This is the post that many of you have asked for. I've refrained, thus far, from writing it because I know that the point of a comparison is the question, "Which school is better?". Yet a verdict of which school is better cannot hold true for all purposes because, although both programmes deliver whole-brain training, they do differ. It is like comparing two children borne of the same parents (which is the reason for the photos of my two children in this post!).
Remember that these are my personal views and these views are not official representations of either of the schools.
Ok, let's start. To reduce it to a general statement, the Shichida method regards the students, first and foremost, as children. In contrast, Heguru is more focused on the children as students. So, the Shichida method is mostly about what happens outside of the class, while Heguru is mostly about what happens during the class.
The Shichida method emphasises that, before any right brain training can be done, the child must feel that he/she is loved and this is the parents' task. The child's mind can only be unlocked if there is a strong bond and a loving relationship between the parent and the child. Shichida advocates the parent as his/her child's best teacher.
This translates to the following features:
- All the class activities, right-brain and left-brain, can be reproduced at home. The parent is taught how to conduct activities at home (termed "home practice"). There are also additional right-brain activities, which are not done in class, but which you are encouraged to do with your child at home, like the math dots program.
- There is ready-made material which parents can buy for home activities.
- The pace of the class is a little slower compared to Heguru, as most of the activities are carried out at a pace which parents can replicate at home.
- There are more hands-on activities, which is a better format for parent and child bonding.
- One parent accompanies the child in class throughout the entire programme (i.e from 0-6 years old).
In Heguru, due acknowledgment is given to the relationship between the parent and the child. However, the parents are not the primary conduits of the right-brain training. The founders of Heguru are teachers and, from what I can see, they believe that, while parenting should be done by parents, teaching should be done by teachers.
This leads to the following:
- Most of the right-brain activities in class are not easily replicated at home, and are not meant to be. The school takes on the responsibility of providing intense stimulation to the right brain during the class and the parents are not expected to do extra right-brain training at home. Nevertheless, at the end of each class, the teacher will give the parents a few tips on how to reinforce the class learning at home (this usually pertains to left brain stuff).
- There is less ready-made material for parents to purchase for use at home.
- The pace of the class is extremely fast. Two teachers (one head teacher and one assistant) work together to provide a seamless transition from one activity to another so that the stimulation to the right brain is continuous and intense.
- There are less hands-on activities, as such activities slow down the pace of the class.
- The pre-school class (for 4-6 years old) is a drop-off programme (ie. not parent-accompanied).
It is critical to bear in mind that things are not black and white. The Shichida method is not all about home practice - attending the class is important and beneficial for many reasons. Heguru is not all about the classroom activities - there are some activities which you are supposed to practise at home, like mandala and peg memory, and the teachers do show the parents how they can continue working with their child at home. Both programmes have due regard for good parenting, and both programmes train their teachers well in order to deliver a stimulating class.
There is one more distinguishing feature which is, Heguru says that a child who commences their training with the programme at an early age can develop the ability to do "Hado reading" which is the technique of reading a book and understanding its contents just by turning over its pages. A child who can achieve this ability would also have developed considerable right brain skills to be able to learn and memorise other things quickly.
Shichida has a similar technique called "wave reading" but this is not given a lot of emphasis in Shichida. Shichida maintains that it concentrates on whole-brain education to build up a strong desire in a child to contribute his/her best to the world and that "the purpose of education is not to teach knowledge and skills but to create a well-balanced child with enormous abilities, rich creativity and the ability to use a huge proportion of the brain".
There are other differences which I have not addressed in this post. For example: activities such as mandala and peg memory are introduced in Shichida at 4 years old, whereas they are introduced in Heguru from the beginning. Another example: there is a segment in Heguru for the children to dance and do physical activities, whereas Shichida does not have the same. These are not critical differences, I feel.
In conclusion, I can only say this - choose the programme that suits you and your child better. Don't just look at the results that you want to achieve, look at what the programme involves because the results can only be achieved if you and your child can stick with the programme long-term.
Let me know which school you choose and why!
