We equip educators, parents, and professionals to increase anyone’s ability to process, remember, comprehend, and think. Carol and her team conduct PD Workshops for school districts, individual K-12 schools, businesses, churches, universities, professional organizations, and government agencies. We have presented our workshop to numerous public, private, and homeschool teachers, therapists, school administrators, Toyota, University of Kentucky College of Medicine, KY Department of Vocational Rehabilitation Conference, KASC Conference, SPCE Conference, and others. We are available for 1-2 hour workshops, 3-6 hour or multiple-day workshops. Examples of our workshops are listed below and can be customized to meet the needs of your group. You can also attend the annual Equipping Minds Conference or purchase the online course and professional development workshop.
Watch this 1 hour Webinar: “Schools Using Equipping Minds” 
Watch this 1-hour video: “Equipping Minds in the Classroom” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3SUvPkp5SM&t=653s
2023 Cognitive Abilities Chart and Equipping Minds Cognitive Training Intervention
2023 Cognitive functions and mediator questions
Naturalistic or biblical view of human development
2024 35 sessions Equipping Minds Template – Individual Pages
Power Point-Naturalistic-or-Biblical-Worldview-of-Human-Development- Homeschooling Special Needs EXPO
Special Education Director’s Testimony 2023
Developing the Cognitive Tools for Learning 2024
Contact Dr. Brown for special pricing for large groups and orders. Watch this video of a school that has been implementing Equipping Minds. https://vimeo.com/277110378
https://equippingminds.com/shop/ UPCOMING WORKSHOPS CAN BE FOUND UNDER THE SHOP.
You will learn a holistic approach to increasing cognitive skills for learners of all ages and abilities. These exercises will increase visual, auditory, and language processing, working and long-term memory, executive functioning, comprehension, and social and reasoning skills.
Instructional Methods and Materials: Lecture, Audience participation, Handouts, Case Studies, and Demonstrations. All participants will receive the Equipping Minds Cognitive Development Curriculum teacher workbook and student workbook. We will use games and manipulative during the 2-day conference.
Workshop Description: Equipping Minds Cognitive Development Curriculum equips educators, therapists, parents, and other specialists in our multi-disciplinary approach, which increases anyone’s capacity to learn. You will be introduced to the theories of Structural Cognitive Modifiability and Mediated Learning, the role of primitive reflex & neuro-developmental therapy, nutritional therapy, sound therapy, vestibular therapy, vision therapy, and cognitive developmental therapy. You will be provided with a proven set of exercises in these areas through a hands-on approach. You will learn a holistic approach to increase cognitive skills for learners of all ages and abilities.
Course Objectives and Learning Outcomes
- Participants will learn the research behind Equipping Minds Cognitive Development Curriculum and neuroplasticity.
- Participants will learn the theories of Structural Cognitive Modifiability and Mediated Learning Experience of Dr. Reuven Feuerstein and some of his instruments.
- Participants will learn the efficient and deficient cognitive functions identified by Dr. Feuerstein at the input, output, and elaboration phases of learning.
- Participants will learn how whole-person wellness relates to cognitive function and how mind and body health affect brain development.
- Participants will learn seven primitive reflexes, the symptoms associated with each, how to assess, and how to integrate.
- Participants will learn how to assess the visual, auditory, vestibular, and cognitive systems and which interventions to use.
- Participants will learn cognitive training exercises in visual and auditory processing, working and long-term memory, attention, comprehension, executive functioning, logic, and reasoning.
- Using Equipping Minds, participants will learn classroom connection guidelines for math, spelling, vocabulary, reading, history, science, and writing.
- Participants will understand the mind of the struggling learner.
- Participants will learn the benefits of homeschooling struggling learners.
- Participants will learn how to use the Equipping Minds Cognitive Curriculum workbook and the ROSES program
- Participants will learn Aristotle’s Ten Categories of Being and how to implement into therapy and the classroom setting.
- Participants will learn the benefits of rehabilitating the auditory system with Sound Therapy.
- Participants will learn how the physical and sensory issues can be addressed simultaneously with cognitive maturation using a combination of verbal and reflexive tools.
- Participants will learn how trauma and stress impact behavior, social skills, communication, and learning.
