Brainworks® - Brainworks Camps Create Success

Brainworks Camps Create Success

During the summer months, Brainworks "shifts gears" in both its schedule and scope of the programs offered to students in grades 1-12. Using the same strategies that have made the Brainworks curriculum successful for 29 years (one-on-one peer tutoring, customized lesson plans for each individual student, and constant monitoring by certified teachers), students achieve intensive academic skill building, in addition to sharpening social and communication skills.

Students who benefit from the Brainworks curriculum:

Gifted students who need enrichment outside of their regular classroom.
Students who have high potential but struggle to keep up academically.
Students who need practice with social skills and positive behavior choices.

To register for our summer camp, please click here to complete the forms and submit your deposit by May 14, 2010 for Session I and May 28, 2010 for Session II and Session III.

Customized Plan

The incredible success of the Brainworks summer program is a result of several factors.

Each student is given an in-depth diagnostic evaluation, which includes assessments for twenty-six different processing skills.
Results of the evaluation are used to create a customized learning plan tailored to the strengths and limitations of each child, including gifted and remedial curriculum.
This individual plan allows for a compacting of curriculum, meaning that time is not wasted on skills the child has already mastered, but the focus is on those skills that present new challenges for the student.
Each lesson plan contains sixteen different activities that the child completes in fifteen-minute segments throughout the day from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
This constant movement through the activities decreases the boredom often associated with longer study sessions and provides a chance for the child to work with different instructors every 30 minutes.

One-on-One Instruction

Certainly, one of the keys to Brainworks' summer success is the individual attention given to each student.

Each child receives one-on-one instruction throughout the day, which accelerates the learning process and allows the opportunity to build rapport with the student instructor.
These instructors, who are gifted high school and college students, lead the child through their customized lesson plans.
Not only does the child get individual attention from the student instructors (S.I.'s), but certified teachers are also always monitoring the students' progress and assisting the S.I.'s.
At the end of the summer session, parents and students receive personal feedback on the academic and social achievement made by the students through post-testing, detailed progress reports, and parent conferences.

Social Skills

Furthermore, the integration of social skills into the curriculum is a vital part of Brainworks' summer success.

Social skills are a major focus of the summer program, making up one full hour of each day's curriculum.
The beauty of this particular piece of curriculum is that it's taught during the student's lunch hour. For example, before students and instructors go to lunch together, a specific social skill (i.e. eye contact, body language, tone of voice, etc.) is introduced and discussed. Then, students and instructors practice that social skill at lunch.
Upon their return from lunch, everyone reflects on how they observed the skill being used and what they learned about another member of the group.
These social skill-building lessons applied during the lunch hour allow clients to practice social skills in a non-threatening environment and to observe those skills being modeled by the instructors.

Sportsmanship

In addition, clients are encouraged to assume personal responsibilities in a supportive group environment and to become more confident in their abilities to perform and succeed.

In some activities, students engage their instructors and/or other students in friendly competitions or contests to motivate them to do their best.
These activities also promote sportsmanship, self-esteem, and friendly conversation.

Sample Schedule for Students at Brainworks Summer Camp *

	Grades 1-5	Grades 6-12
10:00	Math Basic Facts (+, -, x, /)	Components of Research
10:15	Gross Motor /Fine Motor Activities	Time Management / Research
10:30	Basic or Advanced Reading Skills	ADD/ADHD Training / Organization
10:45	Advanced Logic Puzzles	Creative Brainstorming
11:00	ADD/ADHD Training	Coping with Perfectionism
11:15	Sentence/Paragraph Writing	Basic or Advanced Math Skills
11:30	Spatial Problem Solving	Reading Speed and Comprehension
11:45	Social Skills Lesson	Social Skills Lesson
12:00-1:00	Lunch with Student Instructor	Lunch with Student Instructor
1:00	Creativity Activity	Math Advanced Skills
1:15	Reading Comprehension and Speed	Memory Training
1:30	Memory Training Game	Problem Solving Game
1:45	Fractions	Typing or Note Taking
2:00	Handwriting / Typing	Fractions or Percentages
2:15	Goal Setting	Study Skills Strategies
2:30	Following Directions	Goal Setting
2:45	Problem Solving Game	Writing Workshop: Pitch a Story

* Lesson plans are created on an individualized basis. No two students' plans will be the same. All our 2,500 activities are personalized according to the testing done through Brainworks.

