Shichida Right Brain Training - Discussion
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my girl is almost 6 years old, I don’t know which centre will offer right mind development course for this age.
I should know for it earlier. -
You could consider Mindchamps and go for the demo to understand better.
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okay, one year after. Seems to have a bit of results.
Like phantom says,need to be diligient about flash cards and playing simple ESP games everyday. My kid don’t like the linking memory game but enjoys the rest of the class. Happens to have a nice teacher for his class who is able to click with the students…
I am quite tempted to look at other classes like Mindchamp but quite lazy to go for previews…thought mindchamps is more for older kids? -
Fettuccine:
hmm how old is your kid? Mine is 2 years old when he started so far other than the ESP and telepathy, photomemory llinking memory and flash cards, we have exposure to stories and songs in different languages e.g. French, German, Italian Jap and Korean. There are games for counting, blocks building, tangram puzzles, stringing. Work sheets and games that cover concepts like comparison, teaching words, counting and alphabets. There is also speed reading.[Moderator's Note: Threads merged.]
Does anyone have any comments about the results, effectiveness and what exactly are they going to learn about? Any feedback will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
The lessons give good ideas to play with my kids when we go home. I don't think my boy is going to develop ESP ability anytime soon but seems to develop good memory and grasp concepts pretty well. -
Having had a less than happy experience with Shichida Method myself, all I can say is Be Careful!
Everything sounds good and scientific, but before you waste your money, ask yourself is what Shichida claims backed up by anything but a sales=pitch and a lot of mumbo-jumbo.
I found this blog on the 'pseudo-science' that some people use to sell their ideas, and Shichida doesn't come out too well on it. It sort of sums up why my experience was so bad with the whole 'right-brain' learning joke.
Do yourself a favour. Log onto http://gerryp.wordpress.com/2008/03/26/evaluation-of-superachievers-magazine/
then let me know what you think of Shichida's claims.
Remember, there is no law that says they have to have evidence to back up their claims. Like actually doing any real science! I think it's more a case of repeating the lie often enough and it becomes the truth. -
Well said,Addy.
This is my first log on KiasuParents. I only just joined, but the first thing I did is check who else was being duped by all the right-brain stuff. There sure are a lot of us!!!
if you want to find out how much they really know at shichida method about the programs they teach, before you pay up and live to regret it, ask them 2 questions - see if you got the same reply as me.
i) what university is shichida a professor at, and where did he get his qualifications?
ii)Can you have the references to any research he is supposed to have done in creating his methods?
If he was legitimate, they would be able to answer those questions, but they can’t. It’s all ‘smoke and mirrors’ and no substance. They couldn’t show me one real scientific paper - just a whole lot of ‘testamonials’.
Don’t be fooled by the stories. They don’t prove anything. Ask real parents whose kids have been there, and the story isn’t so rosey. -
Hi Addy,
I've been so tempted to speak up against Shichida and this sort of enrichment classes. Makes me wonder who's being enriched.
To be upfront, I enrolled out of kiasu-ness when my son was 12 mths old. We lasted a total of 2 lessons - he learnt the joy of running away from lessons because he learnt to walk then. But I was totally appalled. What is the basis of flashing ping-pong cartoon pictures to a child? Will he understand the game? They have this scratchy sounding recording of some German or Japanese song. So my son can speak a different language after that? I found it a total joke! Boy, if that worked, I sure would have flashed calculus notes to myself just before my exams! Why waste time studying so hard?
Around that same time when I tried to convince myself to continue with the lessons, I did a little research on Shichida and Glen Doman. Surely if it worked in creating geniuses, these companies would be advertising the number of PHds, geniuses they would have produced through the system? How about grades through PSLE or High school? Back then anyway, there were no such scientific conclusions except for these unsubstantiated claims by the companies themselves. I mean, how not to be skeptical? -
Hi beamergirl and Addy, you are right that the biggest problem with such courses are the unsubstantiated claims made by such services with regards to promising photographic memory and even ESP.
