The foundation for the teaching methodology at Ben Bronz Academy is MetaCognition and MetaLinguistics (language.) Meta (being aware of) and Cognition (thinking) helps students become aware of the thought processes and the language they use in developing problem solving strategies. In the Middle and Upper Schools, we use Reuven Feuerstein's Instrumental Enrichment. This curriculum enables a direct and focused attack on mental processes that, through their absence, their fragility, or their inefficiency, are to blame for poor intellectual or academic performance.

The instructional materials consist of more than 500 pages of paper and pencil tasks divided into 14 Instruments, which are designed to be completed in two to three years. The Instruments present situations in which problem solving strategies must be developed and continually refined by learners. Besides directing students efforts toward examination and awareness of their problems solving behavior, the mediator is careful to help students see how this new learning can be applied in other situations, (generalized) both in the classroom and in daily life. Feuerstein calls the activity "bridging."

Organization of Dots is the first Instrument. The student must infer the task, then try to find the shapes shown in the model in subsequent frames in which the orientation and position of the shapes changes. The more important task is to reflect on the steps taken to solve the problem, and establish a way to tackle tasks when no directions are available.

In the Lower School, Aileen Stan-Spence has developed the MetaLearning Program, which places more emphasis on the development of the language of cognition, and provides more experiential materials. It is a two-year program, comprised of approximately 250 tasks in eight units. Each unit presents a developmental series of hands-on tasks that are discussed, tried, and modified and explained, and principles developed. Students develop strategies, test them, and examine their efficiency.

Training in Instrumental Enrichment, and Teaching Materials are available in the United States at IRI/Skylight.

Reuven Feuerstein is an Israeli Psychologist who trained with Jean Piaget, and subsequently developed and organized sets of materials to measure intellectual potential, and to teach cognitive skills. Dr. Feuerstein is a hard-nosed optimist who believes that humans can alter their cognitive structures. Feuerstein challenges the adults in each student's environment to be the mediators who interpret the environment so that the student will be able to accurately comprehend what he sees.