Reading, Confidence & Test-taking

Mario was a very bright, personable 10 year old in fourth grade who had no confidence in himself (“I’m stupid”), was reading two grades below his level, struggled with math and test taking, and suffered from anxiety. He had been with tutors off and on for three years and was currently being tutored four days a week.

Until the age of seven, Mario had many traumatic experiences that left him wary of the world and, at a very deep level, always on guard. The constant changes in his life left him unsettled, overwhelmed, and alert to danger – resulting in an inability to focus on the details of reading, math, and a heightened sensitivity to the pressures of test taking.

Mario’s mother was hoping he could get up to grade level in reading and math, be able to do well on tests, have confidence in himself, and know that he was smart.

Mario really liked the movement activities so we used a combination of Brain Gym® movements to integrate his left/right coordination and make cognitive processing easier, Vision Gyms to improve perceptual skills, and reflex integration techniques to release the fight/flight reaction to his environment and free up his emotions. In addition, I incorporated the some gentle hands-on body realignment methods that release emotions and loosen tightly held muscles.

By our fourth session his mother was very pleased that she could reduce the tutor to twice a week because Mario was now able to get his homework done on his own and his math was improving. At the 10th session, Mario’s mother noted that he was more confident and trusting, would engage easily with people, and was extremely inquisitive rather than being quiet and withdrawn – he actually wouldn’t stop asking questions!

Three months later, at the beginning of the fifth grade, Mario tested only one grade level below in reading, he was completing all of his homework at school, and no longer needed a tutor. In addition, he did very well on the spelling and math tests. Mario said he felt “way better” about himself as he started the school year and, yes, he felt he was a smart guy!

By our 16th session, Mario’s teacher commented to his mother that he was “a leader in the classroom” and all goals had been reached: he was up to grade level in reading and math, he had full confidence in himself, and he did well on tests.