Tanya worked with me for two weeks, sitting at the same table, facing the same window. Curtains outlined the window, and these curtains had a pattern of geometric shapes and birds. Then, one day, in the middle of the session, Tanya looked at me and said, “Birds, I see birds on those curtains.” It took me a minute to understand what she was talking about, and just to make sure I understood what was happening, I clarified, “You see the birds that are on the curtains?” “Yes, she said, I have never noticed those before now.” 

The Importance of Metacognitive Skills

Tanya’s story is an excellent example of the importance of metacognitive skills and how kids miss the details when these skills are weak. Six weeks earlier, Tanya was on the verge of a panic attack in my office. 

The Impacts of Metacognition

She was two months into her sixth-grade year and was failing. Tanya had had an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) since second grade when they diagnosed her with a learning disability in reading. She received Response to Intervention (RTI); Each year, Tanya’s parents would hear that their daughter was making progress (average 1-2% gain, according to her records) and passed each grade, never mastering reading at grade level. 

Tanya explained to me during the testing that she had given up hope that anyone could help her. She no longer was motivated to go to school because she couldn’t read the instructions or understand the work. She was crying so hard that I could barely even hear what she was telling me. However, I understood loud and clear because her story was similar to the stories of the other kids who had sat in the very same chair she was in today. 

Working Memory and Executive Function

When I evaluated Tanya, I learned she had a deficit in working memory. Working memory is one of the brain’s executive functions. I described how executive function and metacognitive skills work in tandem in my previous post. Metacognition, on its most basic level, is thinking about thinking.

THE AWAKENING

In my office, we talk about the awakening. It’s the time during intervention when we see the light bulb turn on, the veil removed, and the student change. Aha moments when details are noticed, the brain fog clears, and the mental gears start moving faster. When we know the metacognitive skills are ready for action. 

Waking Up & Seeing More

Tanya woke up the day she recognized the pattern in the curtains and saw birds. She said she looked at the curtains every day, but she did not see them. She could not make out what they were supposed to be. 

Better Metacognition and Advanced Learning Skills

How many kids are sitting in a classroom looking at the math problem, knowing the steps they need to take but can’t see the solution? How many kids learn how to read words but can’t comprehend what they are reading. How many parents have paid for tutoring for years and have decided that their kids are “just not that smart? “ Before you give up on the kid, I encourage you to explore the core learning skills. These skills are known as cognitive skills, and they determine how fast and efficient a smark kid learns. Specific cognitive intervention can strengthen whatever weakness is blocking optimal learning and awaken the potential within. 

Hope for the Future

Tanya is a senior in high school and has been accepted to her college of choice in the fall of 2022.

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