Local Program FAQ
Frequently asked questions about the San Diego and Denver programs:
1. Do kids sign up for the pons and midbrain classes at the same time?
No, families only sign up for the pons class when they initially enroll. Enrollment for the next midbrain class opens during the sixth week of the current pons class session.
2. How many times a week do participants come to the Brain Highways Center?
During each 8-week session, participants attend classes once or twice a week (depending on the class they choose). They may also come to as many optional Participant Drop-in Sessions as desired.
3. What are Participant Drop-in Sessions?
Participant Drop-in sessions are facilitated by Brain Highways staff; however, they are more informal than the weekly classes and include kids of all ages. Participant Drop-in sessions provide additional opportunities to:
- use Brain Highways apparatus and brain toys
- engage in group games and activities while developing the pons and midbrain
- clock time for the at-home brain organization component
- receive support from Brain Highways staff
4. When are the Participant Drop-in Sessions?
Participant Drop-in sessions are offered on Sunday mornings, and Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday evenings. For specific times, click on the San Diego and Denver local link that appears in the left margin in Program Section.
5. How are the classes grouped?
Classes are grouped by age so that participants’ classmates are their peers. Such grouping also allows us to tailor class games and activities to be age-appropriate.
6. How do preschool classes differ from the other core program classes?
The preschool class has a higher ratio of staff to kids. It also has fewer kids per class and meets just once a week. Each class is one hour long.
Everything else about the preschool class is the same as our other classes (e.g. parents receive the same multimedia materials, families can attend any of the optional Drop-ins, etc.).
7. Who comes to the classes?
Parents come to the classes with the child that is enrolled. While the class fee covers both parents, only one parent needs to attend.
Note that parents need to make childcare arrangements for siblings who are not enrolled in the class. Since we are already trying to minimize the number of people at the Center at any given time, we do not allow other kids to sit and watch a class.
8. What if siblings are enrolled in the same class?
Since the curriculum is based on a 1:1 ratio of adult to child, one parent cannot bring both kids to class. However, the second adult does not have to be the actual parent or even old enough to be a parent. Previous participants have utilized teens to be that second “parent.” In such cases, parents paid these teens for their time or found those who needed volunteer hours. (Note: One parent can bring both enrolled kids to the Participant Drop-in sessions.)
9. How many kids are in a class? What is the ratio of staff to kids?
We like to limit our classes to nine kids per class; however, we often go to an absolute maximum of 12 so that families do not have to wait three months or longer to get started. Our ratio of staff to kids is either 1:2 or 1:3.
10. What is the format of a class?
Parents and their kids engage in fun, sensory activities at stations led by Brain Highways staff. The participating kids also do specific movements that inhibit retained primitive reflexes and develop the lower centers of the brain.
11. What is the difference between the first and second class of each week?
The first class of the week is 45 minutes long; the second class is 30 minutes long. New activities are always introduced during the first class of each week.
During the second class of the week, we often integrate Brain Highways activities with age-appropriate curriculum challenges. By doing so, we model how it’s possible and easy to integrate the “brain work” while learning.
12. What kind of support materials do participants receive?
Each week, we send families a multimedia link. This includes informative audio clips that highlight lively stories and examples related to a topic, entertaining videos that either explain a concept associated with brain organization or show other kids doing activities that stimulate the brain, and a wealth of handouts that recap the main points of the audio clips and videos, along with other relevant information. Collectively, the materials focus on teaching both the child and the parent the "why" behind many behaviors and how the brain can actually reorganize itself. In all cases, the information is presented in a way that is both fun and easy to acquire.
We also provide a separate comprehensive parent supplement. These materials teach parents how to re-wire their own brain to ensure the most positive interactions with their kids.
13. How quickly would we expect to see results?
While the average child needs about 150-300 hours of brain work to complete the organization, it is common to see some change even after just 10-12 hours.
Changes continue as more highways are connected. In other words, we do not have to wait until the development is actually complete before we observe changes. To learn more about the kind of progress our program participants experience, check out our Brain Highways facebook page.
14. What is the parent's role in the program?
Our curriculum teaches the parents how to become an independent facilitator of their child’s brain organization. We also teach parents new ways to interact with their child. As part of this process, parents discover how their own subconscious thoughts and actions may be directly linked to their child’s negative behavior and how to change that (so as to only prompt positive behavior).
Our course also helps parents identify which of their children’s behaviors should be left alone (for now) since those are directly related to the underdevelopment and are not hurting anyone. We also teach the parents to identify and how to extinguish which behaviors need to be gone right now, regardless of the development since they're what we call "never-evers.”
But most importantly, we teach parents how to "build into the structure" by anticipating what the child may do (that is not desired) and preempting that with a way that then helps the child’s brain compensate in a more positive way. That's our “anticipate, preempt, and enjoy” component of the program. Implementing all of the above produces immediate positive changes, long before the highways are in place.
15. How are absences viewed?
Since classes present activities and information that are not included in the weekly multimedia materials, attendance is encouraged. However, since the families receive the core materials via their multimedia link, a child does not fall way behind if they are absent.
16. Who attends the pre-class mandatory parent night?
We really encourage both parents to come to this meeting, even if one is not planning on attending classes. In all cases, at least one parent must attend. Please note that failure to attend may jeopardize the child’s actual enrollment in the class. The meeting’s information is very specific as to how to ensure that kids are successful on their first day of class. Therefore, if parents do not attend, their children are immediately put at an unfair disadvantage when starting the program.
17. What is covered at the mandatory parent night?
The meeting mostly focuses on teaching parents how to facilitate the primitive reflex patterning movements, what to expect during the weekly classes, and ways to help kids have a successful first class.
18. What is the class fee?
The class fee is $675 for the 8-week pons course and $650 for the 8-week midbrain course.
19. When is the class fee paid?
The class fee is paid in two parts—one-half at the time of enrollment and the other half at the first class of the fourth week of the session. Note that the second payment is due regardless of whether participants are still attending the class. For example, if parents win a free trip to Tahiti during the third week of classes . . . they can (of course) go, have a great time—but they still owe the balance of their class.
20. What does the class fee cover?
It covers 16 classes (or 8 classes for preschoolers), 31 optional Drop-in sessions, weekly multimedia support pages (that include a total of 42 audio clips, 28 videos, and 65 handouts), and individualized support, as needed.
The pons course fee also includes a separate, comprehensive parent supplement. This component has a handbook that teaches parents how to rewire their own brain (to ensure the most positive interactions), audio clips of lively stories and examples that underscore that process, entertaining videos that show how a brain responds to negativity, and a detailed guide that zeroes in on many details that then help expedite a child’s brain organization.
Last, the fee also covers the mandatory parent-only evening class that meets right before the session begins.
21. What is needed to view the multimedia materials?
Participants need Adobe Flashplayer (to hear the audio clips and view the videos) and Adobe Reader to view and print the pdf handouts. People with recent versions of Mac computers with Safari 5.1 will have problems reading the handouts in their browser. This is an APPLE problem (they’re selling non-industry standard products). Such participants will have to find a different way to access these materials.
22. What kind of technical support does Brain Highways provide?
We can't solve a technical problem if it's not one we created (e.g. it's a compatibility problem unique to a version of a particular brand of computers). So, our tech support is limited to helping people set up accounts, process online payments, and suggest links to Adobe Flashplayer and Adobe Reader (or to possible alternate browsers) if such programs are not already on the computer.
