How Our Service Works

About Us

Gemm has learning centers (in Westchester, NY and Greenwich, CT) and it is a virtual center -- in fact, most Gemm students work at home.  The use pre-installed software that synchs up with our servers after each session.  We keep in touch by phone, email and in person and report weekly to parents on progress. 

We are a brain training service.  We provide NY and CT dyslexia and learning help by changing the way a child learns.  It is oftentimes profound change that requires consistent effort from our children and their families. 

Quick Facts

Program Length:  Most children are with us for 2-6 months, depending on their academic starting point and their goals.  Some stay longer, very few stay less.  

Protocol Times:  Depending on the program, 30 or 50 minutes a day, 4-5 days a week.  We do also offer a 90 minute a day, three times a week protocol.

Student Ages:  Five years and older.

Most common reasons for coming to Gemm:  About 75% of our students have reading problems or dyslexia.  The balance have poor study skills and/or are struggling at school for a variety of reasons. 

The All Important Details

Getting Started.  After a screening and parent interview in the center or by phone, we plan an individualized protocol of your child.   If you have concerns about your child's willingness to do this program, you could choose to at least start at a center or have a Gemm coach come to your house. 

The First Session.  If you are at home we provide headphones, pre-installed software on a memory stick and binder full of support materials and point sheets.  We put a lot of effort into your child having a great experience those first few days and will be in constant contact.  We will even come to your house if need be!

Motivating Your Child.  We have invested heavily in motivating your child.  Points binder, tokens, "banked" at the Token Store at Gemm City (our online social network where Gemm students build their own pages and compare their scores to their peers) where there are over 200 prizes to choose from and completion certificates are just some of our tools.

Day to day.  We track progress daily using uploads via the Internet.  We change the protocol and provide tips and support as needed.  Our primary goals are to keep your child motivated and challenged and have him or her associate Gemm with fun and success.  

Parents receive weekly updates, other online resources.  Every weekend you will receive our e-mail summarizing your child's progress that week, along with an explanation of the learning skills being exercised.  You will join our Parent Support e-mail list which will keep you in touch with your child's progress and the science at work here. Parents are encouraged to meet with Gemm staff monthly.  We also have a password protected MyGemm.com website with other helpful information.

Progress through our program. Total program time is 2-6 months for most students.  Younger ones take 2-3 months to complete the  cognitive skills part of the program, older children typically take less time.  At this point your child can either finish, take a break, or if the child requires NY or CT reading help, he or she can move right into our Reading Series which uses these improved processing skills to develop reading fundamentals -- comprehension, reading accuracy, vocabulary development, syntax and spelling -- and then advanced, higher level skills such as drawing inferences, critical thinking and abstract reasoning.

Graduation and Follow up.  The good news on follow up is that for your child there is none!  Once your child is functioning at natural language speed and is decoding naturally, these skills are used every day and so they endure.

Our Programs:  We provide New Work and Connecticut reading help for children at all academic levels.  We also provide Connecticut and New York dyslexia help and Asperger's help.  While IQ does not change, most graduates of our New York or Connecticut learning center will score higher on IQ tests due to their improved processing and test taking skills. Trial results confirm this NY and CT reading help is not a one-time boost, but rather a new trend that will endure. 

For the child who is struggling to build math fact fluency, we have a FASTT Math program that combines the learning-skill power of Fast ForWord (develops critical sequencing, working memory and attention skills) with the adaptive power of the math fact program, FASTT Math.