The LearningRx Programs

LearningRx centers sell one-on-one brain training services. It is important to understand the programs to be able to discuss the company intelligently.

LearningRx Inc sells its franchisees books and materials to do brain training. The names of the books become names of programs

ThinkRx is always at least 12-weeks in duration. I saw this sold as a program in 24-week or even 36-week ThinkRx program chunks.

When a student does a ReadRx program, they are working in both the ThinkRx and ReadRx books and the program is at least 24-weeks long. ReadRx is focused on looking at written (nonsense) words and reading them. In itself it is not a reading comprehension program.

When a student does a MathRx program, they are working in both the ThinkRx and MathRx books and the program is at least 24-weeks long. MathRx is focused on elementary skills such as adding, subtracting, multiplying, fractions, and logic skills.

ReadRx and MathRx are never done as stand-alone programs, but always along with ThinkRx.

As you might guess, the company has a program that includes ThinkRx, ReadRx, and MathRx which it calls Einstein and the program is 36-weeks long.

In recent years, the company has added other programs. LiftOff is like ThinkRx, but directed at younger children. It is also at least a 12-week program.

ComprehendRx is a reading comprehension program that is included with other programs. If a student knows how to read words on the page, but doesn't comprehend what is being read, this is the focus of this program.

BrainSkills is called the "digital product" which you can think of as software games played on the Internet. It is in direct competition with http://lumosity.com, but costs ten or fifteen times as much.

By the by, when you hear about studies being done on LearningRx programs, BrainSkills is being used. One-on-one brain training is incredibly difficult and expensive to do research because it is "customized to each individual student" and is incredibly dependent on the "skills of the trainer." When you hear that LearningRx doesn't have research backing it up, the only exception might be BrainSkills.

Even as I write this and previous posts, various customer, employee, and franchisee complaints come to my mind. Not all complaints are true and not all complaintns are equally true. Please be patient and I'll deal with the complaints in depth once I think we can do it with you having a deeper understanding of the company.

How LearningRx Turns Your Inquiry into an Assessment

This post will provide an example exchange between a concerned parent and the DFI at a LearningRx center. When you call, your goal is to obtain answers to your questions. I'll focus on the question that will be avoided the most: How much does the program cost?

The DFI has been trained to kindly (without you noticing) take control of the conversation by answering your question about cost with a question about your child. Notice this in the following conversation.

You: Hi, I got your flier in the mail for $50 off an assessment. I wonder how much your program costs.

DFI: That’s a good question, but it varies a lot for each individual student.  What’s your child’s name?

You: Her name is Anne and she is 12 years old.

DFI: What are you seeing with Anne?

You: She really struggles to pay attention and her reading is below grade level.

DFI: The first step in finding the answers to your questions is to schedule an assessment. The assessment takes about an hour. Are you available on Monday at 10 AM or Wednesday at 9 AM?

You: Before we do that, I'd like to know how much the program costs.

DFI: That's a really good question. It varies from situation to situation because our program is customized to particular students. The director will help you discover that in the consultation, but the first step is the assessment. With your coupon the assessment will be only $199. Are you available on Monday at 10 AM or Wednesday at 9 AM?

You: Can you give me a range of how much the program costs?

DFI: The program is customized for each student, but the program
starts at $1700.

You finally got an answer, but it is not a 'true' answer. We'll fully discuss program costs in the next post.