn’t help your brain produce such vivid imagery and related concepts as the metaphor of battle, does it? Far better than just explaining the concept, the metaphor helps you appreciate and rapidly absorb the complicated idea of how challenging love can be.

            Why Does the Brain Love Metaphor?

            The brain loves metaphor for many reasons. Here are four significant ones:

            I. Metaphors are bite-size stories. The brain loves good stories because it releases serotonin, the “feel good” neurotransmitter, when it hears a story. Since stories are often comforting, using metaphors can help get and keep the brain in a receptive learning state. Compare this to learning a fact or concept that someone presents without a metaphor. Imagine pointing to a painting at a museum and telling students, “The critics of the time all praised this piece, but you can see the artist’s lack of originality, and poor use of perspective, color, and composition...” Now imagine pointing to the same painting and saying “the emperor has no clothes.” You can see how the story the metaphor brings to mind works much more quickly and leaves the door open for further instruction and inquiry.

            II. Metaphors are short movies. Our brains find it far easier to recall what we can picture than what we hear. Our brains are movie-making machines. Let’s try it: Picture five, cube-shaped wooden blocks. Each has a letter on every side, and they’re stacked on one another, leaning to the right. At the bottom is the letter “S” and the letters “U, C, O, and F” follow upward. On the right side of each letter cube are the corresponding letters of “Z, D, X, Y, and A.” Each letter is a different, bright color on a white background framed in wood. They are sitting in front of a simple, blue background. Were you building a picture as you read this? Did it look something like this?

                 Wasn’t it much easier on your brain to see the photo rather than all the words? If a picture is worth a thousand words, a metaphor is worth a thousand pictures, like a movie. If I say, “That news commentator is the boy who cried wolf,” a little, easy-to-remember movie plays in your head in a split second. Then you connect the movie to the news commentator, and you have a colorful, strong memory trace instantly. It’s so much easier for our brains to remember a visual story than an isolated fact, devoid of connections, sitting alone on the page.

            III. Metaphors do a lot of the heavy work for us. In the earlier example, “love is a battlefield,” your brain made numerous associations between love and battlefield because a battlefield has so many aspects to it. Metaphors afford our brains many points of connection as the image we’re associating with a new concept unfolds. This rapid association making is powerful and efficient because you don’t have to do as much work to make the associations needed to consider something more richly and deeply. The metaphor does much of the work for you.

            IV. Finally, metaphors offer an emotional as well as a conceptual connection to an idea. When your brain connects “love” to “battlefield” many emotions can be tapped into like fear, happiness, or anger. Emotions bring a “stickiness” that helps the brain learn and remember. Emotions tap into your body: your physical sensations, not just the idea.

            How Does Metaphor Anchor a Memory?

            We can’t learn something new unless there is some aspect about this new piece of information we can connect to what we already know. This lack of connection is one of the primary reasons your child struggles to remember. In these cases, the new information presented is like a helium balloon without a string. When your child’s brain tries to grasp the new information the idea floats away because there is no string to attach it to what your child already knows. A metaphor can be the string. (See? I used a metaphor again to make it easier for your brain to grab onto and remember what I’m explaining.)

            What are Some Hacks for Metaphor-Building?

            Psychologists tell us that our brains can better remember the images or mental movies we create when they are odd, gross, funny, emotional, or have movement. So, if I want to help my child remember something, not only would I help him create a metaphor, but I would also add these components to build a more robust, well-connected memory that he’s more likely to remember.

            For example, when I mentioned at the beginning of this article that I was trying to learn Tammy’s name, I said I created a mental movie of her dancing on my neighbor’s toes. This taps into the odd, funny, emotional (it hurts to have someone standing on your toes!), and movement aspects the psychologists recommend.

            Your Big Takeaways

            • Your child needs to focus before he can learn anything. You can improve weak focus by telling your child he can remind his brain to pay attention and that multitasking is counterproductive, using breaks appropriately, and by teaching your child active study techniques.
            • Prime your child’s memory by reminding him of something he already knows (octopus, for example) and associating new information (octagon) to that thing.
            • Use or create metaphors to build sticky memories. Metaphors have many ready-made points of association for connecting to new concepts.


            Have questions? Ask me below. I love to help.

   2019-03-11T10:11:00-06:00 2019-03-14T15:24:54-06:00 Spaced Practice: The Little-Known Marvel for Enhancing Memory Bridget Mosley, MEd, Cognitive Learning Specialist Here’s a Story I Hear Often:

            “I spent 20 minutes yesterday going over troublesome multiplication facts with my daughter. I went over them again today, but she only remembered a couple of facts! Why is it so hard for her to learn these multiplication facts? Her old sister learned them easily. I’m so concerned. At this rate, will she ever learn them? She’s so frustrated and embarrassed she stormed out of the room yesterday bawling, ‘Math is stupid! I hate math!’ What should I do?”

            Sound familiar? What do you do? Send her to a tutor that you really can’t afford right now? That’s not necessary. You can help your child learn all kinds of things faster and with less effort if you tap into an incredible memory-building technique known as spaced practice. It is like Miracle-Gro® for building memory.


            This is the second in a series of posts on memory. I show parents how they can make learning easier for their children. One of the topics I cover a lot is how to help a child remember what she’s studying. In my last post, I explained working memory, how it affects learning, and ways to build it.

            In future posts, I’ll cover two other critical topics that will help you build your child’s memory:

            1. How to Improve Your Child's Memory via Focus, Priming, and Metaphor
            2. Use Overlearning to Improve Your Child's Memory 

            In this post, I cover spaced practice, which is a well-researched, but underutilized way, to make learning easier for kids. It can save weeks to even months of time depending on what you’re learning.

            Let me explain the concept and how it can help your child, so she doesn’t have to deal with so much frustration as she learns.

            What Is Spaced Practice?

            Spaced practice (also known as “distributed practice” or “spaced repetition”) is an efficient, researched way to review material so your child can spend fewer days studying the same thing. This technique lets a learner save a lot of time by reviewing material, for example, the definition of a trapezoid, after specific intervals or “spaces” of time. The intervals are specific and increase in length after each review. Covering the definition of a trapezoid once or having a single review the next day is not enough. The idea is to re-expose your child’s brain to the material just before she is likely to forget it, which is the very same day she learns it. Spaced practice tells us not only how many times to review but when it makes the most sense to do it.

            What’s the Story Behind Spaced Practice?

            In the 1850s, Hermann Ebbinghaus, a pioneering psychologist who studied memory, figured out how long we can generally hold onto something before we have forgotten most of it and called this “the forgetting curve.” That is, there is a significant decline in memory retention over time.  He found that we forget well over half of what we learn the first day. He then reasoned, if we tend to forget information this quickly, it would be smart to rehearse and refresh our memory, so we won’t forget so much information so quickly. He tested his hypothesis, found that it was true and called it the “spacing effect.”

