When I was given the opportunity to review the book “A Life In Balance”, which is available from the Learning Breakthrough Program. I was primarily interested in it because I have four special needs boys.
“A Life In Balance” is an EXCELLENT read, centering upon the memoirs of Frank Belgau, the man who actually developed the LearninBreakthrough Programg .
This is an “as told to” book. Eric Begau, Frank’s son, wrote the book based on all of the things his father told him. It is currently available for $16.94.
I was pretty much hooked right toward the beginning, when Frank described being bullied because of his differences, and treated differently in school. For example, each year, the students had to take an IO test, and then they were assigned their seating in the classroom accordingly. The highest scoring children in the front row, with the lower scoring kids behind them, and the lowest in the back row. That’s where Frank was, along with the only boy with a lower score than he. That boy bullied him unmercifully. Frank wasn’t all that coordinated, so the boy would chase him until he tripped over his own fee and then beat him up badly. I think that was the beginning of Frank’s journey of problem solving, because he came up with an idea which in short order made the bullying from thaqt boy stop. But I’m not going to give you any spoilers, lol!
Through Frank’s time in the military, he further honed his ability to solve problems, because as someone who worked on airplanes, he learned from a mentor there that the most important thing was not what the “bean counters” thought, it was to make sure those planes were safe, because our guys were fighting combat missions. I think he learned to see “the puzzle” when looking at a problem and how to solve it, rather than looking at only what others thought was best.
As an educator, his methods were certainly unorthodox, to say the least! He took on a special needs class (they were then called “educable mentally retarded students) for an hour each day to help their regular teacher get a break. The principal basically said the best thing to do was have them put their heads on the desk and cover them with newspaper! Frank did not. Instead, he gave them projects, expecting them to do it. Well, he did well, and so did the project of one of the kids!
Eventually, Frank developed the Learning Breakthrough Program, designed to help children with learning disabilities learn to read. It has now been discovered that anyone can benefit from the “brain training” in the program Frank designed.
It is certainly not necessary to purchase the Learning Breakthrough Program to benefit from this book. I know from my own experience with my eldest child, adopted at age two and not expected to be able to even learn to read, let alone anything else, has certainly benefited from a lot of what Frank gives us in this book, and that was way before the book was even written! At the back of the book, Frank details exercises that help the child (or anyone who wants improved brain function!)
I found Frank Belgau’s memoir to be a fascinating read, but don’t just take my word for it.
79 other Homeschool Review Crew members also reviewed “A Life In The Balance”, and it sure would be great if you were to also take a look to see what they thought of it, too. Just click on the banner below and it will take you to all of the crew reviews for this product!
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