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With all the changes in our lives due to the pandemic, education is a biggie. It hits us personally in one way or another. Some of us are in school learning another trade, gaining a degree and improving ourselves in some way. The majority of us have kids in school. We had the experience of a shortened and chaotic spring session after spring break working online with our kids. Some kids adjusted ok while others struggled. One thing for sure is that we were all excited to get the kids back to education in some "normal" way.
That's not in the cards this fall unfortunately.
I know many mom's are seriously worried about how their kids are going to get through this year and be successful because of the pandemic guidelines.
Well, I know a great group that can help keep your kids not only on track but get them to soar.
Meet Mike Winchell Owner of LearningRx Fort Collins. Mike has been helping people of every walk of life, every age and every ability to raise their IQ, Regain and maintain memory, and most importantly gain incredible growth in their cognitive abilities!
I had the privilege of getting to speak with Mike and find out about his journey to LearningRx for his family, his decision to create a franchise, and his passion for helping families achieve their dreams.
MK: Hello Mike. Thank you for taking the time to speak with us today.
MW: Thank you for asking me to chat. I am glad to be here
MK: Mike, tell us a bit about you, your background, your family, what you do on your days off for fun.
MW: Well, my family and i have been in the Fort Collins area for over 30 years and proud to be here. I am an engineer by trade and spent many years in that career. My wife works in the schools and helps students who need extra support. I play in a very fun band called KD and the Painkillers and I still play competitive soccer.
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MK: Tell us what made you seek out LearningRx and how it changed your life?
MW: Actually, I wanted to start a company that helped people and when I found LearningRx I knew I had found something even better than I had been looking for. I also knew that my own kids would have a better life if they trained at LearningRx so they magnified the inspiration to open a company.
I had actually given up hope of being able to help my own kids. In engineering I could solve all sorts of unsolvable problems and yet I could not figure out how to give my own kids the foundation for success they so desperately needed. So LearningRx became this convergence of my career path and my parenting path. LearningRx was a true blessing in both regards.
In particular, my daughter would work and work until all hours of the night to get assignments finished and cry over her math homework almost every night. She was miserable. My son didn’t turn in assignments even if he did them. He never seemed to study. So he needed some help a parent just can’t give. No amount of coaxing, encouragement, penalty or punishment could change what turned out to be a “simple” cognitive skill issue. I say simple, because of what I know now. But then it seemed anything but simple.
So it turned out that slow processing speed was the cause of both of their struggles. Without LearningRx I never would have known that. And without LearningRx, I never would have been able to solve that problem.
Training at LearningRx opened the door to the future that both of my kids deserved and were meant to pursue. I had given up those dreams, but thanks to LearningRx they were alive again.
Now, they are both super successful, college graduates, and saw huge improvements in their lives! We cut over 3 hours out of my daughter’s homework time every night and over 16 hours out of her weekend work. She went on to get two Bachelors degrees in Neuroscience and Speech Language and Hearing and a Masters in Environmental Science. And she found her path in life.
My son graduated from CSU and was hired on to a full time position in the financial aid department, where he worked as a student. In just a short time he has earned two promotions and found out he was more than twice as productive as others who had the same job he had. He was always a good kid, but now he had the processing speed to achieve his potential.
MK: What made you decide to begin a business here in Fort Collins?
MW: Fort Collins is a great community. It is a special place. I am committed to support people here in my home town. I love being able to help both children and adults in the community.
MK: What makes LearningRx different from tutoring?
MW: Well, they are both very important and they are great teammates. Tutoring does not do what training does and cognitive skill training does not do what tutoring or teaching does. But together they are a great team. LearningRx becomes the teachers’ and tutor’s best friend because LearningRx training provides the ability that every teacher wants every kid to have.
Tutoring helps to fill the gaps in instruction for children who need to catch up. Brain training helps to improve cognitive skills, the foundation of the ability to learn. LearningRx finds and pinpoints where the skill gaps are and the training works on specific exercises that target these skills to improve. Once these skills are improved, students can better learn and access the information from either tutoring or instruction in school and learn much faster and easier.
For example, attention is the number one issue that is brought to us. It is most often characterized by low processing speed and/or low memory skills. Either someone can’t keep up or they can’t remember what was jus said. Give them the ability to think faster and they can keep up. Give them better memory and they can remember what was just said. So after cognitive skill training, it is rare to still have attention issues other than habits and choices, both of which can be changed more easily once the root cause of attention problems is removed.
