The Bub in the Belly

The highlight of our weekend was Ryan's little showcase at Shichida's Makoto Club. I am happy (and relieved!) to report that it went very well, and I am most happy that Ryan was happy throughout the event.

The audience was warm and friendly. Everyone had a smile for the children and good things to say. Huge thanks to all of Ryan's supporters! Special thanks to Swan and family who rushed from another event on the other end of the island, and Sue and her hubby, who came with a perfect little card and gift for Ryan! Teacher Hirin was also there, rushing over from Springleaf branch after her classes - Ryan was so happy to see her! Thanks also to Margaret and all at home for their love and well wishes, even though they could not be there. Ryan was definitely in a very positive mood that day!

Pardon the dirty patch on the wall - that's where Tiger brushes himself everyday.

The event started with a screening of one of the episodes of "My Perfect Child", which featured some Shichida children. The message was that building a bond between parent and child is a powerful foundation for nurturing and developing your child's best talents and character traits. I truly believe this to be the case.

Ryan went on stage after that. I was told that I could accompany him on stage if I felt that he needed help, but I decided to let him go up on his own. Turned out that he was marvellously independent!


He went through three sets of linking memory, some block play, poem reading and a song-and-dance. He had a false start for linking memory, although I think it was only noticeable to those who were familiar with the material. He was a little un-used to what was going on around him: the linking memory images were being flashed on the screen behind him and Teacher Erfi was sitting closely next to him with the linking memory story sheet and the timer. I could see his eyes darting around as he tried to take everything in while reciting. About 2-3 seconds into it, he mentally shook everything off and then he started over. All on his own. Actually that was the moment that I was most proud of. Something small that maybe nobody realised or noticed, but something big in my eyes - he knew he was not quite focused yet he didn't give up; he maintained his composure and got the job done. He clocked in at 2 minutes and 17 seconds, which is well below the time limit.

Block play was easy peasy, as you can see from the photo above. The pattern is made up of 16 blocks. Ryan completed it in 48 seconds, methodically and efficiently. Then he had to read a poem which he had never read or heard before. It was "Barbershop" by Martin Gardner, supposedly for six year olds. This was to showcase the fact that he can read and that he can read above his level. He did mispronounce two words - one was "quiver". He pronouced the "qui" like it sounds in "quiet".

Song and dance segment - he did a rap but didn't dance! I guess he was still a little shy. The song was a rap of the lyrics to "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom". Teacher Hirin told me that she couldn't really catch what he was singing about, hahaha! He rapped through the song so quickly!

Next we screened our video. Here it is! It's about 9 minutes. If you turn down the volume of the music at the start, do turn it back on when he starts on Chinese. That's when the music cuts out, and you can hear him talking.



I will talk about the video in another post, to highlight some points about the right brain stuff.

After the video, the other student came on - Tan Wen Yu. She was adorable! She did linking memory, recited a poem by heart and played her own award-winning composition on the piano. Brilliant! When she was playing on the piano, Ryan said he wanted to go up on stage and do his song and dance again! I guess he was inspired and a lot more relaxed, and felt that he was able to get some dancing moves on, heh heh!

Q&A with the parents was short. I think it was a little uneven because everyone was talking on different levels and stages. A little difficult for the audience to ask questions, and a little difficult for the parents to give accurate answers, because we may not be talking about children at the same stages. Plus, we may each have different objectives and goals, and different parenting styles and approaches. Even between the two parents on stage, there were obvious differences. Anyway, I hope that it was at least clear that there is no hard and fast rule. Every child is different; and the most important thing is to stay positive.

The other thing that was a relief for me was the chance to talk about Ryan and not come across as bragging. It is very hard for me sometimes when I am with non-Shichida mummies to talk about Ryan, even if it's just about his interests and hobbies. I mean, this boy can learn 80 flags in 15 minutes - how do I say that without sounding as if I'm bragging? Not everyone finds stuff like this inspiring, some people take it as showing off. In addition, I don't want him to be a party trick or a circus act. So I'm usually silent about all this and, in fact, none of my friends or family know that he learned all those flags, let alone in 15 minutes.

Having said that, it is a wonderful thing to be able to share what Ryan can do, to share our happiness that he is doing so well. Fortunately, Shichida parents are a receptive crowd because they are aware that every child can do what Ryan does, and they want to work with their own children to realise that potential. They know that I'm not touting Ryan as being unique or special because they know that there are many Shichida children who are more amazing. We can move beyond all that and talk constructively about what parents can do to nurture their children, which is the part I like to talk about!

After the Q&A, there was the presentation of the certificates to the children, together with some cash vouchers. They also got some stickers! All the teachers were very supportive and encouraging, and made Ryan feel so comfortable. In particular, I have to say a big thank you to Teacher Hirin and Teacher Nuraini for nominating Ryan for the event. They love and support Ryan so very much.

