TESTIMONIALS
I really enjoy collaborating with Bonnie and am very appreciative of her great work with children, adolescents, and families. She is very thoughtful and comprehensive in her approach, providing families with helpful strategies, support, and guidance. Bonnie, thanks for all of the excellent work you do!
Cassie M. Green, Psy.D.
Pediatric Neuropsychologist
Kirk Neurobehavioral Health
400 South McCaslin Blvd., Suite 212
Louisville, Colorado 80027
www.drjohnkirk.com
Bonnie was so helpful for me this year. She started coming to my house during the second semester and I instantly saw positive results. She helped me organize my school work and then reviewed it with me each week to make sure I was prioritizing effectively. When I missed a week of school, she helped me get back on track.
Danny, 9th grade
When we hired Bonnie in January 2016, Matthew was a Sophomore in the Gifted and Talented program at Wheat Ridge High School. He is a “Twice Exceptional” student; Bonnie came highly recommended from the doctor who treats his ADHD. Matthew is a 97% non-verbal learner. He learns through ideas, symbols and pictures and has trouble translating what he is learning into words. Matthew was barely getting by in school.
During our first meeting with Bonnie, and less than one hour with Matthew, she knew exactly what was going on. He was struggling with Executive Functioning and specifically Meta-Cognition. Planning and organizing his school work has always been very difficult. His working memory was lower than average and he had an output problem; he consistently failed in his homework grades and got “B’s” on his tests. Matthew was not “just being lazy,” he could not organize his thoughts. Bonnie urged Matthew to develop a system for recording and working on his homework. They explored multiple ways of doing this so Matthew could customize one that worked for him. Together they worked on homework goals and Bonnie held Matthew accountable in a way that he would not tolerate from his parents. She helped Matthew identify practical ways of getting past the mental block of “starting” and he was able to move through and finish particularly difficult homework assignments. With Bonnie’s help, Matthew was able to complete his Sophomore year and he has found a new motivation to continue to improve. He really wants to go to college. We are so thankful that Matthew had the opportunity to work with Bonnie and look forward to working with Bonnie in August as Matthew begins his Junior year and works toward what has now become HIS goal.
Margaret
Bonnie has been tremendously helpful in working with our son to develop an organizational strategy for school and in keeping him motivated to actually use it. She worked with him once or twice a week this past semester, reviewing all his upcoming tests and assignments and helping him prioritize them. She also helped him think about how he would study for tests and coached him to set aside more study time and use more efficient and targeted approaches in his study efforts. While our son has often been reluctant to work with us to review his school work, he was very willing to spend the time with Bonnie and looked forward to his sessions with her. Her style put him at ease and allowed for productive sessions without the tension that can often accompany a parent’s attempt to work with their own child.
Claire and Tom
Bonnie has been a Godsend. My son was full of confidence and really wanted to succeed in school, but he just couldn’t overcome his difficulties in planning, organizing, and following-through. Before Bonnie, we found ourselves in a continuous loop – us nagging, my son tuning us out and his grades sinking. She also helped us navigate the 504 process. Using her vast experience, she helped us in proposing accommodations and even attended the meeting with us. With her in our corner, the process went smoothly and had a successful outcome. Bonnie is patient and speaks in a language in which my son really responds. He is finally seeing success in school and we have peace in our house again!
Abi
I highly recommend Bonnie Leaf to you. Our daughter had problems with time management so we hired Bonnie to help. Thanks to the techniques and methodology Bonnie taught her, our daughter got straight “A’s” last semester while taking a heavy course load in advanced placement courses and involvement in extracurricular activities. She never would have accomplished this without Bonnie’s counsel. When Bonnie met our daughter, she quickly established a close rapport with her and zeroed in on the kind of help our daughter needed. Bonnie was flexible and adaptable, while at the same time helping our daughter set priorities and establish time management goals. Bonnie helped her to assume responsibility for needed improvements and to celebrate successes. By the end of the semester great habits had been established and they were close friends. Bonnie’s dedicated and caring approach lead to wonderful results.
Bruce
Melinda has been a phenomenal mentor, and has guided me to find success in the 6th grade. Before I met her I barely had free time, my anger got the better of me, and I was unorganized. Now I have hours of free time daily, I can control my emotions, and I am very organized. I feel that meeting with her weekly had made me a better person I would highly recommend her. 10/10
Ryan G
Before I started using Melinda I was struggling to remember things, but afterwards I am able to stay more in control of my life than before.
Will M