MK: Tell us about one of the success stories that warms your heart.
MW: We have hundreds o choose from! Hearing a fifth grade kid who was diagnosed dyslexic and who was not being successful in learning to read exclaim “Hey! I’m reading! I’m really reading!” was a standout moment. He was probably going to end up like another favorite story, an adult dyslexic who still could not read. When we got the adult reading for the first time, that was another standout moment. His new ability to read opened up a door that was never going to open if not for LearningRx.
My favorites have to include all the college kids we have saved from dropping out in just one semester. We save a freshman who could not learn because of a memory problem from dropping out 6 weeks into her CSU career. She went on to graduate 4 years later. We saved a junior who was sinking fast and whose parents said – see we told you that you weren’t smart enough to go to college. That broke my heart. But in one semester she went from a 2.4 and falling GPA to a 3.4 while taking Organic Chemistry and other classes that were more difficult than anything she had ever taken. For the first time, with more processing speed and better memory, she could be in the moment in the classroom and actually participate in the discussion. To see her graduate was a very fulfilling moment.
I also have to include Mary, one of our 70+ adults. She owns her own business and through her training at LearningRx she gained over 10x her money back in just one year and continued to earn that year after year. The training rejuvenated her business and in many ways saved her life. She is now well over 10 times return on her investment at LearningRx, perhaps nearing 30 or 40 times. And that is not unusual for people with their own business.
There are a hundred more. I could go on all day!
MK: How important is it to families now with the pandemic to make sure kids get that extra help?
MW: Times are so tough right now for families; uncertainty about schooling (and life) is so scary right now. Parents want their children to succeed and enjoy school so we are here to help. Some studies are saying the summer slide will be more pronounced because of what happened in the spring. We can come along side the parents to help give their students an upper hand. Many kids who train with LearningRx gain a great joy of learning and enjoy school a lot more. Some even find the online schooling fun. That happens when their brain starts working better – higher processing speed and they can keep up and even get ahead. Beer memory and they remember more of what they learn and put both of those together and they understand their class work so much better. How can you like school if you can’t keep up or remember what you saw or heard? But when you can keep up and remember what you learn, it becomes exciting.
MK: How does your program work?
MW: Everyone starts off with a cognitive skills assessment. This allows us to find those gaps in skills to create a program tailored to those needs. Each program is delivered one on one and right now we are doing both virtual and in person training. The great part about the virtual training is that parents can continue what they are doing at home, don't have to drive, and can hear all the great exercises their students are doing right there at home. In fact, everyone is thrilled with the new brain power, but the biggest complaint was about all he driving. So now that is problem solved with virtual training. It is still fun and effective, but without the driving.
MK: How can parents get in touch with you to learn more?
MW: They can give us a call at 970-672-2020 to chat about ways to help their child catch up or even get ahead in school and life.
MK: What's the one thing you want parents to know about this year and what they can do to help their kids?
MW: Even if they don’t think they want to invest in gaining more brain power, I would urge parents to still go through the assessment and the informative meetings just to learn about their kids’ cognitive skills. Things can otherwise be very confusing. I know I was confused about my own kids. Why was my daughter not paying attention? Well, I found out the reason and in her case chose to solve the problem. But before that, I thought it was something a parent should be doing or a willful problem. Same with my son not handing in his homework. I thought it was willful. Once I found out otherwise, I could become a better parent. Not that I was bad before, but I just didn’t know what to do as a parent before. Like many parents I see, I was lost. So the knowledge of the actual skill levels is priceless. Knowledge points the way and we are glad to help with that knowledge whether or not a family decides to do more. I opened LearningRx in Fort Collins out of a desire to help people. Nothing makes me happier.
MK: Is there anything you would like to add to help struggling families keep hope alive?
MW: Hope is important. Often times, people lose hope when they don't see a solution or a way out. We help people find this hope again and actually fulfill the hopes and dreams through brain training. Don’t ever give up hope. There is always a way forward. I would be honored to be able to help families find the way forward. I hope LearningRx can be seen as a beacon of hope, that a better future is always possible and that a dream worth having is a dream that can be fulfilled.
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