            Since then, many researchers have spent a lot of time over the last hundred years studying Ebbinghaus’s work and what helps the brain remember well. They’ve found that the brain is designed to let things go because it would otherwise absorb too much random information. The brain must filter out what is important and what is trivial.  We would have trouble functioning from day to day if we remembered everything we ever did or saw.  Our natural state is to forget. The brain needs a cue or a prompt from the environment to hold onto or store something. We need to tell it, “Hey! This is important. Remember this!” One of the best ways to do that is to bring the information to mind, to review or rehearse it, multiple times over a couple of days or more. The research is clear: additional reviews of the material shortly after it is first introduced can save a learner a lot of work.

            Wouldn’t It Be More Efficient to Practice in One Session?

            Doing one session sounds like it would be more efficient. This is known as “massed practice,” and is more commonly referred to as “cramming.”  Researchers have done hundreds of studies and consistently found that doing all your practice in one or two sessions isn’t nearly as efficient as spaced practice. Providing the brain multiple sessions over a more extended period is a time-saving way to help the brain remember. For example, they found spaced practice can cut the time it takes to learn a second language in half! That should get our attention.

            WowzaBrain: Each Review Strengthens the Memory Trace 

            The reason for the effectiveness of spaced practice is every time we ask our brains to remember something, the brain must work to “pull out” or recall the information. This work builds what psychologists call a “memory trace” that will be there for us when we need it because every time we recall something the memory trace gets stronger. Without the memory trace for a fact or piece of information, we can’t recall it. Each subsequent effort of recalling strengthens the memory trace. Massed practice doesn’t allow us to do that repeated work of bringing it out of our memory because we’re only actually pulling it out once. It’s at the forefront of our mind, and it’s effortless to review it. Unless we had to do the work of pulling it out, which is called “active recall,” the memory trace doesn’t become stronger. It’s the pulling it out at the time the brain is likely to forget that builds a robust memory your child can count on.

            What Are the Benefits of Spaced Practice?

            • Studies show that spaced out, repeated rehearsals with a concept, idea, or skill, leads to better retention, performance, and problem-solving.
            • Spacing out practice sessions forces the brain to retrieve the information multiple times which helps form a stronger memory that is much easier to recall and apply.
            • It gives the brain more time to take the new information it is learning and connect it to what the brain already knows. The richer the connections between the new information and what you already know the more robust the memory becomes and the easier it is to retrieve and apply to what you know and to new ideas.
            • Spaced practice develops learning that is more durable. Consequently, spaced practice is efficient and far more effective than either no practice or cramming.

            Who Uses Spaced Practice?

            Go to a college website like those at Dartmouth or Arizonia State; you’ll see they strongly encourage their student to use it. But you’ll also notice musicians and athletes have been using spaced practice for many years. These teachers and coaches typically demand daily practice over a full week. They don’t cram it into one day a week and expect their students and teams to grow. Physical therapists also know this well. Daily practice on a set of exercises is expected. Even kids naturally do this. Your teenager will repeatedly play a video game, exploring all the ins and outs of it as she seeks to hone her skills. When your preschooler asks you to reread a book for the hundredth time, that’s also a form of spaced practice. Spaced practice is how the brain learns best, so lots of people are using it−whether they realize it or not.

            Isn’t This Just “Drill and Kill”?

            Unfortunately, reviewing has gotten a bad rap over the years. Some educators call it “drill and kill,” but the research is straightforward: the brain must have multiple exposures, especially during the first 24 hour period, so that it can build a solid, easily-retrievable memory. Our kids pay a high price in frustration, tears and poor self-esteem. Spaced practice is not “drill and kill.” A better descriptive phrase is “study a little and more often.”

            Why isn’t Spaced Practice More Commonly Used?

            Sadly, many curriculum writers and teachers don’t understand and apply this basic theory of learning. They teach as they were taught,  assuming one review, usually 24 hours later, is all the brain needs. Most students follow this review-it-once model by cramming all their study time into a session or two a day before their tests.  They may pass tests early in the semester, but as their grades often show and the research indicates, cramming doesn’t help them retain information and perform well over the long haul. This way of studying doesn’t make the information stick. As the semester continues, they start to struggle with the upcoming units in their coursework because they can’t build on what they learned. Little of what you cram sticks.

            Additionally, spaced practice requires planning out the multiple review sessions which takes time, effort, and follow through.  We’d all rather do a task once and be done with it. Spaced practice can seem like more work to the student who wants a light workload. The number of reviews is higher, but the total amount of time spent is less, and the amount remembered is tremendously more.

            If Spaced Practice Is So Powerful Why Don’t Advertisers Use It?

            They do. Have you noticed that Superbowl ads appear during the game and then for days and weeks later the ads are all over social media? Marketers know you need repeated exposure to remember their product. This is also a form of spaced practice. They believe in it enough to spend over five million dollars on these multiple ads.

            With your child, even having her tell you at dinner what she covered in history class that day is a rich spaced practice review. It’s helpful because some time has passed, she must work to pull out the key bits of information from her memory, and she is rehearsing it with you. Any added practice on the day she learned the material−even one more review like this makes it easier for your child to retain information and learn.

            Quick Story:  I had a five-year-old student who couldn’t remember the numerals from one to ten and common colors despite months of daily practice. I encouraged her mom to use spaced practice. After a week of using the technique, her mom was delighted to report that her daughter had learned most of her colors and numbers in a week. While learning did not come as easily for her daughter as many kids, her mom realized that spaced practice was the golden ticket for her daughter’s future academic success.

            What Subjects Is Spaced Practice Best For?

            All. Our brains must have repeated exposure over days and weeks to remember the critical aspects of any subject. So, whether your child is trying to remember how to spell “because” or learn a twenty-word vocabulary list for Spanish, spaced practice will make it a lot easier for her.

            What Intervals or Spacing do you Recommend?

            Here is the review schedule for the first day, after the first exposure to the new material: one minute (Yes, you read that right. For example, 60 seconds after introducing the sight word “was,” you should be going over it again with your child.) Five minutes. Twenty minutes. Two hours.

            It's critical to require your child's brain to pull out the information on the day she learned it. Waiting until the next day for the first review is too late. 

            And here are the intervals for reviewing recommended after the first day of exposure to the material: 24 hours. 48 hours. One week. One month. Three months.

            WowzaBrain: Spaced Practice Schedule

            This information is from our WowzaBrain program. Try posting it on your fridge as a handy reference.

            I’ve found that using the first day’s schedule, plus adding one final review just before bed and reviewing it the next day, is a highly effective spaced practice schedule for most students to learn any material they find troublesome. Some students may need additional practice intervals beyond that. These students simply need more practice than others on certain content, and that’s okay. It also depends on the complexity of the material. It’s a lot easier to learn to spell the word “hopeful” than to explain an arithmetic concept like long division.

            Quick Story: Like any technique or guideline, you want to play with spaced practice and see what works for your child.  One parent shared with me that her son leaped ahead in spelling when she reviewed his list with him 20 minutes later, just before bed, and the following day. Both she and her son were encouraged that spelling significantly improved with far less time needed.

            What if I Don’t Get All the Recommended Reviews In?

            I’ve had a lot of parents through the years stress over this. They don’t need to because even one review on the same day helps memory. Say that with me: “Even one review on the same day helps memory.” So, even if you only get a couple of the recommended reviews in, you are still helping your child improve her memory. You’re helping her to strengthen a memory by asking her to “pull it out” again, which solidifies it so her brain can store and more easily retrieve it later. Typically, parents will forget if they don’t have a reminder to review. Later, I’ll share some ways to make it easier for you to remember to get reviews in.