Presenters Qualifications:
Dr. Carol Brown, Ed.D, Executive Director and Educational Specialist of Equipping Minds, has worked with children and families who have struggled academically and psychologically since 1981. She received her BA in Rehabilitation Counseling from Marshall University, MA in Social Services from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, and Doctor of Education (Ed.D) in Educational Leadership from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. She sought additional training in cognitive development therapy, primitive reflex therapy, sound therapy, vision therapy, nutritional therapy, and vestibular therapy and combines these in her multi-disciplinary therapy program. Carol is licensed and certified as an FIE Mediator by the Feuerstein Institute for the Enhancement of Learning Potential. She is a contributing author in the Neuroscience and Christian Formation and Human Development: Equipping Minds with Cognitive Curriculum and Preventing School Violence. She also wrote the Equipping Minds Cognitive Development Curriculum.
Sessions Day 1
- Dr. Carol Brown’s Research Behind Equipping Minds Holistic Approach to Cognitive Development: Participants will learn that the brain can change, as the latest research on neuroplasticity has proven. This evidence-based curriculum has proven Cognitive and educational gains, which everyone can replicate and use. Physical, cognitive, behavioral, and relational skills develop together rather than in isolation. Providing a more holistic approach to building challenge areas and enhancing strengths increases confidence, communication skills, memory skills, comprehension, processing skills, and relational skills. Treating the whole person through a multidisciplinary approach will give the best results.
- Dr. Carol Brown Equipping Minds Cognitive Development Curriculum Overview Participants will review the key sections of the workbook and how to use each area.
- Dr. Carol Brown Exercises to Improve Processing and Working Memory Part 1 Participants will learn the foundational exercises for developing visual processing, auditory processing, and working memory.
- Dr. Carol Brown Exercises to Improve Processing and Working Memory Part 2 Participants will learn the foundational exercises for developing visual processing, auditory processing, and working memory.
- Dr. Carol Brown: Foundations for Intelligent Thinking with Aristotle’s Ten Categories to Develop Comprehension and Critical Thinking Learn the ten categories and how to use Socratic questioning with a picture. Comprehension is the ability to remember and understand what you read. One can “see” the details of a passage and understand the general concepts. The ancient Greeks were the first to grasp the importance of imagery, or, as we may say today, “making a movie in your mind,” when reading or listening. Learn exercises to develop comprehension and critical thinking.
- Dr. Carol Brown Equipping Minds through Trauma-Informed Lens and Interventions Participants will learn how trauma and stress impact behavior, social skills, communication, and learning.
Day 2
- Dr. Carol Brown Accessing and Integrating Primitive Reflexes: Participants will learn seven primitive reflexes, the symptoms associated with each, how to test, and how to integrate. These reflexes help provide the newborn with learning experiences that act as a foundation for more complex muscle movements and later cognitive tasks. The reflexes are integrated into a sequential fashion from 3-11 months. Lack of integration of these reflexes over the past 6-12 months can interfere with cortical and cerebellum processing and affect learning, movement, and attention.
- Dr. Carol Brown: Understanding the Visual, Auditory, and Vestibular System Learn the importance of the vestibular system, visual processing, and auditory processing to learning. The importance of the vestibular system, visual processing, and auditory supplements will be examined.
- Dr. Carol Brown: Exercises for the Brown 6-9 N Back Single N-back task (1958) and Dual N-back task (2003) have been used in research to train working memory for many years. Some studies have reported near-transfer effects but failed to demonstrate far-transfer effects, confirming that generalization remains elusive. Dr. Carol Brown developed an adaptive n-back with six tasks or the “Brown Six N Back” in which learners were asked to associate animals with symbols, vowels with sound, symbols, and colors, numbers with symbols and colors, recall images and sequence of US presidents, identify colors, and identify directions of left, right, up, and down. To Brown’s knowledge, there has not been a Six N-back task that utilizes a human mediator requiring the learner to hear auditory instructions, use their hands to write or place a cube while holding a pattern for six categories, and say what they are doing. There are over 40 possible items the learner retrieves from their long-term memory while using their working memory and regions of the brain, which contains vowels, numbers, pictures, sounds, directions, and colors. If the learners succeeded at a particular level of n, the task was made incrementally more difficult by increasing the size of n to six and even nine.
- Preparing the Brain for Reading, Math, and Writing Dr. Carol Brown will discuss the cognitive skills needed for these areas and how to develop them with Equipping Minds games and exercises.
- Dr. Carol Brown Equipping Minds Sessions Overview Carol will walk participants through the first ten sessions of the program and how to implement them in the school day. The lesson plans for the 30 hours of intervention in the Equipping Minds research study will be discussed.
- Dr. Carol Brown: Integrating the Equipping Minds Cognitive Development Curriculum in the Classroom, Small Group, Learning Center, and, After-School Program
You can also purchase the new Implementing Equipping Minds in the Classroom ONLINE Workshop and the teacher and student workbooks. Contact Dr. Brown for special pricing for large orders.