However, the following are also true:
1. Babies from the age of 3 weeks to 3 years have an amazing capacity for absorbing data and facts. They learn without attempting to understand. That’s the essence of right brain training.
2. Any baby and toddler exposed to the a great degree of interaction with the care-giver will learn faster and deeper than one that is left alone.
3. If we want a child to learn a skill or behavior for life, it is best to expose it to the skill or behavior when it is under 3.
The above are all scientifically proven facts, not invented by Shichida, but from hordes of child psychologists that have studied human intelligence for decades.
Any parent sending their child to Shichida believing that it will be transformed to a genius just by going to the classes will be in for disappointment. That 1 lesson a week is not going to do anything without reinforcement at home.
What Shichida and other "brain training" centres do are commonly known memory training techniques you can learn from books, videos and the Internet.
If we take courses such as Shichida, Trio, and even Glenn Doman to be "train the parents" course, then we can probably derive a lot more value from the courses. It is not the lessons that make our children smart learners. It is us, the parents.
And no… we cannot buy our way to a gifted child. We have to put in our own tiny bit of effort. -
Chief,
JMHO - there are plenty of ways to provide a warm, secure atmosphere for best learning, but it doesn't always have to involve paying $$ to an enrichment class operator.
If you think back about your old memories, you'll probably remember the sights, sounds, smells, feelings, etc, and not only what you read/got flashed with as a child. I highly advocate reading to children, but it isn't just the reading of the book - it's the fun and warm feelings you impart to your child when you cosy up and share your reactions together. Even just listening and interacting with the kid on what's at hand could be more meaningful than flashing a 2-d image. For example, go to the park and touch, smell the tree rather than show him a picture of a tree with a few alphabets underneath.
I've been reading up on neuroscience for a while (not directly related to early learning), and a lot of research out there debunks the right brain/left brain movement that started in the 60s ... Seriously, like everyone else, I love my child to bits and will do the best I can for him. It just seems like there are tonnes of other more effective, more humorous means to develop a bond with your child that can also encourage a love and curiosity of learning.
Getting off my soapbox now :lol: -
breguet:
Well said, breguet! Unfortunately, unlike yourself, few new parents really know what it takes to educate young children, so in my opinion, these enrichment courses do have their place in exposing parents to the various ways of interacting with their children. But they cannot be taken as a panacea for all our children's educational needs.Chief,
JMHO - there are plenty of ways to provide a warm, secure atmosphere for best learning, but it doesn't always have to involve paying $$ to an enrichment class operator.
If you think back about your old memories, you'll probably remember the sights, sounds, smells, feelings, etc, and not only what you read/got flashed with as a child. I highly advocate reading to children, but it isn't just the reading of the book - it's the fun and warm feelings you impart to your child when you cosy up and share your reactions together. Even just listening and interacting with the kid on what's at hand could be more meaningful than flashing a 2-d image. For example, go to the park and touch, smell the tree rather than show him a picture of a tree with a few alphabets underneath.
I've been reading up on neuroscience for a while (not directly related to early learning), and a lot of research out there debunks the right brain/left brain movement that started in the 60s ... Seriously, like everyone else, I love my child to bits and will do the best I can for him. It just seems like there are tonnes of other more effective, more humorous means to develop a bond with your child that can also encourage a love and curiosity of learning.
Getting off my soapbox now :lol:
And you are right, if you already know how to play and teach your children through simple activities like reading and counting, there is really no reason for you to spend money for someone else to do it.
As for whether left or right or \"whole\" brain training is the way to go, there are well entrenched camps on both sides. One of the earliest educators was Maria Montessori, who was also Italy's first female psychologist. Her belief was that we as parents should treat children as little adults, and that we need to let kids learn through their own creative play. Her teachings spread like wild fire when she went over to the US, and we still have lots of young child educators modelled after her methods. And there are still lots of people who question the effectiveness of her methods
.
Every child is different. Also, every parent teaches differently. We have to do a bit of experimentation to find a combination that works best for our children and ourselves. In the end, the only thing that counts is that we are able to excite our children to develop good habits of mind.
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