What do we know about the success secret of top performers in class?
For one, we know the pick up the lessons faster and they remember them more. Outside of the class setting, top performers in arts or sports also have above average abilities on attention to detail, balance and coordination, speed, among many other traits. These traits are the ones that make the difference between the average and the best!
One class, many minds
In a class where their environment is the same, the teacher is the same – why do some do very well while others don’t? There are several bright, lively children who seem unable to focus in school and are turning in unsatisfactory grades. We also know kids who seem to excel in one subject, say English, but are unable to perform well in others, like Math. Some children “switch off” or “day-dream” in class when a teacher is giving verbal instructions.
And as any concerned and loving parent or teacher would, we want the best for our kids and so we enroll them in several after-school tuition/ enrichment courses. Fact is, these do help in some cases, but at other times – it’s still the same.
10 hours of “work” during school days
In the Philippines, children start the day roughly at 6am to get ready for school. School ends between 2-4pm and after that – they still have to go to tutor.
That’s easily 10 hours of “work” during school days. So, who says “children don’t get stressed”?
A life-changing experience
We walked into BrainFit Studio one afternoon, expecting to find the typical classroom in session, with teachers guiding students in standard tasks.
Instead, what we saw was that, within the same hour, the children – even those in the same class - were working on a different exercise as they focused in meeting their own learning needs, at their own pace.
And it makes complete sense.
“Each individual has a unique brain profile,” according to Ms. Cheryl Chia, Singapore-based clinical physiotherapist and founder of BrainFit Studio. “We assess each brain’s strengthsand weakness with a CognitiveMAP™, an evaluation tool that determines which of your child’s 5 Brain Pillars* need enhancement.”
Here is an example on the importance of evaluation and customization. A child deemed to be “inattentive” and “careless” in school may be displaying these behaviors due to several possibilities. One possibility may be a weakness in the eye coordination muscles (Sensory-Motor Brain Pillar) leading to weak visual focus and missing out of information as a child reads a parangraph or scans a worksheet. This is often picked up as “careless” behavior.When we strengthen the way how knowledge is absorbed, the result is a life-changing experience for the child.
Snapshot of Brain Fitness Training
In all exercises, there is simultaneous development of skills. For example in SMART Vision, one may be working on his visual attention, visual spatial sense and muscle co-ordination all at the same time. A girl may be asked to jump on the trampoline (muscle coordination training) and focus on the directional arrows on the wall at the same time (visual attention and visual spatial training). The aim: cells that fire together, wire together!
Rewire your brain
In one computer lab, children facing different learning needs were seated individually, working on customized brain training exercise from SMART Listening. A Brain Fitness specialist hovered attentively at each workstation, ready to assist the children if helped was needed.
A mum to a Grade 4 student (left, in photo) shares: “My son has been attending BrainFit since he wasin Grade 2. Then, hewas getting just borderline passes in his subjects. This is his third boosting round (about 40 lessons each round).Ever since attending the sessions here, he has consistently maintained 90 per cent plus for Math.
Apart from class performance, good Sensory-Fitness has helped another child aged 12 to swim her first medal in swimming! She has been in swimming class for several summer. There’s always a certain ’stroke’ which she can’t quite right. The same summer when she enrolled into SMART Moves – the coach noticed significant improvement on her strokes and she went on to win first medal in swimming that summer.
What are Brain Pillars*?
BrainFit Studio seeks to build in each child the 5 Brain Pillars, which comprise key cognitive abilities that form the foundations for all learning. The Brain Pillars are
- Attention & Memory
- Sensory Motor Coordination
- Auditory & Language Processing
- Visual & Spatial Processing
- Social-Emotional Self-regulation
SMART Learning
All the programmes at BrainFit Studio are run according to the SMARTTM Protocol:
- Set personal objectives;
- Measure with CognitiveMAPTM,
- Adapt activities to abilities;
- Re-wire through focused practice;
- Transform brain for total performance
Click Photo to Enlarge
For inquires, contact BrainFitStudioTM at 725,8500, 0917-5991992 or email us at brainfitph@gmail.com
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