            Do I Have to Use Spaced Practice on Everything My Child Is Learning?

            No. That would be impossible. Instead, figure out what is most important or salient for your child to learn. Now, what is it that’s not sticking?  Each subject has its foundational material that must be learned deeply. In math, for example, multiplication facts are crucial to success. In reading, phonics and sight words are essential. What’s holding up your child’s progress? The good news is that you don’t have to review everything using spaced practice—just the material your child struggles with.

            For example, say your child is having trouble remembering the sight word “what” and the sound of the vowel combination oi, as in “voice.” Instead of waiting a full day to review these challenges, you follow the spaced practice intervals of review: quickly go over them a minute later, five minutes later, twenty minutes later, two hours later and, finally, just before your child goes to bed. You’ll see. The next day your child will be far more apt to remember material that she had previously struggled with.

            Planning the spaced practice review sessions is extra work for you, but it can save you weeks of practice. For some kids who struggle with learning to read, it can save months of work and a lot of frustration. It can even be the difference between becoming a confident, successful reader and having a life time of struggling with and avoiding reading. Waiting until the next day to recall what they learned can be a guaranteed “fail” for a lot of kids. Spaced practice, however, can take a lot of the negativity out of learning because they experience success as they repeatedly recall something throughout the day. Then, they are a lot less likely to build negative associations with subjects. That is, you are less likely to hear your child yell, “I hate reading!”

            How Do I Remember to Do the Intervals?

            It can be challenging to get in each of the recommended intervals of practice. An easy trick is to set reminders on your smartphone. You still may not get all the reviews in, but again, even completing some of them makes learning challenging material a lot easier on your child.  If you’re working with an older student, have her set the review intervals on her phone and take responsibility to go over the material each time one of the alarms goes off.

            Another simple trick is to place the material (flash cards, book, notes) in a place where you can’t miss it. I’ve encouraged parents to make (or have their children make) multiple sets of flashcards and put them where they will see them, such as in their seat at the dinner table or on their pillow. You may not follow the ideal review schedule, but you are doing spaced out, multiple reviews and this always makes learning easier.

            Your Big Takeaways

            • Spaced practice is a learning strategy where you break up or “space” practice sessions out so whatever you’re practicing becomes easier to remember, requiring less time to study.
            • You can optimize learning when you follow a schedule of practice. Your child will retain more information more efficiently when you present it repeatedly, especially within the first 24 hours. This is the time she is likely to lose over half of what is learned is usually lost during this time.
            • Set timers and lay out material where it is easily visible, so your child is more likely to get the multiple reviews her brain needs so she can learn and be successful.
            • Have your child review difficult material several times during the first day she learned it in addition to the following day. Waiting until the next day to review material is not brain friendly and makes it harder for your child to learn.

            Do you want to learn more about your child's memory? Join our mailing list (below) and we'll notify you of new blog posts and announcements. We never try to sell you stuff through our emails. 

            Have other questions? Ask me below.



   2019-02-18T16:03:00-07:00 2019-03-08T14:05:16-07:00 What Else Would You Like to Know about WowzaBrain? Bridget Mosley, MEd, Cognitive Learning Specialist The WowzaBrain website is brimming with information for you. We’ve shared why we created the program for parents, compared ourselves to a typical learning center you might be considering, given you rich sneak peeks of our products, answered lots of common questions parents have asked us since 2008, shared WowzaBrain coaches’ success stories, and blogged about issues that are most important to our parents’ hearts. You can see we’ve done a lot to show you how WowzaBrain works. So take a good look around and check it all out. Afterward, if you have any questions, we invite you to ask in the comments section below. Odds are your question will help someone else too.

            Subscribe to our blog for more ways to build your child’s brain...better.

   2019-01-30T12:00:00-07:00 2019-03-14T15:23:30-06:00 Working Memory: Why it Matters and Three Ways to Help Your Child Improve It Bridget Mosley, MEd, Cognitive Learning Specialist Are you baffled and frustrated when your child forgets what he clearly knew yesterday? Or does he study hard and seem to know the material only to be unable to recall it during the test? Memory retrieval issues like these are actually very common because the demands on your child's memory are much heavier than those for an adult’s. Not only does he have a lot more to learn than an average adult, but he is also covering many, diverse subjects that may not interest him much. Consequently, a well-developed ability to recall information is crucial to your child's academic success. Fortunately, you have many ways to help your child build stronger, more efficient memory skills to make learning easier.


            This is the first in a series of posts on memory. In this post, I’m going to explain a lot about working memory including:

            • what working memory is
            • how it affects your child’s academic success
            • easy-to-spot behaviors that show if your child struggles with a weak working memory
            • three strategies that you can use to help him

            In future posts, I’ll cover three other critical topics that will help you build your child’s memory:

            1. How to Improve Your Child's Memory with Spaced Practice
            2. How to Improve Your Child's Memory via Focus, Priming, and Metaphor
            3. Use Overlearning to Improve Your Child's Memory 

            ﻿Why Does Working Memory Matter?

            The research on working memory is super exciting because researchers and educators are finally using it to help kids experience a lot more success and a lot less frustration. But there are many questions parents ask me as I help them build their children’s working memory. Let’s cover some common ones to help you decide if it is a problem area for your child.

            What is Working Memory?

            Working memory refers to the brain’s capacity to hold and manipulate information for a short time so we can learn. Your child needs a strong working memory so he can follow multi-step directions or complete academic tasks like solving math problems.

            WowzaBrain Image: "Bits" of Information  

            More specifically, working memory is a brain or cognitive ability that allows your child to store pieces of information, known as “bits,” for about 3-10 seconds so he can recall them to complete a task. Cognitive scientists often refer to working memory as the “sticky notes” in our brains. The more sticky notes you can hold, the easier it is to learn, focus and follow directions.

            For example, when your child is writing, he must hold the next few ideas or thoughts he wants to write down while he is still working on writing the current one. Each idea is on a mental sticky note. A child with a weak or inadequate working memory is prone to forgetting ideas he was holding in his memory. His sticky notes peel off and fall away before he can use them, and he loses his great ideas. A kid like this hates to write because it’s so frustrating to keep losing his ideas before he can get them down on paper.

            Quick Story: One of my middle school students recently went from barely being able to write a sentence to writing a five-paragraph essay. A miracle? No, he had the language skills needed before, but his working memory was so weak he couldn’t keep his thoughts long enough to get them down. His mom’s help in strengthening his weak working memory was the key to his experiencing success in writing. His mom was thrilled, not only to see him write a paper independently, but because their relationship improved since she was no longer nagging him to finish his homework, and it freed her up to take care of other family needs.

            How Does Working Memory Affect a Child’s Academic Success?

            Strong working memory is essential for all academic areas. As the above example on writing suggests, school becomes frustrating and exhausting if your child is often forgetting where to go next in a task. I’ve had so many kids tell me they thought they were stupid because they couldn’t remember the next step in a math problem or recall the definition of a word they just heard seconds ago.

