The first few years of a child's life are too precious to waste. It has been shown that brain development and growth is at its highest from birth to age six. Parents are aware of this, and many businesses have been established to meet an unprecedented demand for classes or tools to help small children develop to their potential.
This is a definite trend in modern-day parenting. While not all parents sign up for one of the hundreds of classes and activities available, more than half of urban parents have, at some point, tried one of them. The choices are so abundant that parents might get confused. Here is some of what's on offer.
FOR FUN AND PLAY
This is the most common type of school for small children, available at any department store or community mall in Bangkok. Each school, however, follows a different philosophy and has a distinctive programme. They learn through playing with toys, singing songs and listening to stories, while mingling with other children.
Chatchawan Bannasthitkul, the managing director of Child Development Center Co which operates Babies Genius, said that children will naturally develop on their own, but there are ways to support them and make sure they reach their potential.
He was trained in the UK for this programme and acquired further knowledge about children's development in the US, Singapore and Australia before opening Babies Genius more than a decade ago.
"We focus on children under three, and we take students who are as young as six months old. What we do is put them in a fun environment to encourage learning. We feed them information in a way that is suitable for their age, otherwise they will not be interested. For example, if we give a six-month-old baby numbers and letters, he or she might not be interested because at that time letters are something irrelevant to their lives," he said.
The centre is in no way a nursery. Whereas parents can drop their child off at a nursery, mothers and fathers are required to stay and learn at Babies Genius.
"We insist that a parent or at least the child's nanny must be present in the class, because what we aim to do is to provide an example of a constructive learning experience for them to do at home," said Chatchawan.
"We will also help the parents notice any negative behaviour and find the root cause. Some children aggressively pull their friends' hair because such behaviour is tolerated at home. Some spend most of the time with an iPad, which makes their attention span shorter and they are more likely to be temperamental. Our ultimate goal is to make sure the child's development is improved, and parents play the most important role in that aspect."
The fun and interactive activities are based on multiple forms of intelligence, namely linguistic, logical-mathematical, spatial, musical, kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, emotional and cognitive intelligence. Children are introduced to all eight areas through integrated activities.
"That way, we can see what the child's strengths and weaknesses are, so the parents can understand their child better," said Chatchawan.
The most important thing, he added, is to help children build self-confidence as it enhances their interest in learning. Additionally, all classes are conducted in English, as it is beneficial for Thai-speaking children.
FOR CREATIVE YOUNG MINDS
Heguru, a programme from Japan, focuses on right brain development in order to help promote creativity, memory, concentration and high-speed processing.
Heguru Kaset-Nawamin's Tida Sutivijitho explained that even though the centre here only opened two months ago, the programme has been popular in other parts of the world for decades. The classes are divided into five age groups, catering to children as young as three months up to about eight years.
''The right part of the brain needs stimulation, and it develops very quickly in the first six years. It is important for a person to have creativity and imagination because it will help them with the learning process for life. Knowledge can't be put to maximum use without creativity,'' Tida said.
The class is conducted in a carpeted room with no desks or chairs. A teacher and an assistant leads the activities for six to eight children (and their parents, if the children are under three-and-a-half years old) for 50 minutes. Children will be taught about such things as important places in the world, reading calendars and clocks, and knowing the continents. A stack of cards will be flashed rapidly in front of them.
''We have to be quick in order to capture their interest. Plus, seeing images flashing quickly also means that the right side of the brain is stimulated. We believe it helps to leave a very deep impression in the children's minds, and they memorise better that way. It teaches them to be observant, which is an important basis for learning.'' Children are also given toys to play with to learn about different shapes, colours and textures. Most of the content and tools are from the headquarters in Japan, with some local knowledge added.
Tida stressed that parents should truly understand the concept of the programme before enrolling their child, and after the class the parents are required to meet with the teacher to discuss the child's development. There is no assessment, no tests and no rankings because Heguru believes a child's capability can't, and shouldn't be, measured with numbers.
FOR THE CURIOUS ONES
Science and toddlers might seem far apart, but the sooner children are introduced to the concept the better. Kim Jongsatitwattana saw the need for young Thais to get a head start and came up with several collaboration projects to make sure science seeps into young minds.
Although Nanmee Books Learning Center is not a school per se, it is an environment in which children can get their hands on science.
''Our Learning Center is aimed at sparking curiosity and satiating the hunger for knowledge through experimenting. The stations do not have explanations _ we only write down a short question for them to find out the answer to on their own,'' said Kim.
The centre, which opened about a year ago, is a collaboration with Phanomenta from Germany. There are now 35 stations to teach children how things work, from a Roman bridge to reflections in mirrors. ''It is a part of Nanmee Books' CSR [corporate social responsibility] project, and although it is a very pricey project, we aim to add at least six stations each year.''
The Learning Center is right next to a zone for infants and toddlers who might be too young for scientific experiments. There are books, developmental toys and areas for them to climb, walk, jump or roll around to help build their motor skills. It also incorporates Nanmee Books' other project, the Little Scientists' House, which offers easy experiments suitable for kindergarten children.
The Little Scientists' House began four years ago when Nanmee Books translated a book about science and experiments by German writer Joachim Hecker. HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn saw the project in Germany during her visit in 2009, and wanted to make it happen in Thailand. With cooperation from Nanmee Books and other partners such as NSTDA, NSM, B Grimm, Goethe Institut Thailand, PTT Chem and Siemens, kindergarten students have the chance to do simple experiments at their school and see that science is fun.
Boxes with experiments are given to participating schools for free, but teacher training is required. So far, 12,000 schools have participated nationwide.
FOR HAPPY SOULS
Believing that life skills are the most important things to learn in childhood, Karita Morales brought SoulKids to Thailand. In this two-day workshop, children aged between six and 16 can learn confidence, creativity, independence, self-esteem and spirituality through fun stories and activities.
It is what Morales called ''a transformational weekend'' where kids are guided through stories to teach them to love themselves, lose their fears and find their voices. She found this programme while going through a tough time in life and was amazed by how much it changed her and her daughter.
''It's an essential life skills programme,'' Morales said.
''They come, they learn through stories and learn life skills like self-awareness, creativity, how to work in teams, how to be independent, to realise they are unique. All those are important skills that children need but sometimes forget.''
Although it is ''transformational'', it is not only for children who have problems, although often children are going through some kind of issue without parents recognising it _ bullying at school, low self-esteem, parents' divorce or even not feeling loved.
Any child can benefit from the programme.
''We grow together and learn something that will unravel their mental blocks. They grow with SoulKids and the stories grow on them. They can go back to school with more confidence, and therefore do better in school,'' Morales said.
Teaching techniques include positive self-talk, developing self-reference skills and connecting with the senses. The programme is in Thai and English, or all English. SoulKids was originally created in 2003 by Vikas Malkani, a bestselling author who also founded SoulCentre, which is for personal development. The programme supplements traditional academic learning.
After the workshop, there is a parent session to share what happened, and Morales said most are more than eager to join in because they want to know why their children have transformed so much in just two days.
