Geniuses are not born…they are made.
I strongly believe that all children have the potential to achieve a lot of things and reach their dreams. And we, parents, must give them the support and encouragement to discover themselves and develop their skills. If there’s a slight chance that we can possibly increase their capabilities by 1 or 2 or 5 or 10%, wouldn’t we do whatever it takes?
Since my son started going to school at the age of 3, I’ve started spending 30 minutes to 1 hour daily to do exercise books with him. It was hard at first, of course, children want to play and play whenever they can. But I know that once this habit is fixed and with interesting books and tools, he will begin to find learning as a fun thing to do. It took a lot of patience, time and hard work but now, it’s already a daily habit and I can leave him alone to accomplish his books while I do other things, like write this article and share an experience with you about brain fitness.
I’ve never heard of the term “brain fitness” before. I came across this concept during my quest for children’s activities last year. According to scientific research, we can improve our brain at whatever age we may be, much like how we can improve physical fitness.
An interesting brand I found was BrainFit. I saw their centre previously at The Curve shopping mall and the name itself already made me curious.
BrainFit aims to help children, including babies as young as 3 months up to 18 years old, unleash their intelligence and achieve their true potential. They work with neuro-scientists from the Scientific Learning Corporation to develop programs that children will benefit from.
A tool called CognitiveMAP™, BrainFit®’s proprietary neuroscientific tool, measures the brain fitness level of an individual. It helps trainers to understand each child’s unique brain fitness profile and to objectively measure improvement in cognitive skills after brain fitness training.
BrainFit aims to help children, including babies as young as 3 months up to 18 years old, unleash their intelligence and achieve their true potential. They work with neuro-scientists from the Scientific Learning Corporation to develop programs that children will benefit from.
A tool called CognitiveMAP™, BrainFit®’s proprietary neuroscientific tool, measures the brain fitness level of an individual. It helps trainers to understand each child’s unique brain fitness profile and to objectively measure improvement in cognitive skills after brain fitness training.
CognitiveMAP™ evaluates a student’s cognitive skills in the 5 brain fitness systems of:
1) Visual processing
2) Auditory processing
3) Sensory-Motor processing
4) Attention and Memory
5) Social-Emotional functioning
These 5 systems are important because they form the foundation of “engine for learning”. What you do is to schedule an appointment for your child to go through the CognitiveMAP evaluation. From this, a certified trainer will determine the most suitable program for your child to take.
Depending on the age of your child, BrainFit provides 3 key programs: BrainFit Baby (9 months to 3 years old), BrainFit Junior (3 to 6 years old) and BrainFit Scholar (6 to 18 years old).
My son is 6 years old, turning 7 this year, and he was suitable to proceed with BrainFit Scholar program. This program aims to give school-going children a learning advantage through “mental work-outs”. It comes with key mental muscle programs: SMART Moves, SMART Vision, SMART Listening and SMART Focus. All these are aimed at improving our children’s performance across various areas, from body and spatial awareness up to social skills. He started 2 weeks ago, 2 sessions of 60 minutes per week.
On his first session, my son was introduced to exercises that he’d never done before. He was thrilled to learn and do what the trainer taught him to do. Doing the exercises with other kids is also great as he learns how to be more social and comfortable with the tasks. I was actually nervous if he can stay focused for a stretch of 60 minutes in a new classroom. Surprisingly, with other children and with a patient trainer, he did.
The classrooms are clean, bright and organized.
Look, they have a room for “baby” training program!
By the entrance, there’s a shelf display of educational toys for sale. Don’t be fooled; these are no ordinary toys as these assist to develop logical thinking. Each toy combines learning with fun!
During his 2nd session, he went through similar exercises but a bit harder this time. He still enjoyed it and had fun with 2 other children in class. One of the fascinating exercises was this one where they had to write as skilfully as they can while the pen is vibrating continuously. Look at this!
If you want to help your child in developing his/her skills, preparing for their next stages and if you have budget for it, sending him/her to this program will provide numerous benefits for their growth.
SMART Moves
- Focus and organisation
- Rhythm and timing
- Learning speed
- Body and spatial awareness
- Advance visual skills
- Gross and fine motor skills
- Confidence
SMART Vision
- Handwriting & copying
- Learning speed and abilities
- Focus and attention
- Visual perception and memory
- Accuracy in detailed work
- Visual spatial awareness and organization
SMART Listening
- Auditory processing
- Ability to follow instructions
- Auditory memory
- Receptive and expressive language skills
- Reading and comprehension
- Learning speed
- Attention and focus
- Communication and social skills
- Confidence
SMART Focus
- Attention and concentration
- Ability to stay on task
- Working memory
- Attention stamina
- Impulse control
- Over-activity
My son has not yet completed the program but so far, he’s keen to go back and do more exercises with other kids. It’s wonderful to see your child happily doing something to learn from. Great job, BrainFit!
Online Booking for BrainFit is available at www.nenerland.com
For more information, you can drop by or call:
BrainFit Studio Malaysia
Lot 118, First Floor, The Curve Mall,
No. 6 Jalan PJU 7/3, Mutiara Damansara,
47810 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia.
Tel: +603-77100273 / +6012-2179921
Or visit www.brainfitadvantage.com
Founded by a team of child developmental professionals passionate about maximizing human potential, BrainFit Studio has been dedicating itself to bring you the most up-to-date and scientific brain fitness training programmes since 2001.
BrainFit Studio originated in Singapore and is already 14 years in the region with over 5000+ databased results from programs conducted across Asia. It has established foothold in other countries like Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, and Turkey. BrainFit Studio aims to transform lives by improving learning capabilities, boosting performance, shaping behaviours and increasing intelligence through high-quality evidence-based neuro-scientific cognitive training programmes.
Celeste de Jesus 