Enhanced Learning Skills for Kids, LLC

Membership in Organizations:

National Association of Special Education Teachers (NASET)
The Council for Exceptional Children (CEC)
The Learning Disabilities Association of America (LDAA)
National Coalition of Auditory Processing Disorders (NCAPD)
Disabilities Leadership Council

Area of Focus/Practice Interest:

ELSK identifies and remediates the underlying cause behind your child's learning problem. We provide scientifically based neurocognitive braining training services to individuals ages six and older. All of our tools have at least 30 years of research behind them with proven results.
Enhanced Learning Skills for Kids, LLC works with families in the state of New Jersey and across the country whose child may exhibit symptoms of or be diagnosed with any of the following:

* Learning Disabled
* ADHD - any type
* Traumatic Brain Injury
* Auditory Processing Disorder
* Auditory Analysis Disorder
* LLD - language Learning Disorder
* Dyslexic
* Asperger's
* PDD-NOS
* Poor Readers
* Difficulty with Abstract Thinking
* Students with weak social skills.
* Gifted with Learning Disability
* Gifted wanting even more proficiency.
* Students with weak Math Skills
* Students with weak Study Skills
* Students with weak Organizational Skills
* Students with weak Time Management Skills
* Students with low self-esteem
* Student with negative thinking patterns
* Speech and Language Delays
* Down Syndrome
* Sensory Integration Disorder
* Students with good grades but working way too hard for them.
* Students who do okay but are not independent learners.
* Students with poor grades.
* Students who want to prep / tap into their potential before SATS.

Client Age Group: 6-18

Education/Training: Colleen Graduated Summa cum Laude with Master of Arts in Special Education, Cross-Categorical; University of Phoenix (2007) Colleen Graduated Summa cum Laude; New York Institute of Technology (1996) Training received by Dr. Ken Gibson (LearningRX) in Colorado Springs, Co. for license and certification in Processing and Cognitive Enhancement (PACE) and Master the Code (MTC)

Professional Work Setting: Colleen is founder and CEO of Enhanced Learning Skills for Kids, LLC in Hillsborough, NJ. She works with clients worldwide via telephone consultation/coaching as well as regionally in her office.

Services Provided:

First, your child is assessed using either a standardized online or in-person non-academic cognitive assessment.

We will uncover hidden challenges that are sabotaging your child’s learning success with learning and reading.

From there, we create a crystal clear vision for improving your child’s ability to become an independent learner.

Our programs are based on fun but intensive activities that are done one-to-one or through online brain training programs. We are certified to work with our brain training programs.

We provide help to families in-person and also through home-based methods.

Our online brain training software programs are available for New Jersey and across the country.

We have programs that can be completed in your own home with weekly phone consultations to enable success.

Weekly consultations are held with Colleen Bain, M.A. / Special Educator / Licensed Cognitive Brain Trainer.

You and your child will leave our program as motivated, confident, and inspired champions having overcome your child’s learning challenges.

Services:

Student Transformation System - The Student Transformation System allows you to identify your child's current level of cognitive learning skills and create an action plan to target and strengthen the weak skills. That's right—I do not ask you to focus on only the strong skills. We will specifically target the weak skills. Then we implement the 10 Steps, plan and commit ourselves to success. Below is a listing of several tools that may be a part of your child's individualized program. All programs are research based with proven results.

Online Cognitive Assessment - The primary goal of the Gibson Test is to identify whether any key cognitive skills are weak. The weak skills will explain some aspect of why learning may be more difficult than necessary for a given student. For the sake of brevity and ease, the test is not designed to test the higher end of the scoring spectrum with a great deal of fidelity. The purpose is to quickly identify if there are any weak skills and if so, which ones.

BrainSkills - Online 12 Week Individualized Program that strengthens your child's ability to learn, read, comprehend, process information, process what they hear and see, follow directions, understand all academic subjects. Average gains are 3-4 years in 12-15 weeks.

Fast ForWord - Online 12 Week Program that strengthens your child's ability to process what they hear, process information, read and learn better. Average gains are 1-2 years in 12-15 weeks.

