Eyes glued to the colourful animation on the screen, she clicks her responses to auditory cues she hears on her headphones, racing confidently through different games.

Each game targets a different cognitive or language skill: memory, sequencing, sound discrimination, pitch, vocabulary, comprehension and grammar. There are thousands of combinations of games customised to one’s abilities and Fidelia plays five sets today.

The games, part of a brain development software called Fast ForWord, require intense concentration, but the Primary 2 pupil seems to enjoy her session.

Her mother, Mrs Jess Chan, 33, a housewife, said: ‘Fidelia wasn’t always such a confident child. As a preschooler, she was quiet, very timid and awkward. Her language and motor skills were weak.’

Concerned, Mrs Chan sent her daughter for brain training classes. Each one-hour session at BrainFit Studio in Thomson Road, where Fidelia attends the classes, costs $70.

The Beacon Primary School pupil now turns in excellent school results. She speaks articulately and is also an avid reader. A Facebook user, she has recently taken up chess.

Meanwhile, at the Little Neuro Tree centre in Bugis, sisters Zelia Ang, 30 months old, and Phoelia Ang, 10 months old, are attending brain training classes for babies and toddlers.

The focus here is on learning three languages – English, Mandarin and either Malay or Japanese – as well as coordination and social skills. The fees are $550 to $600 for 12 one-hour lessons.

In one room, Phoelia and two other babies, each held lovingly by their mother or caregiver, lie on the straw mats covering the floor.

Their teacher tells them about the weather. ‘It’s cloudy today. The sky’s full of clouds! Come, let’s touch the clouds!” she says, as she passes around a piece of felt with a fleecy white cloud stuck on it. The babies touch the cloud with adult help.

The lesson moves to vocabulary. As the little ones watch attentively while kicking their feet, their teacher flashes giant picture cards in quick order, rattling off a list of words at the same time: asparagus, carrot, corn, beans, brinjal….

Zelia, in the toddler class, is busy buttoning little wheels onto a train as her teacher cheers her on in Japanese. Her mother, Madam Hazen Lim, 33, is encouraging her too.

Said Madam Lim, a housewife: ‘This programme really stimulates the child’s brain and parents interact with their children. Zelia is picking up Japanese, Mandarin and English well and Phoelia is very responsive to language.’

Can a 10-month-old learn three languages just from a one-hour class every week? Can young children learn to read, process information and do comprehension questions just from computer games? How much can the brain do, really?

Quite a lot, said DrRoby Marcou, a senior consultant in paediatrics neurology at National University Hospital.
‘Meaningful learning opportunities in early childhood allow the brain to develop rich brain connections, which set the stage for active thinking and learning beyond childhood,’ she explained.

As for brain training sessions, she said there is not enough research to substantiate most claims. However, some programmes might help some children, particularly in the areas of visual or auditory attention.

She advocates, instead, ‘rich, diverse play and conversation’ as the best stimulation for brain development in children.

 By K. Malathy from http://www.asiaone.com/News/Education/Story/A1Story20091001-171160.html

Photos courtesy of Dan Biddle and World Bank Photo Collection

 
He believes that the two should be prized in equal measure and any failure to promote art could lead to a shortage of talented artists in later years. He has called for a day to be set aside each year for children to indulge their artistic side.

One exercise he wants to see brought in is one he played as a child, known as “the shape game”. Each child starts by drawing a shape then passing it on to the next to develop it as an illustration or drawing.

 ”Nobody’s ever talked about it but it’s a simple game which I believe is the essence of creativity. I’ve got nothing against reading but the two (reading and drawing) should go side by side.

Mr Browne, who is only the second illustrator to hold the Children’s Laureate post since Quentin Blake, pointed to Leonardo da Vinci’s habit of picking out battles, people and landscapes on an old wall as a sign that it boosts creativity. “You can say to a youngster ‘If you play the shape game, you can become an artist or a writer’,” he added.

Adapted from a Daily Telegraph Article, 5th August 2009

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Photo Courtesy of Jean-Sien Kin