How Much Gemiini Should My Child Be Watching?
This Week at Gemiini
This week we are taking a short break from adding clips to our library as our film team edits a few larger projects that are not quite ready to go on the site. This kind of pause is a great opportunity for me to answer questions and share tips on getting the most out of Gemiini.
This article will answer frequently asked questions about dosage. How often should your child watch Gemiini? How long should viewing sessions last? How many times should your child watch the same video before moving on to a new one? Is your child watching enough Gemiini? Too much? What are the signs that you should adjust your child's dosage?
How Many Times Should My Child Watch the Same Video?
We recommend watching the same video 42 times before choosing the next assignment.
Students are automatically assigned 42 viewings of new assignments from their level of the Language Pyramid. 42 repetitions allows families to integrate frequent viewings into their daily routines and makes it easy to follow our recommended schedule of choosing a new video for your child every week.
Every child responds to Gemiini differently. Some students master words after fewer than 42 repetitions, and others have more success with a higher number of viewings. Therapy with Gemiini can easily be customized to address the needs of each individual. 42 repetitions is a great starting point from which it is easy to make adjustments. If you are uncertain how to modify dosage for your child, our team of product specialists can help.
How Often Should My Child Watch Gemiini?
It is recommended that children watch the same video six times every day for a week.
Repetition of consistent input strengthens neural pathways in the brain and is important for success. Many families follow a routine of three viewing sessions per day and let the video repeat twice per session.
It's important to establish regular viewing habits that fit into your family's lifestyle and allow your child to engage with Gemiini in low-stress situations. Families who are able to successfully incorporate Gemiini into their daily routines are more likely to see growth.
How Long Should Viewing Sessions Last?
Most children maintain a higher level of engagement if viewings sessions are kept shorter than 20 minutes.
Gemiini's Language Pyramid and QuickStart videos are shorter than 10 minutes, so watching the same video twice should never take longer than 20 minutes. We recommended that custom videos built by parents, therapists, and teachers meet this same criteria. If your child has trouble staying engaged for this long, please reach out to our product specialists for tips on how you can individualize Gemiini therapy sessions.
The time of day you watch doesn't matter. Part of what makes Gemiini so powerful is how flexible it allows families to be with the timing and location of therapy delivery. You can stream video assignments while your child eats breakfast, while you drive from place to place, during playtime, or while your child is engaged in preferred activities like coloring or putting together a puzzle.
How Do I Know It's Working?
Receptive and expressive language testing features are integrated into Gemiini Language Pyramid assignments.
You can use these features to get an idea of how much information your student is retaining from their viewing sessions. It's important to test receptive and expressive language separately, as they tend to develop at different rates.
Consistent low performance on receptive tests is an indication that you may need to increase the number of repetitions per video. If your child performs well on the receptive test for a video but performs poorly in expressive language, contact our product specialists. Children who demonstrate much lower expressive language than receptive language may have success with Gemiini's intensive expressive speech protocol.
I'm Not Seeing Any Gains!
Every child is unique. Some students will respond to Gemini after a few days and others may not respond for several months. Many children pick up skills from Gemiini that can be hard to notice right away. It can be a challenge to keep going when the success you hoped for is not immediately apparent, but it's important that you don't give up.
If you have increased your child's dosage or if you have watched several repetitions of many videos and you haven't noticed any language development in your child, please schedule a call with one of our product specialists. We have many different approaches and suggestions for you that can help your child be successful. These consultations are free and available to every member, regardless of how long you have been with Gemini.