            It’s heartbreaking. Kids who internalize and repeat the “I’m-stupid” script are at far greater risk for failing a class, becoming depressed, and dropping out of school. Our brains believe what we tell ourselves and act accordingly. I’ve had students who did fine in the primary grades, but hit a wall in the upper grades due to the heavier working memory demands and began to “forget” to turn their homework in. They had bought into the “stupid” script and started subconsciously sabotaging themselves.

            How Do I Know if my Child is Struggling With Weak Working Memory?

            Parents know their kids. If you suspect there’s an issue, there probably is. I have yet to tell a mom she is wrong on this one. Weak working memory shows up in so many areas. Here are some common ways your child may be showing you his struggle:

            • Trouble following directions: He often does the first thing or two you ask but forgets the rest of the multi-step direction, so he can’t follow through on instructions. Or, you may notice he skips a step in a task or repeats steps because he knows there are multiple steps, and he’s trying to fill in those missed steps somehow.
            • Lack of attention: Since his mind can’t hang onto all the salient information needed to complete a task, it begins to wander, or he “zones out.” Parents often say to me, “He doesn’t seem to hear a word I say.” He appears to have poor attention skills, but this is often due to weak working memory.
            • Little to no interest in books: Why read when you can’t remember much of what you just read and connect it to what you know and care about? For these kids, reading feels like a waste of their time. And, sadly, it is. But, it doesn’t have to be.
            • Little to no interest in academic learning: Again, he thinks why bother when it’s so hard to learn, and his hard work doesn’t produce much? School is just a place where he doesn't measure up. His friends aren’t working as hard as he is and they're easily completing homework and passing tests.
            • Avoids writing: Writing is completely dependent on a robust working memory. It can be torture for a kid to try to write much of anything when he can only hold onto a few bits of information at a time.
            • Tells you he hates school: He is so frustrated and angry that he cannot produce like his peers even though he is working hard. It’s a downward spiral. The more he works, the more frustrated he gets. Frustration like this takes the brain off line” because the thinking portion of the brain can't operate when the emotional center is highly charged, and learning becomes impossible.
            • Struggles with math problems: Any math problem involving multiple steps, like division or story problems, is a no-win for him, especially if they involve multiplication facts he hasn’t memorized.
            • Needs a lot more time: Since he must keep going back over the material to recall it and use it, he needs a lot more time to complete work. It’s not unusual for a kid like this to need twice as much time, or even more, to complete homework and tests.
            • Limited language: He may not be very talkative or verbal. It’s anywhere from hard to impossible to follow a conversation when you can hold onto so little of it. Additionally, there is the fear that he’ll look stupid, so he’s learned it’s safer not to say much.

            Is There a Test that Would Indicate my Child has a Working Memory Issue?

            There are tests, but usually, an educational psychologist administers them as part of a battery. This testing is expensive, often costing a thousand dollars or more. Fortunately, as you can see from the list above, it’s obvious when a child has a working memory issue as it perceptibly impacts his daily functioning. A test isn’t necessary not only because it is obvious, but also because I’ve never met a child whose working memory was too strong. The stronger your child’s working memory becomes, the easier he will find it to learn anything, and he will learn more rapidly with less effort.

            A simple, no-cost, informal way to check your child’s working memory is to use the chart below. See if he can hold onto bits of information that are age appropriate. For example, if your child is seven years old, he should be able to keep three bits of information in his head and complete a 3-step direction like this: put away the milk, get your coat, and shut off the lights.

            WowzaBrain Image: Recommended Number of Bits by Age

            This is harder to do if he’s tired or distracted, but generally your child should be able to follow a certain number of short, simple directions that are appropriate for his age around 75% of the time.

            Notice from the chart above, adding just one more bit of information to his memory load increases your child’s ability to work at a level that is two to three years or grade levels higher.

            Quick Story: I often see students who struggle in their classes improve their working memory by one or two bits and take an academic leap. I recently worked with an 8th grader who performed at a 4th grade level on working memory. She could recall four bits of information with 75% accuracy. I gave her some working memory games and she practiced them daily, for about three weeks and was able to go up to five bits.

            While it doesn’t sound like it would make much of a difference, she reported she was able to recall more of what she read, block out classroom distractions, and do her homework in less time. For example, she found it much easier and less time-consuming to memorize a poem for her literature class. Her mother was especially pleased that homework was no longer taking her entire evening. She now had more time for family, friends, and sleep. This in turn, reduced her stress level and she experienced less testing anxiety, an issue that she had been dealing with for years.

            What Causes Working Memory Problems?

            Like a lot of things involving the brain, researchers have some hypotheses, but they’re not sure. Often, it seems to be a genetic predisposition, but traumatic birth history, brain trauma, or illness are also suspects. The good news is that whatever the cause, working memory is a skill that can become stronger with practice. Researchers call this “plasticity” or “malleability.” It merely means that the brain, especially a child’s brain, changes relatively quickly in response to the demands, or requests, its environment places on it.

            Can Card Games Help Build Working Memory?

            Beware of articles that recommend you play games like “Go Fish” with your child to build working memory. A key requirement of building working memory is to hold a number of bits of information for 3-10 seconds and then retrieve it. Card games don’t do that. There’s also too much lag time between plays, so they can’t build your child’s working memory.

            Are Working Memory Worksheets or Workbooks a Good Idea?

            Worksheets are suitable for practicing and building speed with specific skills like addition in math, but strengthening working memory requires a child to hold onto information and then recall that information a few seconds later. Worksheets can’t provide that kind of practice. If you find a workbook that claims to build working memory, don’t buy it.

            Three Ways to Help Your Child Improve His Working Memory

            There are many ways to help a child improve his working memory. Here are three to get you started:

            1. Explain Working Memory to Your Child.

            This is one of the most helpful things you can do. Explain that his brain must hang onto the information that is coming in so he can follow directions or connect the new information to what he already knows. This is what learning is, and if his brain can’t hang onto information for a few seconds, doing tasks like preparing to leave the house or learning the steps to reducing a fraction are impossible.

            ﻿WowzaBrain Image: Metacognition is Thinking About Your Own Thinking

            Your explanation will enable his metacognition—thinking about his thinking. It’s vitally important for us to have more conversations with our kids on how their brains work.  A lot of kids are relieved to learn simple ideas about how their brains work. Metacognition gives them the framework to think about how to make learning easier for themselves and take more responsibility for their learning.

            2. Find Gentle, Fitting Ways to Challenge Your Child’s Memory.

            Meet your child’s working memory where it is and grow it. Let me unpack this.

            Always begin from a place of success. So many times, I have seen parents work on a skill far above where a child can be successful. If you know your child has trouble remembering three things, don’t try to give him more and expect him to grow. This never works. This will unintentionally sabotage you and your child.

            Instead, give your child an amount you know he can be successful with then help him add one more thing. For example, if he can usually remember a three-step direction, give him a three-step direction and encourage him to say it back to you three times. Then say, “Good. Now, I want to challenge your brain and add one more item to your list. Ready? Here we go…”

            3. Play this Game to Improve Your Child’s Working Memory.

            Researchers have been studying and developing ways since the 19th century to understand and build working memory. That’s a long time. They have created some clever ways to strengthen working memory.

