NeuroNet Online

NeuroNet Integrated Rhythms Workshop

The IR workshop is for allied health professionals and teachers who want an additional tool to help children become independent learners. Participants learn to do and teach the Integrated Rhythms Program - a series of fun and challenging exercises that get kids up and moving, and help them develop "on time" language and math skills to a beat.

Who should attend?

The IR workshop is for audiologists, occupational and physical therapists, speech pathologists, optometrists, psychologists, and teachers.

The IR workshop covers

• Neuroscience of NeuroNet
• Vestibular System
• Auditory System from the Ear to the Brain
• Behavioral Management: Behavioral Learning Readiness
• Video or In-person Demonstrations
• NeuroNet CD 1 Pre-test
• One-Minute Timer Program
• Guide to Integrated Rhythms Exercises
• Guide to Listen, Talk and Write Exercises

After this workshop you will be able to

• implement the IR Program to improve "on time" listening and talking, "on time" movement, and "on time" handwriting
• adapt IR exercises to meet children's individual needs
• explain how the neuroscience research can help us understand and improve attention, memory, and learning

About NeuroNet

The NeuroNet Program is founded on recent advances in neuroscience research. According to Nancy Rowe, founder of NeuroNet, there are three major principles of neuroscience that make the NeuroNet program work: neural synchrony, synaptic strengthening, and temporal binding. Neural synchrony is the basis of attention, and through exercises which coordinate information among different brain centers at the same moment in time, we can improve neural synchrony in the brain. From a behavioral standpoint, the improvement in neural synchrony leads to an improvement in attention. Synaptic strengthening is the neural basis of memory. Repetition of exercises to a beat (rhythmic integration) allows students to "anticipate" listening, speaking and writing tasks. This anticipation leads to synaptic strengthening and improves memory. "Anything you can anticipate, you can remember," says Rowe. Finally, the convergence of improved neural synchrony (attention) and synaptic strengthening (memory) leads to an improvement in temporal binding. Temporal binding describes the strength of the neural networks we use for decision making in life. According to Rowe, "The way we improve how we learn is to speed up how fast we can access what we already know." Today, NeuroNet is helping educators and allied health professionals make learning easier for their students in many parts of the world.

What do NeuroNet exercises look like?

Click here to see a demo of total body and listen, talk and write exercises. NeuroNet exercises integrate movement, listening, and talking along with a rhythmic beat. The NeuroNet program is a fun and challenging program that gets kids up and moving and helps them develop "on time" language and math skills. It includes two types of exercises -- 39 total body exercises and 32 listen, talk and write exercises. NeuroNet total body exercises are designed to improve children's motor skills, balance, and perception of body center. During these exercises, children integrate speech patterns with their movements. Listen, talk and write exercises focus on developing "on time" handwriting while listening and talking, and are also done to a beat.

How does NeuroNet relate to performance in school and in life skills?

The reason we do NeuroNet is not to improve in the NeuroNet exercises, but to improve our ability to learn and perform in life. NeuroNet improves the integration of auditory, visual and motor skills that are the neurological foundation for the academic skills that we use everyday of our lives. Reading requires that we decode visual letters into sounds. Taking notes in class requires that we manage auditory processing (listening and remembering the important words the teacher says) and motor skills (jotting down those notes) fast enough so we don't lose track of the overall message the teacher is presenting. Basic reading, writing, and counting skills can affect children's ability to learn harder skills - for better or worse - as they climb the academic ladder. A child who automates handwriting will be able to focus on listening and comprehending; conversely, a child who struggles to form written letters will forget how to spell words and will lose track of what the teacher is saying. For children who do NeuroNet, we expect to see an improvement in their ability to learn new skills (such as taking effective notes in class) that are not directly addressed by the NeuroNet exercises themselves.

The predominant goals of NeuroNet are to:

• apply the advances in neuroscience research to help children improve in attention, memory, and learning
• help children automate low-level perceptual motor skills so they can focus on higher-level language comprehension and problem solving
• improve children's quality of life as a result of making learning easier

Who can benefit from NeuroNet?

Professionals from different backgrounds often come to NeuroNet from different perspectives and with different needs for helping children learn. Teachers will typically be using NeuroNet in their classrooms with younger children who are learning to read, write, and do math. We expect that teachers who are integrating NeuroNet into their curricula will begin the Integrated Rhythms and Tools for Learning Programs in kindergarten and will finish by the end of 3rd grade. Allied health professionals will typically be using NeuroNet with children with a wider range of ages who have demonstrated weaknesses in attention, reading, motor skills, or speech and language skills.

Workshop Schedule

NeuroNet workshops are scheduled as demand dictates. Most workshops last for 2 and 1/2 days, beginning Thursday morning and ending Saturday at noon. A typical day begins with coffee and fruit at 8:30AM, workshop sessions begin at 9:00AM and end around 4:30PM. If you are interested in being notified about future workshops please click here and let us know. Additionally, if you are interested in becoming a workshop sponsor, please click here and let us know.

Workshop Fees

The cost of attending a NeuroNet workshop varies by location, however, it is usually around $500.

NeuroNet Certification & CEUs

Attending the IR workshop grants you an individual license to use the program in your school or private practice. NeuroNet Certification will be awarded to participants who complete 2 essays, one on the NeuroNet Program and the other on the Neuroscience of NeuroNet, and who complete a video demonstrating mastery of the exercises taught in the workshop. Certified NeuroNet providers will be listed in our directory and will be able to purchase NN materials at a discount. Participants will receive 1.6 CEUs for completing the workshop.