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If they don’t read for enjoyment they can’t read factual information effectively, and so when they go further in their education, they can’t look
at an argument and see the faults in it. They can’t see the lack of logical
consistency. So they look at newspapers and believe them. A person
who reads literature develops all the skills of reading, they develop word
attack skills but also thinking skill that are necessary to decipher essay
and scientific papers etc.
Q: MindChamps works closely with Emeritus Professor Allan
Snyder, who has done extensive research on the ‘Champion
Mindset’. What are some of the characteristics of this mindset?
A: There are two major characteristics; Firstly they don’t want to be
ordinary and secondly, they have experienced and learnt from failure.
Professor Snyder said, If you look down the list of nobel prize winners
and look for ‘A’ students, you won’t find many. They’re mostly ‘B’ or ‘C’ students. Children who had to work hard and fail a number of times before
they succeeded. Those who did not fit into the academic structure because they thought outside of the box, and so they created new ways of
doing things. They didn’t do very well at school but did really well in life.
Q: How can parents help their child at home?
A: It’s not your role as a parent to be the repository of all knowledge.
Your role is to be a sounding board, and to encourage skills that will
benefit the child in every possible way; to encourage creativity, imagination, to get the child to relax in the midst of study. One thing parents
can do is to accept that relaxation is part of study. That you don’t have
to push a child to breaking point, but you make sure they are sitting and
working in a comfortable environment. That they have their own quiet
space that is not the same used for entertainment or sleep. Making sure
the kids have interests outside of study is very important, as well as ac-
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cepting failure as a part of success. If the child never fails, they don’t learn
how to adjust and step outside the box to think of new things.
For very little kids, play with them. Sit down on the floor, build with
them, crawl around, and make animal noises. Read a book, use the book
as a toy and find ways to make the book relevant. When talking about
little kids, reading is a social engagement with the people you’re reading with.
Q : If you could give parents one piece of advice, what would
it be?
A: To relax. Kids are natural learners, so make it comfortable and enjoy-
able. Once parents realise that, it’s a big burden lifted off their shoulders.
Q: How does MindChamps’ new ‘Say & Sing’ Phonics Method
and App work?
A: The phonic books are designed to be a tool for parents to read with
the child or if the child is working on their own, then the book mimics
the role of the parent in the reading process. So the book reads to the
child, or the child can read to the book. We have different components.
On one hand the book reads to you and then e