            The trick is knowing which ones are worth your child’s time and which ones purport to build working memory but don’t.

            Here’s one that’s been a part of the field for decades. I turned it into a game called “You Must Remember This.” I’ve played it with hundreds of kids over the last fifteen years. It works. Try it.

            WowzaBrain game: You Must Remember This  


              Here’s How You Play:

            1. Watch the video (click the player above).
            2. Find a free metronome app.
            3. Figure out how many bits is a good fit for your child. Look at your child’s age and find the corresponding recommended number of bits. Subtract one or two from this if he has shown any behaviors I mentioned earlier. Remember, always begin and work with your child from a place of success.

            Key Points

            • Use a new list of items every time you play.
            • The sequence matters. Your child should say the items in the same order he heard them.
            • You can use any items off the list; there’s no order you need to follow.
            • To move from one level to the next in this game, your child needs to achieve 75% accuracy. For example, if you played four sets of the game with your child that would mean he got three out of four sets 100% correct.
            • Keep playing daily until he can say a number of sets at 75% accuracy or better. Once he can, you know he’s improved his working memory by two to three grade levels. Celebrate! This is a major achievement. Then, start working on the next level by adding one more bit, so his working memory becomes even stronger.

            What if my Child is Struggling With the Game?

            “You Must Remember This” is a challenging game. If your child is struggling, there are several things you can do to make it easier:

            First, you can take him off the metronome to give him more time to make a picture of what you’re saying in his imagination.

            Second, try playing “in category.” This way of playing merely means giving your child a list of related items. For example, if he was having a lot of trouble with a list of three random items, you could give him a list of three colors, foods, or clothing items. Staying in category lets you create an easier list for his brain to remember and is an excellent way to help him become more comfortable with a new, longer list.

            Remember, be patient with your child and expect to play his level of the game for weeks before his brain is strong enough to add another item to the list. It takes a lot of practice to grow your child’s working memory capacity, but it’s well worth the effort because all learning requires a strong working memory. Be sure your child is working to his full potential so he can learn as efficiently as possible.

            The Hard Part

            The hard part with building your child’s working memory is the required training schedule. Don’t shoot the messenger, okay? Here it is: practice daily, five times per week, for about 10 minutes per day. This schedule is essential! Your child’s brain must have repeated, targeted, daily exposure to the task of holding onto information. When you skip days, his brain loses the growth you helped him build. (In our WowzaBrain program, students typically train around 30 - 45 minutes because they are also working on additional cognitive skills like processing speed, rapid naming, and reading skills like phonemic awareness and reading fluency.)

            Daily practice is efficient practice. Practicing once or twice a week is not. Whatever activity or program you choose, be sure to practice daily. Daily practice builds strong neuronal pathways. Just as with soccer or piano, daily practice is essential for strengthening your child’s working memory skills. Inconsistent practice will not produce the results you’re looking for. It will just frustrate both of you.

            Your Big Takeaways

            • Working memory is an essential skill for all learning. It merely means hanging onto some bits of information for a few seconds so your child can apply it to a task and follow directions or learn something.
            • Many kids struggle with weak working memory. This makes learning anything a lot harder than it needs to be. The struggle these kids have with learning is evident in their behavior and poor school performance despite their hard work. They’re frustrated and so are their parents.
            • You can help your child build his working memory by explaining the concept to him, gently challenging his working memory, and playing our WowzaBrain game, You Must Remember This.


            Have other questions? Ask me below.


   2018-12-13T05:32:00-07:00 2018-12-13T05:32:33-07:00 Save the Meltdowns for Frosty Bridget Mosley, MEd., Cognitive Learning Specialist (Sleigh bells ringing.) “What fun it is to ride and sing a sleighing song tonight!”

            Oh, the joys of the Christmas season! Mostly. It does bring some challenges for our kids. Families are a little like finely tuned machines. Anytime our families’ schedules get altered, the routines we rely on as oil become sporadic, and the machines get gummed up a bit. Christmas break can be a lot of fun, but without the comfortable old routine, it can be more like a roller coaster for your kids. They may be wondering: “When will my day start? What am I supposed to do today? How come Mom keeps checking her phone? When will the cookies be done?” And on the list goes.

            While these are small changes, they add up fast and can wear your children out quickly. Before you’ve even gotten out of your pajamas, one’s already having a meltdown. Your child has lost it. Another way to put this is he is having difficulty with “self-regulation.”

            Self-regulation is the ability to control your emotions. Many kids struggle with impulsive and inappropriate behavior over the holiday season because of all the irregularities in their routine. If your child is having trouble adjusting to the new expectations and stimuli in his environment, he’ll need to find a way to regulate himself and calm down rather than resorting to a meltdown.

            You can help him learn to direct and regulate his behavior, so he can get what he needs despite the unpredictability that’s inherent in the holiday season. So, what are some things you can do? Lots. Here are just a few ideas to get you started:

            1. Plan out each day, so your child has an idea of what to expect. The day’s plan shouldn’t be rigid and cause more stress though. It should merely be an outline of events your child will know are likely to happen for the day. The goal is to help your child relax into the day because he’ll know what’s coming up. A plan for the day will also help him remain calm when some things on the loose schedule don’t happen, or when unplanned events (like burnt cookies) do.
            1. Consider reducing the number of events in a day. We all tend to underestimate how long it takes to complete various tasks. You may want to swing by your friend’s house on another day because grocery shopping and wrapping gifts might be all that your child can handle today.
            1. Use clocks and timers to help your child get a better sense of when things will happen. Setting a timer allows your child to see the time elapse as the cookies bake or that there are 30 minutes until it’s time to watch the Christmas movie. This helps him deal better with his excitement.
            1. Watch behavior closely. Some kids show distress long before they have an outburst or lose self-control. Once you see your child starting to struggle with self-regulation, start the conversation on how to help him calm himself and get back in charge of his brain. For example, you see him purse his lips after his older sister makes an offhanded comment about his leaving the milk out. This is the time, when his brain is still online and able to think, to comfort him with the thought that a lot of exciting things are going on and our brains are more prone to forget something small like putting the milk away. You might also ask him how his body is feeling. Is there tightness or an uncomfortable feeling? If so, encourage a gross motor activity like running up and down the stairs five times to help him release that tense feeling.
            1. Be flexible. If your child is showing signs of distress, shorten the activity and get him home to a quieter, more predictable environment or find a less stimulating spot so he can have some time to regroup.
            1. Plan a calming, nightly read-aloud of Christmas stories for a half hour before bedtime.

            These are just some examples of how parents can help by becoming an “external” self-regulator for their child.

            Your child is not a bad kid. He just needs a little help over the holidays because his routine has changed dramatically. So, while you don’t want your child to become overly dependent on you, a wise mom understands that the Christmas break puts significantly more stress on a child’s self-regulating system and knows it’s her job to step in and provide this needed, extra support.

            We build brains. Better. Subscribe to our blog for more ways to build your child’s brain...better.

