Comments from past students...

Comments from parents or students who have completed the educational program Focus for Success. The comments are real but the photographs are not the actual people -- but models used to represent them.

Nik's Success

Our son, Nik (the photo is a model), had been on several meds over the last 2 years for ADHD. As soon as he started 5th grade the school system had asked us to please get him started on something. We didn't like doing it but we thought it was the right thing to do for him.

Model of Nik

My husband, John, read the article in Health Watch. He talked with the parents of the young boy in the article. He was encouraged by the conversation. “If it was a physical health problem you won't even think twice about the cost.” Watching our son come off the medications every day with the nervousness, anxiety, lack of appetite and crying easily, this became an easy decision.

Nik started the program at the end of April this year and we gave him the choice to take the meds at first. He finished the last 5-6 weeks of school without any meds. We never heard anything from the teachers about putting him back on his meds.

The band teacher saw an improvement. The young lady who watches our children has noticed Nik stays more focused when she is talking with him.

The program seemed to be expensive when we were first thinking about it but with the changes in healthcare we would have spent more in medications with less results and side effects. This program offers our son better concentration and a happier young man. Thank you for your caring.

~ Deb

mother of 7th grader

To Medicate or Not to Medicate

The beauty of this program is that he is still my creative and talkative son, but he knows the meaning of the word focus.

To medicate or not to medicate? If I start medication when do I stop it, at the end of high school, college after I start my career? Will there be side effects? These are all of the questions we struggled with when deciding what path to take with our son. We tried meds for a very short time, but they didn’t agree with him, he couldn’t eat, would cry very easily and he couldn’t fall asleep. We could have tried harder to find a medication that worked for our son, but then I ran into Sandy Larson and she told me that there is another answer.

 

Why did we choose Focus for Success? We did not want to change our son’s personality. His talkativeness, and daydreaming were difficult to deal with in school, but it was what made him, him. When I talked to Jerry the first time I felt so positive about my child. He said that he is most likely a very creative and talented child. The doctor’s appointments and questioners made me feel like my son had a deficit, not a gift. The beauty of this program is that he is still my creative and talkative son, but he knows the meaning of the word focus. He knows when and how to do it. He knows how to take control of his mind and make it do what he needs it to do so he has some time left over to do some daydreaming. He still needs some reminders, but he does have the skill.

 

Can I afford this? Learning to focus is not a “quick fix” and milestones are gradual and sometimes easy to miss. I had to look at is as a diet. There is a pill that will make you look great with no change in lifestyle and no harmful side effects, yeah right. Focus for Success is a time and financial commitment. We figured that if a dentist told us our son needed braces we would find a way to make that work and get him to his appointments. We feel very proud of the sacrifice that we made.

...and they will remind you that your kid is great!

Does it work long term? I was wondering that same thing and I can’t really tell you beyond what the research does. Ryan was in the program from September 2008- July 2009 and after taking half of July and all of August off we went back in September just for a little refresher to get ready for school and because he missed Mrs. Larson. I thought after the summer he would not so well. Ryan got the highest scores ever on all of the categories. He got a 96% on Academic Bridge which is when they read or do homework. My son was concentrating 96% of the time! Yeah! We have not regretted the decision we made for a minute. We are so glad to have Sandy and Jerry helping us through the journey of raising a great kid, and they will remind you that your kid is great!

Susan - Mother of Ryan (7)

Baxter, MN

Better in School & Extra-curriculars

My husband and I came across the Focus for Success website while searching for a way to help improve our then 9-year-old daughter's attitude toward school work. Since her earliest years of school, she seemed to struggle to pay attention and stay "engaged" in her reading and homework. Her teachers had always indicated that she was "doing just fine" but as parents we felt that while she always worked hard, she wasn't getting the most out of her efforts.

She seems to have a new sense of confidence in her academic abilities that we just hadn't observed prior to Focus for Success.

We met with Jerry and Sandy to learn more about the program and felt its benefits seemed a natural fit for our daughter. Just a few weeks into the program, her father and I agreed that we could see improvement in her ability to stay on task when completing her homework assignments. Even in her extracurricular activities, we felt that she exhibited an expanded capacity for focus and concentration.

This fall, our daughter transitioned to middle school having completed the Focus for Success program in spring. I am proud to say that she is excelling academically and socially.  She seems to have a new sense of confidence in her academic abilities that we just hadn't observed prior to Focus for Success.  She recently came home from school excited to announce that she was carrying the highest percentage math grade in her class. She has A's in all of classes, but even more importantly, she really cares about her performance and strives to master the material.

I must include in my endorsement of the Focus for Success program a brief note on Jerry and Sandy personally. Throughout our engagement with them, they continually exhibited a level of concern for our daughter's well-being and progress that seemed to match our own. I would highly recommend the program for any parent feeling that their child could use a little boost in their academic performance and in their attitude toward learning!

 

~ Jennifer

mother of 5th grader

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