Who We Are
About Neugrowth
NeuGrowth was founded by Kathy Kitts in 2005. She has been tutoring, creating programs of stimulation, and teaching a variety of classes since 1981.
Education
- Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential (IAHP)
- University of Maryland - Behavioral and Social Sciences, and Microbiology
Kathy Kitts
Kathy Kitts founded and is the Executive
Director of NeuGrowth. She graduated from University of Maryland with a
degree in Behavioral and Social Sciences, and Microbiology, where she
received a semester’s worth of credit for her unique brain program work
with children birth to age six. This body of work included 15 years of
creating and implementing programs of stimulation for children of this
age group.
Ms. Kitts has also received training in Philadelphia, PA, at the Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential (IAHP). The folks at the IAHP have been doing research and practical application of their theories for over 40 years, and slowly, the rest of the world seems to be catching up to what it has discovered.
At the IAHP Ms. Kitts began her studies of how the brain develops, takes in new information, stores it and recalls it. This includes the many ways the brain takes in information: physically, visually, aurally, through smell, taste, and through the kinesthetic sense and the tactile sense (touch), and through two internal senses. At IAHP, Ms. Kitts became familiar with how the brain directs the output, and how the brain can recover from many types of injuries, depending on the circumstances.
After her coursework concluded at the IAHP, Ms. Kitts continued for over a decade to increase her understanding of the brain by reviewing scientific literature, including books, journals, and papers. She read biographies of famous inventors, thinkers achievers and, artists, noticing quite a few points in common with their early childhood and later schooling, together with the type of parenting they had.
While continuing her studies of the brain independently, Ms. Kitts raised her first son, Ryan, who was 8 months old when she finished her first course in Philly. She was so impressed with what she saw there—the incredible abilities of so many very young children, that she and her husband set up an individualized program of brain stimulation for Ryan, and experimented with it.
Ryan’s stimulation programs began with very large reading cards containing words written in boldface type, large pictures of famous works of art, and pieces of poster board with different amounts of red circle-shaped stickers affixed. This last category describes the beginning of a “math” program, because she was identifying different quantities to her son. Research has shown that babies as young as six months can do simple adding and subtracting if actual quantities are shown instead of a numeral (which is way too abstract a concept for a small baby to grasp).
An important concept to keep in mind is that throughout the first six years of implementing a stimulation program with her son, the length of a single “lesson” never lasted more than 5 minutes. On an extraordinary day, she may have accomplished 3 “lessons” spread throughout the entire day. This was tucked in between the walks to the park, in the neighborhood and to the zoo, visits to the grocery store and nature centers, time spent with relatives and other visitors, and travel to all sorts of places in the DC-metro area, New York City, etc.
Spending five minutes at a time is a key point, because we want to keep the atmosphere light and fun. If it isn’t fun and attractive to the baby, don’t do it. The baby will let you know right away if s/he is into it or not.
Another activity which was unique to Ms. Kitts’ approach was to visit different ethnic restaurants regularly, to try the different foods, learn about the culture, and pick up a few words of the language. Our favorite restaurant very quickly became a neighborhood Greek one, where Ryan feasted on spanikopita, gyros with tzatziki sauce, and avgolemono soup. We learned to say, “ev-kari-sto” (thank you) and “para-ka-lo” (you’re welcome, as well as, “Ti-kanis, ka la?” (How are you?).
Ms. Kitts also traveled to downtown DC regularly to visit museums, art galleries, and The Folklife Festival, a yearly cultural festival held on the National Mall. Ryan got to see a Mary Cassatt exhibit at the National Gallery of Art, where he was curious to see babies and mothers in the paintings.
Visits to New York City and Philadelphia gave mom and son the opportunity to see all sorts of stimulating sights—good for the mom too! Ryan got to ride a train for the first time at about one year old, and he loved it. So basically Ms. Kitts and family did what they normally would have done, but incorporated side visits to places Ryan would especially enjoy. Visits to friends in different cities were all very enriching too.
Ryan’s brain development program as he became 3 and 4 years old catered more to what he was interested in. We showed him many kinds of birds,insects, dinosaurs, flowers, Japanese kanji, and let him listen to many types of music, but especially classical. Ryan’s interest in math never waned, and his father created daily worksheets with some math problems on them, which Ryan loved. To him it was a really cool game he was playing!
