We’ve done some tough love and some heart-to-heart conversations that now seem to be putting us on the right track, but lighting a fire under his butt has still been somewhat hit or miss. So, when PBN contacted me about Brainetics, I was willing to try anything.
For one thing, not a lot of the products I’ve gotten are geared for the older kids and in so many ways, he’s the hardest to parent because he has “bigger” problems.
My son spends a lot of his time at school being more the kind of guy who’d rather blend in with the crowd and not draw attention to himself, with a few notable exceptions. He relishes the attention he gets with his proficiency in art, and there are days when he’s kind of on a roll with some funny jokes or comments (which sometimes gets him the evil eye from the teacher) and he gets some attention for that. This year, however, aside from artistic skill, he hasn’t done anything stellar academically to draw attention to himself. He gets a little nervous about the "nerd" thing.
Until Brainetics.
I had him start watching the DVDs and he, scoffing and sporting some attitude, as his is wont to do most of the time when I suggest anything, I felt a sense of doom already. Great, kid, I have to write a review about this product and you’re doing your “I’m too cool for this” middle schooler thing.
But then, since he knew I wouldn’t let him leave the couch until he’d gotten thru at least the first DVD, he figured he’d at least pay attention. And by the time the first DVD was over, he’d tried some of the tricks, and wanted to start watching the next DVD. Except it was bedtime and he’d have to wait.
He was actually MAD he had to stop watching! It took less than an hour to get him hooked.
He wrote down the formula for figuring out how to tell what day of the week somebody was born on so that he could dazzle his classmates at school. When I picked him up at school, I asked him if he had a chance to do the Brainetics trick. He had figured up a couple people accurately and by the time they were marveling at his skill, a LINE HAD FORMED around his desk until the teacher made everyone go back to their own desk.
By the second night when we could settle in on the couch to watch more, again he argued with me to stay up past bedtime to learn more tricks.
This may be premature, but Brainetics, at least for now, may have piqued my son’s interest in math. As I said, my son’s problem has never been intelligence, his intelligence has actually been a hindrance in some ways because he is easily bored so he doesn’t feel the urge to bother. The times he gets interested in subjects at school is when things allow for a creative streak or a chance to show some originality. Brainetics does that with math. It shows that numbers aren’t simply boring old numbers. They are there to be manipulated and twisted into brain teasers and tricks that will entertain you and those around you. Numbers ARE fun! And as there are infinite numbers, there are seemingly infinite tricks and games to be played with numbers as well.
My son enjoyed and continues to enjoy the Brainetics system. My younger son, who is in 3rd grade, was watching with us and wanted to be able to learn some of the same things. His math skills aren’t honed enough to use it yet, but I have no doubt he will.
Check it out, your kid can learn to do the same thing! Mine did!
Brainetics has the claim, right on the box, to increase brainpower and be better, faster and smarter than before. While I have no doubt it does that, it’s the other claim that interests me. Brainetics gets kids thinking outside the box. That’s what my kid needed, because that is the only way he gets excited about new things…OUTSIDE THE BOX. The old approach to 1, 2, 3 hasn’t been keeping my smart kid’s interest, but give it a fun twist and he’s your biggest fan.
Mike Byster, you are my hero. Thank you for coming up with something that keep kids excited about being SMART!
Sunshine's Rating:
7 comments:
Yeah!
I shared with you my son had similar situations. Smart but not motivated by the curriculum, so he only did what challenged him. This looks like a good step towards motivation!
oh WOW. That is excellent!! Yay for ya'll and especially for your son!
Introduce him to physics. If he gets bored easily and you can't seem to challenge him (and obviously school can't), physics should be able to do that for you. Get him to watch a show about it or something, and give him a real-world application for his newly acquired math skills.
As a student going into college level math, I can say math has always been my least favorite subject, and watching the infomercial(and subsequently felt my jaw DROP after watching those kids solves stuff like 109x543 on the snap of a finger) I became interested in buying the product for myself. After a bit of online research I think $200 is a small price to pay to expand my capabilities and better my chances at not scraping by in my math classes(which I ALWAYS have)
i know it's been a while since you posted all of this, but i hope you're still checking in. my daughter just graduated from grade 6, and the next day had a major meltdown worrying already about math next year. she's scared to death she won't be good enough. she's not gifted and was on A/B honor roll all year, but she feels she struggles in math. do you think brainetics would be good for her? she's an awesome kid - i hate to see her suffer. i want to give her confidence in the one area in which she feels lacking. what do you think??
Can you give us an update on this? I know that when you posted this you had only experienced a couple of days of use of Brainetics. Now it is months later, what do you think of it the program now?
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