Keen on enrolling your child in right brain education but not sure where to start? Read on to find out more about the top three Right Brain Education schools:
- Shichida
- Heguru
- TweedleWink
The Differences Between Shichida, Heguru and TweedleWink
- Pace – TweedleWink believes in following the body’s natural rhythm. Flashcards should be presented at the same pace as the heartbeat. Both Shichida and Heguru flash cards very rapidly, approximately 3 cards per second.
- Extra Sensory Perception (ESP) – There are no ESP activities in the TweedleWink program. Both Shichida and Heguru incorporate activities designed to develop a child’s ESP potential.
- Repetitions – TweedleWink believes there should be fewer repetitions because repetition is the learning style of the left brain. The right brain, which is photographic, captures new material instantaneously and does not require repetition. Repetitions in Shichida and Heguru fall in between Glenn Doman’s three times per day for five consecutive days and TweedleWink’s once a day for three days.
- Movement – TweedleWink believes in the importance of movement to enhance learning. Children, especially boys, need to move to absorb new material. Shichida and Heguru are more structured.
- Activities – TweedleWink believes that the focus of development in infants and toddlers should be purely right brain only. Activities believed to develop the left brain are slowly incorporated later as the left brain emerges and bridging between left and right hemispheres begin to take place. For example, they do not do linking memory, after-image practice, space memory, and other similar activities in their infant and toddler classes. These activities are only incorporated later once the left brain emerges. In Shichida and Heguru, these activities are done right from the start.
- Testing – TweedleWink believes that there should be no testing of the children as this promotes left brain bridging and reduces the right brain potential. The philosophy is relationship first. By virtue of the activities performed in Heguru and Shichida, there is some testing occurring although it is very low-key.
What Happens During the Lesson?
Shichida
- Good morning song in Japanese
- Reinforcement of parent’s love
- Breathing exercise
- Image play
- Extra sensory perception (ESP) training
- Vowel training via song
- Flash card
- Eye exercise
- Photographic memory training
- Linking memory – memory technique for remembering a long sequence of images
- Speed reading and listening
- Puzzles matching game
- Alphabets training via song
- Finger play
- Math with abacus, flash cards, songs and activities
- Goodbye song in Japanese
Heguru
- Introductions
- Flash cards – slow with additional information; stories; songs in other languages; and rapid flashing.
- Reinforcement of parent love.
- Eye training.
- ESP (extra sensory perception) training.
- Linking Memory – memory technique for remembering a long sequence of images.
- Mandala Activity – photographic memory training.
- Mental Imaging – visualising scenarios in the mind.
- Image Training – reproducing images in the mind.
- Speed Listening.
- Puzzles – Tangrams, Iroita.
- Math with abacus, flash cards, songs, and activities and games.
- Peg Memory – memory training technique.
- Music Movement and singing songs.
- Physical Activity.
- Space Memory – memory puzzle.
- Activities – hand writing, puzzles, number memory.
- Story time.
- Goodbye.
TweedleWink
Hello and parent-child relationship reinforcement. Throughout the class, children are given opportunity to move around.
- Vision – visual stimulation and eye training.
- Vocabulary – new words from a variety of categories using flash cards and multi-sensorial activities.
- Culture – introduction to a different country and its culture (language, music, map location etc.)
- Music – perfect pitch training with tuning forks; rhythm training; introduction to different instruments; introduction to different composers and their works.
- Reading – phonics, handwriting, whole words, hands-on activity, riddles, literary exposure, short story.
- Math – flash cards, Math, hands-on math activities.
- Science – a new concept is introduced each week; related hands-on activity.
- Art – exposure to different artists and their works, and styles of art; art activity for older children/Montessori activity for younger children.
- Thank you song.
Overview of the Schools
Shichida
- Country of origin: Japan
- Founder: Makoto Shichida
- Age suitability: 0-6 years (Pre-junior); 7+ (Junior)
- Number of kids per class: 5 max
- Classroom setting: tables and chairs
- Frequency/duration of class: 60 minutes
- Languages used during lessons (including songs): Each week – English, Japanese
- Website: shichidamethod.com
Heguru
- Country of origin: Japan
- Founder: Hirotada and Ruiko Henmi
- Age suitability: 0-12 years old
- Number of kids per class: 6 max
- Classroom setting: floor
- Frequency/duration of class: 60 minutes
- Languages used during lessons (including songs): Each week – Japanese, English, Chinese. Occasionally – a variety of other languages that vary from week to week.
- Website: heguru.com
TweedleWink
- Country of origin: US
- Founder: Pamela Hickein and Wennie Sun
- Age suitability: 0-6 (TweedleWink); 4+ (Wink)
- Number of kids per class: 5 max
- Classroom setting: floor
- Frequency/duration of class: 60 minutes
- Languages used during lessons (including songs): One new language every week (depending on Country studied). If the country is English speaking, then no new languages.
- Website: rightbrainkids.com
From the Horse’s Mouth
Shichida
Some other methods use mainly flashcards or worksheets for their training whereas The Shichida Method™ focus on drawing out the innate imagery system in learning through fun techniques. Parents will be taught how to use stimulating materials during the public seminar. We provide parents the foundation to help their children and not to over-emphasise academic performance, much seen in other types of programmes.
Today, the 21st Century is called the Century of the Brain. It is the right time now to have babies because The Shichida Method™ is revealing to us how we can bring up a child with less stress, more joy and in a successful manner. Our nation can then have many capable and useful citizens with a strong commitment to serve society and to serve with a great heart and positive mindset.
Jocelyn Khoo, Director of Shichida Method
Heguru
Heguru is the result of 27 years of research. It is a wholesome and balanced education which places importance in character building to inculcate a positive attitude towards life.
‘Developing Potential Abilities’ is the main theme of HEGL education. It means activating the genes that are asleep within the individual. HEGL education is an epoch-making method that shows how to activate the gene. When children are trained to fully utilise their right brain, this ability will greatly enhance their learning ability and they become high achievers.
Tam Yu Li, Representative of Heguru Malaysia
TweedleWink
TweedleWink is a balanced program that teaches both sides of the brain based on the child’s development with the Montessori philosophy (where the child takes the lead) as our foundation.
We do not teach ESP, although we encourage children to use heart-based intuition and creativity. We teach speed reading based on a solid foundation of early reading skills. We teach to the rhythm of the heart because we believe a more rapid rate of delivery can over-stimulate the nervous system. We empower our teachers to use their own right-brain creativity and we encourage children to move because movement is good for the brain. We also believe that a strong relationship between the child and the parent is vital.
Wennie Sun, Co-founder of TweedleWink Malaysia