Ancient Knowledge

quoting Confucius,  "Tell me and I forget. Show me and I remember. Let me do and I understand."


I like to coin the term "movement memory" to add to what Confucius said about learning.  Brain Gym adds movement to learning and complements your school and academic processes.


I still remember a 6 year old learning to read in my class.  These children were given 5 words to learn every week and had to be able to read them the following week.  So for this boy in order to remember a word he had learned  before and to read it aloud, he did a little dance and bump with his buttocks.  It was so funny that we had a good laugh every week - that's movement memory for you.

Get to know your Brain - Neurons

The brain cell - neurons.
You have them.  The fascinating thing about neurons is that they grow with stimulation of the mind and body.  Imagine a tree that copiously branches out every time you touch it, speak to it, look at it, play music to it...anything!!  In the infant this stimulation is continuous.  That's why my 12 month old child rather play with the box than the toy in the box.

The dendrites of each individual neuron number in the thousands.  They branch out and connect with other neurons as the need may be.  The connection is electro-chemical across the gap called a synapse and is not physical.  The purpose is to receive signals and transmit them to other neurons, forming neural circuits.

There is a neural circuit for every movement and I would like to think every thought too.  Hence a movement that you can do unconsciously is run by a complex circuit whereas a new movement in which you clumsily attempt  to do (think wake boarding fro the first time) is just newly forming its circuit.  So there are millions of these circuits - directly proportional to the amount of stimulation you have been receiving.

What if a child does not get enough stimulation? Retardation - the ugly word.
A friend of mine met a child who was left in a hammock for the whole day while the parents, farmers, went out to work.  The caregiver did not bother even to change diapers so to speak.  The child was hosed down and left to dry in the warm tropical climate.  Very little stimulation indeed - the result?  The boy is unable to speak today.  And it would have been much worse if he had not been fortunately adopted by a kind soul who saw his plight.

Movement is the door to learning.

Brain Gym advocates moving to learn.

Do Singaporeans care about their children?

I am sure Singaporeans love their children.  Maybe the real question should be how do they care...often parents care enough to spend their hard earned savings...when they come to get some Brain Gym intervention.  The sessions are not cheap.

However to see results I have to ask them to spend more than money.  What many Singaporeans apparently don't have enough of is TIME.  "So can you help your son by doing the Brain Gym with him 3 more times in the week before you see me again?"  This is essential, I explain... but my words are not really good enough.

"Sure," they answer, but when they come back they bring a host of excuses...its either work or school or homework or whatever.

Is it our competitiveness, our kiasu attitude or a results driven education system?  Let the sociologists among us argue and debate for an answer.  For now however, the child does not get the help they need.

Any easy way out?  ...blame the specialist, of course.