About Us

Gemm Learning Overview

Neuroscience software offers fantastic potential to change lives. But the routine and intensity required is only possible at home if there is professional oversight. This is Gemm Learning, personal trainers for Fast ForWord software.

Gemm Learning provides brain-based software,online,supervised by teachers, to help reading and learning. School and tutors are instruction based -- they work around learning delays. And yet, the brain is plastic, able to adapt and improve if exercised appropriately. This means that many of these learning issues can be corrected. Our 4-6 program goes after this brain plasticity opportunity, strengthening fundamental learning skills to improve reading and learning confidence. We serve the US and Canada out of our center in Westport, CT.

Our certified educators monitor student session daily, and provide hands on direction, advice and encouragement. We believe our hybrid model -- cutting edge software with remote monitoring -- represents the future of educational software, certainly for cognitive and reading programs where frequency and intensity are essential.
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Our online programs are not only convenient -- work at home, anytime, on your schedule -- our programs are also much more affordable than most interventions with this kind of efficacy.
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Our Service

We combine a high touch, personal contact approach -- when it comes to learning, one on one conversation is essential -- with multi-faceted digital support, i.e., weekly emailed reports, a dedicated website for parent support, www.MyGemm.com, and another for student incentives, www.GemmCity.com. We will do remote sessions on your computer to help you with any set up issues, or to help your child if there are difficulties. Using a control panel interface we are able to monitor every click. The combination of personal touch service and technology has earned us a 96% client satisfaction rating, which makes us very proud.
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While many students spend a month or two on Reading Assistant, we have only one primary intervention, Fast ForWord software. This is not by choice. Our founding principle was to be agnostic, to work with any reading software that works, which means:

• It is robust, showing good results in a variety of cases and circumstances. There are other programs that seem to have good results, but they have exacting requirements, that are not often met.
  

• Students enjoy/don't mind doing it. Again, we have come across software that seems to have results, but children hate it and so compliance is a challenge. Fast ForWord is engaging for all ages.

• We can monitor home sessions. This is an essential and unique aspect of Fast ForWord. As protocol managers, we see every click, every error, every skipped trial. This insight into the home activity allows us to manage the program as if we were in the home, helping us be effective coaches.

How Gemm Got Started

Gemm Learning was founded by Geoff Nixon, whose son, Matthew, did the Fast ForWord program when he was seven years old. About halfway through Matthew's vocabulary exploded. He was more able to follow directions, he became more talkative and finally started to make progress in his reading, a wonderful development for a child who had made minimal progress in the prior two years.

While the results were fantastic, the at home experience was difficult. This inspired the idea to create an organization that would make the at home Fast ForWord experience not only manageable for the parent, but also more motivating for the student. He shut down his hedge fund at the end of 2005 and started Gemm Learning. Gemm is the initials of Geoff's family -- Geoff, then his children Emma and Matthew, and his wife, Anne McCool (or "Mom"!) -- a personal name reflecting the family story behind Gemm.

Our Mission

• Provide passionate service and cutting edge science that consistently delivers great outcomes for kids.

• Build brain plasticity awareness. Helping parents understand that it is possible to improve their child's learning.

• Core values: exceed service expectations, be trustworthy to customers and vendors, and embrace new advances.