Because Ms. Kitts’ mother is Japanese, she put Japanese phrases up on the kitchen wall. Most of these had to do with eating, so Ryan learned some basic Japanese as part of the morning ritual of asking what he wanted for breakfast. He was also exposed to Japanese, French, and Spanish children’s songs, because Ms. Kitts believes she picked up French so quickly this way when she was quite young, and knows the brain responds very well to information that has rhythm.
When Ryan was 4, he could handle all four basic operations of arithmetic: addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, and he was also familiar with basic fractions, decimals, and the disbursement of money while shopping. His mental math abilities, which we emphasized as important, were awesome, especially for his age. Two major events occurred in Ryan’s life when he was 4: he began kindergarten (he has a very late birthday), and his brother Dylan was born. Kindergarten was great—Ryan wasn’t so sure about the baby who cried a lot.
Nevertheless, the 2 boys helped each other learn through the years. Ryan ended up skipping the 1st grade because he had 5th grade skills in reading and math (but not writing) and being first-time parents the Kitts’ thought it would be better to be challenged than bored. Throughout his schooling, Ryan always excelled in math. He would end up scoring an 800 on the math portion of his SAT, majoring in math in college, and graduating in 2 ½ years. Mr & Ms. Kitts were as shocked as anybody that he finished college so fast. He says he did it so he wouldn’t accumulate a huge college loan debt.
Either way, they are very proud of Ryan, as you can imagine! Dylan had a very different experience. Dylan was their creative sprite. He was happy as a young child to run around all day with a cape on, pretending to be a different character on different days. He could make toys out of anything, and did. He loved action figures, which he called his, “guys.”
When Ryan was about 7, a Chinese tutor was hired to teach him Mandarin. A month into the tutoring, little Dylan, then less than 2, waddled up to the table (he played in the living room while Ryan had his lesson in the dining room) and began to spout perfect Chinese!! Boy, was Ms. Kitts shocked! Theory is one thing, but one really begins to believe all this stuff when something like this happens! Dylan went on to enroll in the first public school Chinese Immersion program in the nation. He loved it, and 10 years later was speaking fluently with a Beijing accent.
The strengths Dylan developed were, besides math and Chinese, in social studies and philosophy. He has become an excellent poet, songwriter, and storyteller, and an activist for the causes he deeply believes in. He also he loves to sing.
Each child is very different, yet Ms. Kitts and her husband have consciously guided their children throughout endeavors based on what they know is possible for a child to absorb from birth to six and beyond.
You can see where this knowledge would be most helpful when tutoring any subject, prepping a high scholar for the SAT or ACT, giving a child some enrichment so he/she won’t be bored, or teaching some concepts for remediation. Putting programs of stimulation together for very little ones has been a favorite activity for Ms Kitts for over 20 years. This program emphasis on the brain is what sets NeuGrowth apart from any other tutoring, test prep, or teaching company or group.
Her latest area of experience is working with adults individually, in small groups, or within companies or communities, to talk about her favorite subjects: the brain and effective ways of learning. She works with several topics in her presentations, seminars, and workshops.
Ms. Kitts has given presentations to companies such as Prudential LifeInsurance, community groups like Rotary Clubs & Kiwanis Clubs, and neighborhood organizations such as PTA’s and Mom’s Clubs. She hopes to begin giving workshops and seminars to more areas in the country, as well as internationally.
“This was so incredibly interesting! Now I know a lot more about what my mission in life is, and how to conquer some of the worries I had had,” was how Lourdes M. described a workshop she recently attended at Prudential Life Insurance. Ms. Kitts has been in the Washington DC area for several decades, which has given her a wealth of experiences, and a depth of knowledge about all sorts of subjects. She continues to develop new ideas.
Her level of creativity has been noted by the Smithsonian Associates, the educational arm of the Smithsonian Institution. There, for 9 summers, she taught highly successful summer cultural camps that she has conceived, including a Folk Life Festival summer camp for 5 years.
