In life, success and achievement is not always the result of your social status or educational attainment. Sometimes, your triumph is also the product of your capability to think outside the box, use the power of your imagination, and exercise excellent and reliable memory.
According to the Shichida Method, a type of educational training dubbed as ‘soul education’, creativity should be part of the home early learning for developing children. Highlighting the need to instil their ingenuity and inspired perception of the world around them paves the way for kids to cultivate a loving soul and an open heart.
Even at an early age, these traits can be taught and incorporated into children. The learning method introduced by the late Makoto Shichida has a combination of educational tools and training strategies specifically designed for toddlers. It is called the ‘Kuri Series’, and it is suitable for young children aged two to 2.5 years old.
Some of the lessons and activities included in the Kuri Series include using flashcards and image training. Images and flashcards are designed to sharpen the memory of toddlers. The bright-coloured pictures are also introduced along with counting and recognizing the alphabet. In this manner, kids learn the ABCs, and they also learn how to count. Counting and reading enable children to learn how they can communicate their ideas more accurately.
The teaching method also banks on repetition by using the same patterns in introducing new information to children. Repetition works well in kids, especially those who are highly receptive to their environment and rely heavily on various stimuli from their surroundings to make sense of the circumstances around them.
It sets an appropriate and scalable way to observe and assimilate all the new information they encounter as they mature. It helps them discriminate more objectively between choices and crossroads they may reach later on in life. It is a reflective way of viewing the world and their experiences.
The Kuri Series in the Shichida method concentrates on developing the right brain hemisphere in toddlers.
With the motto, Love, Praise, and Accept, activities that are designed for right brain stimulation are rooted in the need for children to be enriched in terms of how they express their ideas and emotions. When learning in toddlers and young children is extremely skewed or heavily biased on developing only the left side of their brains, it can be detrimental for them in the long run. Imagine a child who is great at problem solving, mathematics, reading, yet lacks the empathy and level of understanding to ponder on their self-growth and the need to socialize and be sensitive to the needs of others.
In contrast, the importance that the Kuri series regards encouraging kids to embrace their imaginative selves allows them more space to understand their perceptions, explore it, and have the confidence to share it to the world.
By using pictures to acquaint them with the world, toddlers learn how to appreciate others and find the beauty in them. By teaching them how to count and recite the alphabet, children understand that for them to form happy and positive relations with others, they first need to develop proper communication skills.
Finally, memory connects nerves and neural pathways in the developing brains of young children. The more they enhance their memory, the more their brains can present vivid pictures of the things that they learn and the possibilities that they can come up with about their future.
Home early learning for children is a multidimensional process. It should be aimed at allowing kids to get to know themselves better and understand that they are capable of attaining wonderful things given a chance.