Ryan had a wonderful time, he enjoyed himself so much although he spent less than ten minutes on stage. I understand that it may not be a big deal to some people but, for our little family, it was truly something to remember. Not so much because Ryan got to perform, but because he got to experience such warmth and positive attention from so many people - such a wonderful boost for a four year old, and we are so grateful for that. Our little king was made to feel like a king, if only for a little while, so it was a fabulous day for us.

If you have children attending Shichida classes (whether at Springleaf or Toa Payoh), do come and meet Ryan this Sunday, 2 June 2013, at the Makoto Club showcase at the Toa Payoh branch. The event starts at 5.30 pm. Not to worry if you can only come later - Ryan only gets on stage during the later segment - "Meet a Shichida Genius", which should start around 6 pm. I understand from the staff that they usually get a crowd of about 80 people (including children) and the crowd is usually a bit rowdy because the children run and walk about, so I'm imagining that it will be quite a friendly, casual event.

There will be another student at the showcase. I haven't met her yet but, if you know Tan Wen Yu, do come and support her too. I'm looking forward to seeing her on Sunday.

After the students' performances, there will be a question-and-answer session with their parents (including me), so it will be a good opportunity to find out more about Shichida parenting and home activities. Hopefully, I can give you something helpful to take away from the session!

For today's post, in addition to plugging Sunday's event (heh heh), I want to talk about the importance of the right part of the brain. I have heard people say many things about the "right brain" and about "right brain training" and, most of the time, their comments are over-simplistic to me. There are also some comments which don't make sense to me. So I thought that I would explain a little about how the right part of the brain contributes to our everyday life and, hopefully, that will shed a little light on how important it is. What I've posted here is a result of reading up here and there. If you would like the sources or some reading material, let me know.

First of all, it's just not true that most people don't use their right brains. Everyone with an intact brain (ie. no brain damage or anything like that) uses the left and right parts of their brains. At its very basic, if you can lift your left hand, tap your left foot, turn your head to the left - that's the right part of the brain working. That's why stroke victims who suffer damage to their right brain have difficulty moving the left parts of their body, and vice versa.

Second, the left part of the brain processes things in sequence, while the right part of the brain processes things simultaneously. So sequential functions like talking, writing and reading - these are performed by the left part of the brain. Recognising faces, identifying shapes, getting a feel of situations - these are performed by the right brain.

Third, the left part of the brain breaks things down into details, while the right part of the brain puts details together to see the big picture. So, activities such as sorting and categorising - left part of the brain does all that. On the other hand, the right part of the brain sees relationships and connections, even between elements which are very different. It gives us the power to invent, create, and synthesise.

Fourth, the left part of the brain handles text, while the right part of the brain handles context. Nothing new here - let's say I tell you that it's raining "cats and dogs". The left part of the brain will think literally of cats and dogs falling from the sky, while the right part of the brain will process it as a metaphor. This applies to emotional context as well - the right part of the brain connects details such as body language, facial expressions, etc. and uses those details to provide the context to what we say. So if my husband tells me that it's ok, but rolls his eyes at the same time, the right part of my brain will understand that it's really not ok.

Sometimes you hear people say how the left brain "takes over" when the right brain isn't active or isn't strong enough. I've said that myself, usually because I don't want to launch into a big explanation. In fact, that is an over simplification and is not accurate. Both parts of the brain contribute to nearly everything we do, although one part may be more active in a particular activity. Each part approaches things differently and both approaches are necessary for us to navigate life.

I was brought up in an age where the more facts you could hold in your memory bank and the faster you could recall them, the better and the smarter you were. I believe that this is changing now. Now, information is so easily accessible. At a click of a button, you can find out a million and more facts. People self-diagnose their medical ailments from reading websites, from sending out queries to forums and Facebook friends. I can learn how to play a guitar, how to sew a blouse, how to say "I love you" in Japanese, and how to roast a chicken - all from Youtube.

So, if a computer can pull up information and do it faster and cheaper, where does that leave us?

Well, I believe that the people who have the greatest chance of success in the future will be people who are creative and people who have high emotional quotient (people who have empathy). People who, having all the facts, can take matters a step further to design solutions, come up with new ideas and new perspectives, and initiate progress. People who see and create beauty - because, out of the twenty different models of washing machines you see at the store, the bestseller is the one with the good looks. And people who infuse empathy into their relationships and fill their lives with meaning. All these people will be more right brain driven.

This post is an overview but I hope it gives you some insight into how I view right brain training. It also explains why I emphasise certain right brain training activities and de-emphasise others. If you have any questions, feel free to email me or, even better, come down for the showcase on Sunday!