   2018-11-26T12:55:00-07:00 2019-04-05T12:17:58-06:00 Go for the Face-to-Face Programs Derek Mosley Which cognitive training program is best for your child? Of course, we're biased in favor of ours, but that aside, you probably don't want one that asks you to plop your child down in front of a computer and walk away for an hour. That may help produce a teenager, and maybe even an adult, who is uncomfortable with direct human interaction. 

            The Wall Street Journal reported in the article, "Most Teens Prefer to Chat Online, Rather Than in Person" (9/10/18), that teens have increased their use of (and preference for) electronic communication drastically over the past six years. The article cited a Common Sense Media survey of 1,141 teens, from 13 to 17, earlier in 2018. Just 32% of teens favored talking to friends face-to-face, while a whopping 68% preferred texting, social media, video chatting, telephone, or other means. The numbers in 2012 were 49% and 51%, respectively. That's a remarkable jump for half a dozen years.

            Is all this screen time contributing to the rise in ADHD, depression, and suicide rates in teens? Might it be making our kids less likely to have deep relationships? The answer falls between “maybe” and “definitely,” depending on which researchers you read. Almost none say “no.”

            In the article, "Tencent Tells Young Gamers to Hit Pause" (11/06/18), the Journal tells us that Chinese tech giant Tencent is taking steps to limit the time Chinese kids can play its video games. Those from 13 to 18 will be able to play two hours per day, while 12-year-olds and younger kids will only get an hour. Remember, in communist China, there's no clear line between business and government.

            This restriction smacks heavily of George Orwell's 1984, but it shows that the Chinese government is concerned about the amount of time Chinese youths are spending on their screens. Apparently, kids have been "skipping their homework to play [a game] late into the night."

            I'm no fan of companies dictating what their customers can do. Nor do I condone a government's usurpation of parents' authority to make decisions for their children. However, I ask myself what might happen to our children if we fail to limit the time they spend texting and playing games on their devices. As much as I dislike their tactics, perhaps the People's Republic has a point.

            If your child isn't yet in the 13 to 17 demographic, he or she will be soon. As you search for a program to help a child of any age catch up and excel in school, we recommend you select from those that require little or no screen time. Help your younger child grow into a teenager and adult who is very comfortable with face-to-face communication and able to resist the urge to be online all the time.

            Follow our blog for more ways to build your child’s brain. Better.

   2018-10-31T14:05:00-06:00 2019-04-05T12:19:43-06:00 What You Need to Know—Not What You Want to Hear Bridget Mosley, MEd, Cognitive Learning Specialist
            Your child’s brain is remarkably malleable, though. It can grow and make grade-level gains in months. (Brain researchers call this ability to grow “plasticity.”) But, such increases require a lot of consistent practice that focuses on building speedy, automated responses to print. A schedule of five sessions of 15-45 minute per week for months, (depending on your child’s age and areas of struggle), is the correct prescription. Surprisingly, the reading curriculum writers aren’t doing this. We do because the latest brain research says it’s the best way to grow your child’s brain.

            This is a challenging training schedule to keep. We lose sales by posting this throughout our website because it’s not what most people want to hear. Growing a child’s reading skills takes a lot of daily practice. Marketing experts would say our telling you that puts up a “barrier to sales conversion.” But, we believe some parents (and grandparents) out there aren’t afraid of hard work, know fairy dust only works in Disney movies, and are willing to commit to the time required because they love their children that much. Their common sense tells them it takes time to build a reading brain, and they can give their children more and better time than anyone else.

            Why are these parents willing to roll up their sleeves? They understand the power of reading. They know:
            1. Reading is not just an academic skill, but also a life skill, even a mental health skill. For example, research says reading helps us improve mental flexibility and build empathy.
            2. Their children must be able to read rapidly at an adult level to help them solve the unending slew of problems life will throw at them.
            3. Reading develops the mind; reading naturally grows attention and memory skills as well as vocabulary.
            4. Reading builds brain. As daily practice thickens “superhighways” for rapidly recognizing print, the brain not only builds stronger reading skills, but it also improves the rate at which we think and learn.
            5. Reading builds creativity. Researchers have shown that reading fiction can help the brain process information in a more general, open-minded, multiple-perspective-taking way. They believe this flexibility of thought to be a key component in creative thinking and problem-solving.

            Yes, reading is king in the classroom, but it is profoundly more. Print is visible thought, and reading is one of the most empowering skills these parents will ever teach their kids. They know this, so they will do whatever it takes to help their children become at least grade-level readers. (The wiser coaches are shooting for above-grade-level reading ability.) They understand that the 50-100 hours they put in is a payment of crumbs in comparison to the feast that reading fluently and confidently will bring their children. These parents know that while the school might make accommodations for their children, life won’t. They know they are the most important teachers in their children’s lives, and they will not let this window of opportunity shut down their children’s chances of participating fully in life.

            Your child can’t gain two years of reading ability in two weeks, but he or she may make such gains in 18 or 24 weeks if you both put in the work. It may not be what you wanted to hear, but it is what every parent needs to know. Now, aren’t you glad you know it?


            (See more on the big-picture benefits of reading at]]>
   2018-09-24T00:00:00-06:00 2018-09-25T13:37:32-06:00 “Building Brains. Better.” What Does That Mean? Bridget Mosley, MEd., Cognitive Learning Specialist There’s a lot of excellent brain research out there on how to build a “reading” brain rapidly. Three crucial tenets are:

            1. Practice daily. (Five times per week.)
            2. Train the brain to recognize word parts, words and phrases automatically.
            3. Strengthen the essential cognitive skills of processing speed and working memory.

            Let’s look at each one.


          1. 1. Practice Daily

          2. WowzaBrain does this because daily practice is a cornerstone of our program.  It’s not rocket science, but most programs won’t get this daily practice in. They either don’t know how important it is, or they are afraid to tell you because they know it’s not what you want to hear. It’s a lot of work, but the brain is most responsive to the daily demands placed on it by the environment. Practicing once or a few times a week doesn’t reap the same rewards that daily practice will. We highly encourage daily practice because we’ve seen that it is the kindest way to grow your child’s brain for reading.

            We do it better by showing parents (through demo videos and our DIY Guidebooks) how to group simple, specific, three-to-five minute games and techniques into daily sessions of 40 minutes. We know it’s better because of the results parents have produced. On average, their children have made reading and cognitive gains of two grade levels or more in four to five months. We think you can do it too. It’s a matter of shaping your child’s learning environment, so they get daily exposure to print in a structured way that builds on what they accomplished from the previous day. The brain can’t help growing reading skills with this brain-friendly format. Programs that provide less than daily practice and jump around from one random skill to another make it harder for your child to become a stronger, successful student.

            2. Train the brain to recognize word parts, words, and phrases automatically.

            Researchers know that kids who have difficulties with reading almost always struggle with recognizing words automatically. We see this at all grade levels. Kids’ brains are working far too hard to pull words off the page. Researchers tell us they need to recognize a word in about three-tenths of a second, on average. WowzaBrain does this and does it better because we use metronomes and stopwatches to gently push kids to get faster on this foundational reading task. We know these techniques and others help them recognize words just a little faster each day, and over a matter of a few months, they begin to find reading a lot easier and more rewarding. It is common for our students to double their reading speed or more. Shockingly, most reading programs don’t help kids get faster at recognizing words. They use the old, slow, take-all-the-time-you-want style of teaching reading. This slow-response method doesn’t help kids rapidly build brains that effortlessly recognize words so they can become strong readers capable of tackling grade-level homework with confidence.