BrainWare Safari - Online Program that strengthens your child's ability to learn by focusing on 41 cognitive skills presented within a game playing format of a Jungle Scene. Average gains are 4 years in cognitive skills within 12 weeks.

Online Study Skills Plus Program - ELSK has partnered with Mangrum-Strichart Learning Resources to offer a comprehensive interactive online study skills program. The program consists of Assessment, Instruction and Management.

Online Beginner Paragraph Writing Program - ELSK has partnered with Merit Software to offer your child an opportunity to develop their basic paragraph skills. Your child will learn how to write an effective paragraph -- developed by reason, detail, sequence, example, and cause and effect. This is an Interactive Online Beginner Paragraph Skills Program. Launching 7/13/09

Online Paragraph Writing Program - ELSK has partnered with Merit Software to offer your child an opportunity to learn how to develop an idea, and write a topic sentence, body, and conclusion. Launching 7/13/09

Online Essay Skills Writing Program - ELSK has partnered with Merit Software to offer your child an opportunity to learn the techniques of expository writing -- to persuade, inform, or describe. Launching 7/13/09

Online Interactive Program for Literature Book Reading - Based on their personal experiences, your child will write paragraphs relating to themes in the books. They also write brief responses connecting details with ideas in the book to infer a deeper meaning. Check out the popular titles available today. Launching 7/13/09

Processing and Cognitive Enhancement (PACE) - One-on-One in person 12 Week Individualized Program that strengthens your child's ability to learn, read, comprehend, process information, process what they hear and see, follow directions, understand all academic subjects. Average gains are 3-4 years in 12-15 weeks.

Master the Code (MTC) - One-on-One in person individualized 12 Week program that follows the PACE program. MTC strengthens your child's ability to learn, teaches your child how to decode (read), encode (spell), comprehend, process information faster, process what is seen and heard more efficiently. This program is used when necessary after PACE has been completed.

Consulting - ELSK provides consulting services above and beyond the services listed above. Contact Colleen for private and VIP consultation sessions.

Philosophy/Belief Statement:

Enhanced Learning Skills for Kids (ELSK) recognizes and respects the uniqueness of each child. Our mission is to foster a love of learning in your child while enabling your child to learn easier and more efficiently.

Our programs skillfully weave fun and creativity into the weekly training. Students learn to follow their curiosity, to think creatively, and to work both independently and cooperatively with others.

* Improve student success academically.

* Encourage student participation in the overall learning process.

* Increase a student's self-esteem and confidence through self-discovery of his or her own potential.

Colleen believes that every child is whole and perfect. The child's diagnosis and label does not define the child's true potential. With hard work and desire, learning problems such as weak memory, can be improved greatly through the building of new neuropathways. The brain is trained to use the new neural pathways to enable your student to function to his or her potential.

Testimonials:

My son "J", has been diagnosed with Pervasive Developmental Delay and Attention Deficit Disorder. I was thrilled to find Colleen and have "J" work with cutting edge learning programs that Colleen is trained to teach. Colleen understood that "J" needed help with underlying skills to improve his language arts abilities. She is more than a "tutor" - Colleen is a "brain trainer" and understands learning disabilities relating to auditory, visual and other processing interests.

As "J" completed the PACE training program with Colleen his grades and language skills improved. Colleen also freely recommended other professionals and programs that could benefit "J", which are helpful including vision therapy. She continues to monitor his progress with "Fast ForWord" which he now does at home with us. ~Joan of Bridgewater, NJ

efore working with Colleen, Caitlyn was having a hard time keeping up in school. She came to me and said I can’t do it anymore. She was used to compensating and figuring out a way to workaround her difficulties with school assignments. However, in 10th grade she hit a wall. She got to the point where she just didn’t do the assignments. She would say, “Why bother?” If she did attempt some of the work she would literally skip over all the words she could not read. Then she did not know what she was reading or learning about and could not get through assignments. When we had her tested, the results showed her reading way below her age. She had a hard time grasping new concepts. She showed signs of dyslexia. We did not know anything about learning skills until we met with Colleen. She explained how the brain learns and what was needed for Caitlyn to become a successful reader and learner.