OTHER WORKSHOP TOPICS:
Equipping Minds Through Games
The brain can change, as the latest research on neuroplasticity has proven. This evidence-based curriculum has proven Cognitive and educational gains, which everyone can replicate and use. Participants can put this research into practice by learning specific brain-training exercises that have been proven to increase working memory, processing and attention, and long-term memory retrieval.
Equipping Minds to Reach Their Full Potential Through Increasing Working Memory
Working memory is a stronger predictor of personal and academic success than IQ. This workshop will present the latest scientific research on neuroplasticity, working memory, and the brain’s ability to change for children and adults of all ages and etiologies. You will learn exercises to improve working memory, long-term memory retrieval, attention, and the ability to follow multi-step directions. You will leave with a deeper understanding of these challenges and equipped to implement exercises to develop every individual’s capacity to learn in the classroom and workplace. Dr. Carol Brown has developed a curriculum that uses cognitive development exercises to make learning possible for children and adults of all abilities.
Understanding, Identifying, Assessing, and Strengthening Cognitive Abilities for All Ages and Abilities through a Multi-Disciplinary Approach
Learn how to access your learner’s strengths and challenges. Understand how and when to integrate exercise, nutrition, vision therapy, sound therapy, neurodevelopmental/ movement therapy, vestibular therapy, and cognitive therapy. You will learn different exercises to use in each area to improve learning. A holistic approach is the most effective method to strengthen and create neuropathways in the brain. The visual, auditory, and vestibular systems must receive and process the information quickly and accurately. The information then goes to the brain, where working memory is needed to think about the information, use it, and send it to long-term memory. Visualizing letters, numbers, and objects for reading/spelling, math, and comprehension is also crucial. Critical thinking, visual-spatial, and perceptual reasoning also need to be strong.
Increasing Cognitive Abilities and Social Skills of Children with Learning Challenges
You will learn a holistic approach that increases processing, working memory, comprehension, social skills, and critical thinking in children with learning challenges. This approach synthesizes cognition, emotions, and values found in Biblical antecedents. The Equipping Minds Cognitive Development Curriculum is based on the research of Dr. Reuven Feuerstein, proving that regardless of age or etiology that cognitive abilities can be increased. Intelligence is not static, and critical age or period can be overcome. The human mediator introduces the cognitive prerequisites of learning and the processing of content to extend the individual’s potential by generating new cognitive structures and increased learning capacity.
The Role of Imagery and Memory in Learning
Learn how to visualize letters, numbers, and objects to improve reading, math, and comprehension. The ability to visualize letters is necessary for spelling and reading, the ability to visualize numbers is necessary for math, and the ability to visualize pictures and concepts is necessary for reading comprehension and critical thinking. You can learn the exercises to connect these pathways.
A naturalistic or biblical worldview of human development
A naturalistic view of human development has been prevalent for over 300 years and has gone unchallenged. Upon speaking to educators and psychologists, Piaget’s name and theories are renowned and accepted, while John Amos Comenius, Shmuel Feuerstein, and Reuven Feuerstein are virtually unknown. However, both Shmuel Feuerstein and John Amos Comenius challenge the naturalistic view and replace it with a biblical view of human development. The naturalistic view of humanity and human development has been widely accepted. Educators have come to accept the theories of human development embraced by an educational system that discounts spirituality and has a naturalist worldview rather than a biblical view of human development. Developmental theories have informed our perspectives, expectations, and limitations of learners who have intellectual, behavioral, and physical challenges.
Computer training or human mediator
In recent years, most research studies in peer-reviewed journals have utilized computer software programs to enhance cognitive skills with a focus on working memory training. An alternative approach absent in the current literature on working memory is using a human mediator. Mediation is an interaction in which a human mediator who possesses knowledge intends to convey a particular meaning or skill and encourages the child to transcend, that is, to relate the meaning to some other thought or experience. Mediation is intended to help children expand their cognitive capacity, especially when ideas are new or challenging. The Equipping Minds Cognitive Development Curriculum (EMCDC) is a method of cognitive skill development that uses a human mediator and is based on the theory of Structural Cognitive Modifiability (SCM), Mediated Learning Experience (MLE), and a biblical worldview of human development. The success of the research with EMCDC supports the use of a human mediator, which is rooted in Scripture and Feuerstein’s theory of Mediated Learning Experience (MLE). It affirms that cognitive skills can be developed in the classroom or clinical setting through a human mediator rather than a computer program.