          3. 3. Strengthen the essential cognitive skills of processing speed and working memory.

          4. Reading is a lot more than just calling out words. Reading is a highly-sophisticated cognitive task that requires quick thinking with language and images. The rate at which you think is called “processing speed.” Reading also requires remembering what you just read briefly so you can connect it to what you already know and will read in the next sentences from the text. This is “working memory.”  Both processing speed and working memory make reading possible for the brain. Your child must develop these skills to comprehend and learn from what they read.

            WowzaBrain develops all these cognitive skills and does it better because we integrate them into the reading games we’ve created. Too many programs separate cognitive skills from reading or don't address cognitive skills at all. When a child can work on both their reading and cognitive skills simultaneously, a synergistic response occurs. The brain grows the skills needed to be an efficient reader rapidly. This is why our students typically grow two-to-three grade levels in their reading skills over the four-to-six month period they train.


   2018-09-17T14:41:00-06:00 2019-04-05T12:20:42-06:00 Why Homework is Such a Nightmare Bridget Mosley, MEd, Cognitive Learning Specialist Let me explain what’s behind your child’s homework nightmare. Like most problems, it’s not necessarily one thing, but likely a combination of factors. Here are some common, underlying issues that make what should be a 20-minute homework assignment into an hours-long nightmare assignment:

            1. Slow Processing Speed. Some kids, while good thinkers, are also sluggish thinkers. They go through the same steps to solve a math problem or figure out what an author means as anyone else. However, they do it at a significantly slower speed. Because of their slow processing speed, they end up taking longer to complete their homework. And, like any of us, these kids get tired after a while. Once they hit this spot, they slow down even more due to flat out fatigue.

            2. Slow Reading Speed. For many kids, it’s not that they can’t read at grade level, but that they read far too slowly. Their slow pace makes it hard to comprehend the material. It’s like listening to an audiobook paced at half the normal speed. Try it! It’s almost impossible to follow and understand. The same thing is happening to these kids. It takes far too much attention and effort to take in information from the text. For example, I’ve had middle school students who could only read at 90 words per minute (wpm). They were used to listening to speech at about 140 wpm (that’s an average talking rate), so their painfully slow reading intake rate of 90 wpm was a severe load to compensate for while they were trying to learn new, complex concepts in, say, science or history. Not surprisingly, it could take them up to five times longer to finish an assignment.

            3. Poor Focusing Skills. Some kids are more easily distracted by what’s going on in their environment. Because of their wiring, they can only attend firmly and fully to tasks that are highly rewarding. Everyday environmental noises like a ding from a cell phone or someone talking in the next room are hard for them to filter out. Their brains find almost all sounds and movements salient or notable, so focusing on something that isn’t noisy or moving is nearly impossible. This isn’t an excuse to let them ignore school work. It’s an impetus to help them gain and improve focus.

            4. Poor Working Memory. Working memory is your brain’s ability to store information for a few seconds, while doing something, and then recalling it so you can complete a task. Kids must rely heavily on their working memories to finish homework. Kids with weak working memories are prone to forget what they’re reading about or the next thought they wanted to write. Poor working memory slows down their homework completion rate to a snail’s pace and is profoundly frustrating.

            5. Lack of Confidence. As kids grind out their homework day after day in an uphill battle against the issues above, they will eventually become aware of the difficulties they’re having and lose heart. “Why finish my homework?” they’ll think. “It’ll probably be wrong anyway.” Or, “I work harder than anybody else in my class, but I still get lousy grades. This is a stupid waste of time! Why should I do it?”

            These are some common reasons kids struggle with homework. The good news is children's brains are very receptive to change.  When kids get help addressing their issues, the nightmare can shift back to an every-day, ordinary homework assignment.


   2018-09-03T05:00:00-06:00 2018-09-24T14:07:08-06:00 Does Your Child Have a Reading Disability? Bridget Mosley, MEd., Cognitive Learning Specialist Are you wondering if your child has a reading disability (also referred to as a “learning disability”)? You may already have a diagnosis. If not, figuring this one out isn’t rocket science. Let me ask you a few questions to explore your query further:

            1. Does your child have average to above average intelligence? Another way to say this is “Are they doing okay in their other classes, especially math (which isn’t so dependent on their ability to read)?” The idea is if your child is doing fine in math but is struggling a lot with reading, they probably have a reading disability. The concept is simple; If they can learn math, they can and should be able to learn to read just as easily. Doing well in math while struggling with reading is a common occurrence. This inconsistency strongly suggests a reading disability.
            1. Is your child able to read grade level material, but very slowly? This chart lets you see what’s considered grade-level speed. For example, by the end of fourth grade, a child should be reading fourth-grade-level material at least at 118 words per minute. Below-grade-level speed is a dominant feature of a child with a reading disability.
            1. Does your child struggle with spelling? One day they can spell “because” and the next day they can’t remember? Poor spelling is also another common characteristic found in a child with a reading disability.

            Checklists for kindergarten - 2nd grade and one for 3rd through 12th grades list other behaviors that indicate your child may have a reading disability.

            So while this little questionnaire and the linked checklist can’t definitively say whether your child has a reading disability, it does help you see what you should be looking for and whether to pursue help for your child. Follow your gut. Over the thirty plus years I’ve worked with parents, only about three who thought their child was reading disabled were wrong. The other thousand plus were right. Odds are if you think your child has a reading disability and has any of the red flags listed above or on the checklist, you’re right. You should find a way to make reading easier for your child. It’s your job.

            So, let’s go!  Keep moving on this trail and find the help your child needs. Consider us or another provider. Your child only has so much time before the window on becoming a better, more confident reader will shut. Their ability to read will have a critical impact on their academic success and emotional well-being. Life has a way of providing hardships. This is one hardship your child doesn’t have to deal with if you get involved and act now. Struggling with reading doesn’t have to become a life-long problem for your child.

            These few questions are just a start. Subscribe to our blog for more ways to build your child’s brain...better.

   2018-08-27T05:00:00-06:00 2018-09-24T13:53:13-06:00 What to Do if Your Child is Failing in School Bridget Mosley, MEd., Cognitive Learning Specialist Each year, the demands in your child’s classroom increase significantly. The reading level and load are getting heavier, subject concepts are becoming more complex, and homework volume is growing markedly. For kids who are struggling to keep up, this increased burden can cause confidence and mood to fall, fast.

            One of the first things to look at is your child’s reading speed. Reading speed? Yes, reading speed. For many kids, it’s not that they can’t read at grade level, but that they read far too slowly for their grade level. Slow reading is a burden in two significant ways:

            1. Their slow reading pace makes it harder to understand what their reading. Your child may be able to read the material, but the speed at which they read is so slow that they struggle to track with the author. The information is coming in too slowly to keep it in their heads and make the associations and inferences need to comprehend the passage. For example, a child in 6th grade should be reading at least 128 words per minute (wpm). Say you check and see they’re reading at 102 wpm. That’s about 20% slower than what’s needed to make comprehension possible.
            1. There is a lot of material to read in the upper grades. And it takes them far too long with way too much effort to complete the reading⎼let alone answer the questions or write a response to the text.