These programs, workshops, and seminars are unique from anything else youmight find. No where else does a company or individual offer the combination of teaching with cutting edge concepts about how the brain works. This is a brand-new field, but it will become more and more popular as time marches on.
Ms. Kitts is currently working on a book on the brain, and is studying for her Master’s degree at The University of Maryland.
She is happy to answer any question you may have about programming, scheduling, or the brain in general.
Ms. Kitts has also received training in Philadelphia, PA, at the Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential (IAHP). The folks at the IAHP have been doing research and practical application of their theories for over 40 years, and slowly, the rest of the world seems to be catching up to what it has discovered.
At the IAHP Ms. Kitts began her studies of how the brain develops, takes in new information, stores it and recalls it. This includes the many ways the brain takes in information: physically, visually, aurally, through smell, taste, and through the kinesthetic sense and the tactile sense (touch), and through two internal senses. At IAHP, Ms. Kitts became familiar with how the brain directs the output, and how the brain can recover from many types of injuries, depending on the circumstances.
After her coursework concluded at the IAHP, Ms. Kitts continued for over a decade to increase her understanding of the brain by reviewing scientific literature, including books, journals, and papers. She read biographies of famous inventors, thinkers achievers and, artists, noticing quite a few points in common with their early childhood and later schooling, together with the type of parenting they had.
While continuing her studies of the brain independently, Ms. Kitts raised her first son, Ryan, who was 8 months old when she finished her first course in Philly. She was so impressed with what she saw there—the incredible abilities of so many very young children, that she and her husband set up an individualized program of brain stimulation for Ryan, and experimented with it.
Ryan’s stimulation programs began with very large reading cards containing words written in boldface type, large pictures of famous works of art, and pieces of poster board with different amounts of red circle-shaped stickers affixed. This last category describes the beginning of a “math” program, because she was identifying different quantities to her son. Research has shown that babies as young as six months can do simple adding and subtracting if actual quantities are shown instead of a numeral (which is way too abstract a concept for a small baby to grasp).
An important concept to keep in mind is that throughout the first six years of implementing a stimulation program with her son, the length of a single “lesson” never lasted more than 5 minutes. On an extraordinary day, she may have accomplished 3 “lessons” spread throughout the entire day. This was tucked in between the walks to the park, in the neighborhood and to the zoo, visits to the grocery store and nature centers, time spent with relatives and other visitors, and travel to all sorts of places in the DC-metro area, New York City, etc.
Spending five minutes at a time is a key point, because we want to keep the atmosphere light and fun. If it isn’t fun and attractive to the baby, don’t do it. The baby will let you know right away if s/he is into it or not.
Another activity which was unique to Ms. Kitts’ approach was to visit different ethnic restaurants regularly, to try the different foods, learn about the culture, and pick up a few words of the language. Our favorite restaurant very quickly became a neighborhood Greek one, where Ryan feasted on spanikopita, gyros with tzatziki sauce, and avgolemono soup. We learned to say, “ev-kari-sto” (thank you) and “para-ka-lo” (you’re welcome, as well as, “Ti-kanis, ka la?” (How are you?).
Ms. Kitts also traveled to downtown DC regularly to visit museums, art galleries, and The Folklife Festival, a yearly cultural festival held on the National Mall. Ryan got to see a Mary Cassatt exhibit at the National Gallery of Art, where he was curious to see babies and mothers in the paintings.
Visits to New York City and Philadelphia gave mom and son the opportunity to see all sorts of stimulating sights—good for the mom too! Ryan got to ride a train for the first time at about one year old, and he loved it. So basically Ms. Kitts and family did what they normally would have done, but incorporated side visits to places Ryan would especially enjoy. Visits to friends in different cities were all very enriching too.
Ryan’s brain development program as he became 3 and 4 years old catered more to what he was interested in. We showed him many kinds of birds,insects, dinosaurs, flowers, Japanese kanji, and let him listen to many types of music, but especially classical. Ryan’s interest in math never waned, and his father created daily worksheets with some math problems on them, which Ryan loved. To him it was a really cool game he was playing!