Amazing Results

Brainworks has high expectations for its clients.

We expect a minimum academic improvement of one semester in two weeks (40 hours) spent at the summer camp.
We expect one full year of academic improvement in three weeks (60 hours) at our summer camp. This may seem impossible, but throughout 24 years of summer camps, Brainworks has continued to get striking results for our students.
See the chart below for an example of the gains made by students at our recent summer camp. Notice student #10, a second grade female. In a two-week summer camp at Brainworks, this student increased her processing skills (SOI skills) by 170%, and she gained one semester's worth of reading skills!
Another clear example of success can be found at the bottom of the chart. Student #25, an eleventh grade female, who participated in 7 weeks of camp increased her processing skills by 200%, increased her reading skills by over 3 grade levels, and increased her math ability by 119%!
These amazing results are common expectations for Brainworks clients.

Student	Grade	Weeks at Camp	SOI Test (High Average or Higher)			Woodcock Reading Test			Key Math Test
Student	Grade	Weeks at Camp	% Before	% After	% of Increase	Grade Level Before	Grade Level After	% of Increase	% Before	% After	% of Increase
1. Male	8	2	15%	23%	53%	9.7	12.1	25%	30%	32%	7%
2. Male	4	2	88%	92%	5%	6.3	8.3	32%	82%	97%	18%
3. Female	8	2	27%	-	-	9.7	-	-	63%	70%	11%
4. Male	6	2	54%	77%	43%	10.8	-	-	90%	-	-
5. Male	3	2	*	19%	*	4.5	5.1	13%	39%	68%	74%
6. Male	10	2	88%	92%	5%	16.9	-	-	84%	-	-
7. Male	11	2	62%	85%	37%	8.3	11.5	39%	45%	-	-
8. Male	11	2	62%	77%	24%	16.4	-	-	73%	92%	26%
9. Female	4	2	81%	92%	14%	5.9	6.3	7%	98%	98%	0%
10. Female	2	2	27%	73%	170%	2.6	3	15%	95%	97%	2%
11. Female	7	2	100%	-	-	6.4	7.7	20%	87%	90%	3%
12. Female	2	3	18%	27%	50%	K.8	1	25%	4%	*	*
13. Male	4	3	77%	85%	10%	2.5	4.1	64%	87%	98%	13%
14. Male	9	3	50%	50%	0%	9.2	9.7	5%	58%	-	-
15. Male	5	3	50%	73%	46%	7.2	8.3	15%	85%	92%	8%
16. Male	10	3	35%	62%	77%	16.9	-	-	45%	-	-
17. Female	4	3	42%	50%	19%	4.3	5.2	21%	66%	75%	14%
18. Male	10	3	58%	77%	33%	16.4	16.4	0%	66%	81%	23%
19. Male	8	4	46%	69%	50%	9.7	-	-	47%	94%	100%
20. Male	6	4	62%	73%	18%	6.3	10.3	63%	27%	61%	126%
21. Male	8	5	23%	54%	135%	11.9	16.9	42%	50%	84%	68%
22. Female	12	6	69%	77%	12%	16.9	-	-	47%	61%	30%
23. Female	10	7	50%	73%	46%	7.2	10.3	43%	23%	50%	117%
24. Female	10	7	35%	65%	86%	6.3	8.3	32%	14%	30%	114%
25. Female	11	7	23%	69%	200%	8.3	11.5	39%	32%	70%	119%
26. Female	9	7	31%	54%	74%	9.4	15.9	69%	30%	45%	50%

- Did not work on this skill or did not have time to post-test
* Change in test form; cannot compare

As the summer days fly by, the students quickly become comfortable with being members of the "Brainworks family." Indeed, students who initially might be resistant to giving up their "free time" to attend these summer sessions invariably discover that active learning and achieving can be more fun than staring at daytime television or playing endless rounds of video games!

Call Brainworks at 972-416-9410 for further information or to schedule testing. The results will determine your child's curriculum during the camp. Please click here for the pretesting information forms. To register for our summer camp, please click here to complete the forms and submit your deposit by May 14, 2010 for Session I and May 28, 2010 for Session II and Session III.