            Certainly, there are other areas to consider, but a slow, not-at-grade-level rate is a good first place to look as this is a common reason for school failure. Other concerns include weak working memory, an inability to think and speak at grade level because of weak vocabulary, and slow processing (thinking) speed.

            It’s important to figure out what their roadblocks are. Here are some ideas to get you started:

            1. Talk to your child. What do they see as the roadblocks? Older kids in particular often know where the barrier is. They’re deeply embarrassed by their struggle, and they haven’t shared it with you because of shame, not ignorance. So be gentle but persistent and start this conversation. We all struggle with learning to some degree. Share your struggles and see if they’re willing to open up about theirs.
            1. Check your child’s reading speed. This Quick-Test will show you how to use the material you have to see if your child is reading speed (word per minute rate) is at grade level. The recommended numbers in the chart are only at the 40th percentile. Consider this the bare minimum level of speed. If they are at or slightly above the benchmark speed, you will still want to help them improve it, especially if they hope to attend college someday.
            1. Talk to your child’s teacher. What do they see as the main obstacle for your child’s learning struggle? Is it possible to have additional testing done to pinpoint the areas that are weak and blocking your child’s success? Has your child been struggling for a while or is this a more recent issue?

            Just the fact that you see and are willing to address your child’s learning issues is the best first step. Good! You’ve done this. But, don’t stop here. Help your child move forward. You’re their biggest fan, and they depend on you to help them through this challenging spot. Don’t count on the school to do it. This is your job.

            These few steps are just a start. Subscribe to our blog for more ways to build your child’s brain...better.


   2018-08-20T05:00:00-06:00 2018-09-13T13:19:22-06:00 Four Things to do When Your Child Didn't Benchmark on the DIBELS Bridget Mosley, MEd, Cognitive Learning Specialist Reading struggles are common. So you should certainly be concerned when your child doesn’t perform well on the DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills).  This is a big red flag to pay attention to since the DIBELS is a screening tool that checks to see if kids have the ability to do different tasks such as recognizing initial sounds in words,  segmenting words into sounds, and reading nonsense words, which are foundational to reading. Reading researchers have figured out that if kids can do these tasks with a certain level of speed, the likelihood that they will be successful students, that is that they can learn from what they are reading, is quite high. So, if your child didn’t benchmark on DIBELS, you need to act now!  It’s imperative to your child’s future success in school. Reading is king; If your child reads poorly, they will struggle to learn and are in serious jeopardy of falling behind in school and failing.

            So what should you do? Here are four things to start with:

            1. Ask your child about the day they took the DIBELS. Was there anything going on that would interfere with an accurate screening. For example, do they remember feeling hungry or sick? Was there a lot of noise in the room?  Any of these situations and others can cause kids to perform poorly and not reflect their actual ability. A retake of the screening would be a good idea.
            2. Set up a time to talk to your child’s teacher. Does she think the results reflect your child’s true ability? Will your child be receiving more help with reading? How much help? Daily, individualized training helps kids make the most progress possible. Kids who get help once or twice a week merely get a band-aid when they need a trip to the E.R.
            3. Have your child read to you every night. So often kids struggle with reading because they don’t get a chance to practice. Pick a book that is easy for your child. Treat it like a music teacher treats a piece of music. That is, have your child read the same book over and over until they sound super smooth and fluent. Don’t move on to the next book until this one is smooth. Piano teachers do this because it helps kids feel competent and make progress. We should be doing the same in helping our kids become stronger readers. This repeated reading technique not only gives your child a sense of confidence, but the daily review they get with the troublesome words they initially encountered will help them learn those words and automate them so these “booger” words no longer cause struggles.
            4. Finally, make sure their teacher rechecks them in about 6-8 weeks. Unfortunately, many schools only check kids three times a year. If a child isn’t benchmarking, we know there’s a problem, so these kids should be tested more often in addition to getting extra support. If your school isn’t providing much or any additional help, it becomes even more critical that you work daily with your child to help them reach grade-level reading.

            Reading builds and grows a brain as nothing else can, not only academically, but creatively and emotionally. Do what it takes to ensure your child is reading at grade level or better. Their future success depends on it.

            Subscribe to our blog for more ways to build your child's brain... better.

   2018-08-13T05:00:00-06:00 2019-04-05T12:15:53-06:00 What to Do if Your Child Hates to Read Bridget Mosley, MEd, Cognitive Learning Specialist You realize your child hates reading even though you’ve faithfully read to them since birth. How can that be? What did you do wrong? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Some kids slowly recognize or pull words off the page. It’s their wiring. (With some kids you’ll notice this in their speech as well.) It’s important to note that this slow processing speed with print has nothing to do with their intelligence.

            Unfortunately, reading is one of those academic tasks which demands a lot of speed. By the time your child reaches middle school, they need to recognize a word in a third of a second, on average. When your child isn’t achieving this incredibly rapid recognition rate, reading is a cumbersome, work-intensive task. Of course they’ll avoid it, and tell you they hate it. It just makes sense to evade something that requires a lot of work with little to no reward. Don’t we do this ourselves?

            Thankfully, the brain is very malleable, especially a child’s brain. If your child gets the opportunity to practice pulling print off the page faster, their reading will get easier. This effortless level needs to happen at every stage while they’re learning to read. It should start with learning letter names and sounds and go all the way up to the last stage--reading phrases, recognizing complex vocabulary, and making associations and inferences.

            Watch out though. The answer most programs have for a child’s reading avoidance is worksheets--and lots of them. Completing worksheets won’t help your child because they are allowed to take as much time as they need to respond. The thing they most need, improving their speed, won’t change because worksheets are designed to address their slow response time.

            Then there are websites from well-meaning folks who don’t know a whole lot about reading. They encourage you to do meager, random exercises or games like go on a letter hunt or match words with cards. These aren’t bad ideas, but they don’t address the main need--to help your child build speed with print so that reading is a lot less work. Someday, I’d love to write a book called “For the Speed of Reading.” Get it? I want to play off the phrase “for the love of reading.” You can read to a child until your blue in the face, but if your child recognizes print slowly, they can’t love it because it’s simply too much work. Speed will bring the love. Speed brings books to life so your child can finally enjoy reading.

            I admire parents who tell it like it is. It’s hard to admit that your child hates reading, especially if you’re an avid reader yourself. But, there is a lot of encouraging and useful brain research out there for those who are willing to address the issue. You’ve bravely acknowledged there’s a problem. Now, find the answers you’re looking for.

            In my other posts, you’ll see I don’t pitch our WowzaBrain program, but this blog is the exception because it takes daily, systematic practice to change a brain that hates reading into one that will read. I can’t explain that in a blog. So, I encourage you to take a close look at our program. I believe it will help you find the answers you’re looking for.

            Whether you choose our program or not, subscribe to our blog for more ways to build your child’s brain...better.