Because Ms. Kitts’ mother is Japanese, she put Japanese phrases up on the kitchen wall. Most of these had to do with eating, so Ryan learned some basic Japanese as part of the morning ritual of asking what he wanted for breakfast. He was also exposed to Japanese, French, and Spanish children’s songs, because Ms. Kitts believes she picked up French so quickly this way when she was quite young, and knows the brain responds very well to information that has rhythm.
When Ryan was 4, he could handle all four basic operations of arithmetic: addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, and he was also familiar with basic fractions, decimals, and the disbursement of money while shopping. His mental math abilities, which we emphasized as important, were awesome, especially for his age. Two major events occurred in Ryan’s life when he was 4: he began kindergarten (he has a very late birthday), and his brother Dylan was born. Kindergarten was great—Ryan wasn’t so sure about the baby who cried a lot.
Nevertheless, the 2 boys helped each other learn through the years. Ryan ended up skipping the 1st grade because he had 5th grade skills in reading and math (but not writing) and being first-time parents the Kitts’ thought it would be better to be challenged than bored. Throughout his schooling, Ryan always excelled in math. He would end up scoring an 800 on the math portion of his SAT, majoring in math in college, and graduating in 2 ½ years. Mr & Ms. Kitts were as shocked as anybody that he finished college so fast. He says he did it so he wouldn’t accumulate a huge college loan debt.
Either way, they are very proud of Ryan, as you can imagine! Dylan had a very different experience. Dylan was their creative sprite. He was happy as a young child to run around all day with a cape on, pretending to be a different character on different days. He could make toys out of anything, and did. He loved action figures, which he called his, “guys.”
When Ryan was about 7, a Chinese tutor was hired to teach him Mandarin. A month into the tutoring, little Dylan, then less than 2, waddled up to the table (he played in the living room while Ryan had his lesson in the dining room) and began to spout perfect Chinese!! Boy, was Ms. Kitts shocked! Theory is one thing, but one really begins to believe all this stuff when something like this happens! Dylan went on to enroll in the first public school Chinese Immersion program in the nation. He loved it, and 10 years later was speaking fluently with a Beijing accent.
The strengths Dylan developed were, besides math and Chinese, in social studies and philosophy. He has become an excellent poet, songwriter, and storyteller, and an activist for the causes he deeply believes in. He also he loves to sing.
Each child is very different, yet Ms. Kitts and her husband have consciously guided their children throughout endeavors based on what they know is possible for a child to absorb from birth to six and beyond.
You can see where this knowledge would be most helpful when tutoring any subject, prepping a high scholar for the SAT or ACT, giving a child some enrichment so he/she won’t be bored, or teaching some concepts for remediation. Putting programs of stimulation together for very little ones has been a favorite activity for Ms Kitts for over 20 years. This program emphasis on the brain is what sets NeuGrowth apart from any other tutoring, test prep, or teaching company or group.
Her latest area of experience is working with adults individually, in small groups, or within companies or communities, to talk about her favorite subjects: the brain and effective ways of learning. She works with several topics in her presentations, seminars, and workshops.
Ms. Kitts has given presentations to companies such as Prudential LifeInsurance, community groups like Rotary Clubs & Kiwanis Clubs, and neighborhood organizations such as PTA’s and Mom’s Clubs. She hopes to begin giving workshops and seminars to more areas in the country, as well as internationally.
“This was so incredibly interesting! Now I know a lot more about what my mission in life is, and how to conquer some of the worries I had had,” was how Lourdes M. described a workshop she recently attended at Prudential Life Insurance. Ms. Kitts has been in the Washington DC area for several decades, which has given her a wealth of experiences, and a depth of knowledge about all sorts of subjects. She continues to develop new ideas.
Her level of creativity has been noted by the Smithsonian Associates, the educational arm of the Smithsonian Institution. There, for 9 summers, she taught highly successful summer cultural camps that she has conceived, including a Folk Life Festival summer camp for 5 years.
These programs, workshops, and seminars are unique from anything else youmight find. No where else does a company or individual offer the combination of teaching with cutting edge concepts about how the brain works. This is a brand-new field, but it will become more and more popular as time marches on.
Ms. Kitts is currently working on a book on the brain, and is studying for her Master’s degree at The University of Maryland.
She is happy to answer any question you may have about programming, scheduling, or the brain in general.