After working with Colleen and her programs, Caitlyn has renewed confidence herself and her abilities. Her grades are improving steadily each marking period. She is now spelling and reading words that she was unable to before she started working with ELSK. Her weak skills skyrocketed to adult level and she is now motivated and encouraged about her future including college. She is now able to complete her homework assignments in record speed. For example, Caitlyn was so excited to be able to complete a literature assignment in study hall because this type of assignment would have required assistance and a few days of work. Now, she is able to grasp concepts easier and when she is unsure, she is confident to ask for the help because she has the skills to follow along and get it. She no longer skips words and she hands in all of her assignments. We are so proud of how hard she has worked and continues to work. ~Sue and Caitlyn of Annandale, NJ

Before working with Colleen, I felt Brooke was not working at her potential. Something was not right but I could not put my finger on it. My concerns were around Brooke becoming an independent learner and being able to keep up as the work continued to get more challenging in 4th grade and beyond. When we met with Colleen, she explained cognitive skills and how they are needed to help a student learn. When we assessed her we could see she had very strong skills and some weak skills, too. The skills that were weak were directly impacting her reading, writing and comprehension skills. They were also making it hard for Brooke to remember multi-step requests, regular routines and we ended up repeating ourselves a lot of the time. Also, Brooke was not initiating homework herself and I wanted her to be ready for 5th grade where she needs to be a bit more independent. Brooke would get very upset with herself if she did not perform well all the time. She was not 100% confident in herself because on one hand she knew she was strong in some areas but also knew she had weaknesses but did not know what they were or when they would show up.

After working with Colleen and her programs, Brooke is more confident in herself and is able to take risks she would not have before academically and even socially. She does her homework on her own now and I basically give the final check off before it goes into her backpack. She even does papers and projects on her own now, too. Everything from book selection, research, writing, and any artifacts that are needed for the paper. At home, I do not need to repeat myself several times or constantly remind her to do things. She is now bridging the gap from a student needing constant supervision to an independent lifelong learner. She loves to read and is able to read words she could not before working with Colleen. Brooke is able to better organize, plan and study effectively. Brooke has consistently been getting A’s in school. Brooke is looking forward to attending Princeton University in her future. ~Shelia and Brooke of Hillsborough, NJ

Before working with Colleen, Brandon had been known as hyperactive and unable to attend because he would be distracted all the time. Actually, what was happening was Brandon was attending to everything and unable to selectively attend. Colleen helped us understand this better. School was difficult for him. Because he was unable to selectively attend, he had a hard time keeping up in school. It took him a while to respond and give an answer. Brandon could not remember math facts well. He would confuse the symbols of addition/subtraction which would cause him to score low on tests. Homework was a chore. In after care, Brandon was always the last person inside the room when I arrived. Because he always needed help with homework, the other children would always finish first and get to go outside and play. Most of the time when I arrived, Brandon would cry because he knew that not only did he miss time playing with his friends, but now he had to go home and do homework and miss out on playing again. His school work suffered to the point where he was falling behind. I could sit and work with him on information he learned last week and he would not be able to tell me anything about it. We had tried to work with tutors but did not find success. Colleen recommended we put the tutors on hold until Brandon was done working with ELSK for greater success. We are glad we followed her suggestion.

After working with Colleen and her programs, Brandon’s ADHD symptoms have diminished to the point of disappearing. Most of his symptoms were cognitive based and once we strengthened those skills, he no longer had difficulty with attending, focusing and sitting still. He learned how to control himself and tell the difference in how it felt to be calm and in control versus hyperactive without any control. His teachers now state that he is no more fidgety than any other typical 4th grade boy. He has basically caught up in his studies. Now, he is able to remember and give me all the information from the previous week(s) that we went over together. The best part is now Brandon is the first child done with his homework in after care. He is thrilled. Learning is no longer a struggle and school is fun again. ~Donna and Brandon from Somerset, NJ