Our love for Heguru continues {Review of Heguru Education Centre Part V}

If there's one thing my kids have been faithful to over the last few years, it's the love for their weekly Heguru lessons. I'm not one who is big on enrichment classes for young kids but I am truly thankful to see how they have blossomed and grown in this right brain training journey.

I've shared extensively about our experience with Heguru Education Centre over the past years. You can read about the class curriculum which I've divided into 12 broad categories, how the kids progressed after a year of lessons, why it is important to start early as well as a Q&A post which answers most of the common queries I gathered from my readers.

Going for Heguru class is one of our weekly highlights

In this post, besides sharing about how this journey has benefited each of my three kids who are in different age groups, I will also like to take the chance to thank all the teachers and staff for their hard work in coming up with e-lessons during the circuit breaker period and for ensuring that the kids are in a safe and hygienic environment when lessons resumed.

A look at the safety precautions

When classes restarted in Phase 2 after a long hiatus, it was inevitable that parents were feeling jumpy and worried about whether there were adequate safety precautions in place, especially on how social distancing could be carried on in classrooms which are tight in space.

Asher is in the Year 4 class for Infant and Toddlers (for kids born in 2016) and for the first couple of weeks in July, I was able to accompany him to class so I could take a look at how lessons were being conducted. Besides the routine sanitising of hands and checking of temperature whenever the children arrived at the centre, the teachers had also put in place extensive distancing measures and ensured that everyone was properly masked up before entering the class.

Sanitising hands and doing temperature checks before entering the class

Inside the class, I was impressed to see that there were acrylic panels set up between every student in class. This ensured that each of them was as safe as can be in their own individual space while still enjoying the lesson. While the assistant teacher had on a surgical mask at all times, the main teacher wore a face shield so that her voice could still be projected loudly and clearly to everyone in class.

Previously, the kids used to share a long bench when it was time to do their classwork. Yes, they always have a chance to practise their penmanship, do letter tracing and participate in writing activities in every lesson. To make this safer for the young ones during this pandemic, the centre has taken the effort to invest in one small wooden table for every kid. That means they get to stay in between the acrylic panels even when they do their worksheets, which is something that most parents are very thankful for because it goes to show how much they care for the well-being of our little ones.

I did a check with the girls who are both attending the Primary Course for 7 to 12 year olds. While Asher's class has a maximum of six students, theirs is bigger and can have more than a dozen. However, they told me that the classroom is very spacious because the teachers have combined two classrooms into one and social distancing is also observed. For instance, siblings are to sit together during classwork and there is a maximum of two kids on each side of the wooden bench, which sounds pretty acceptable to me.

Acrylic panels are placed in between every child to ensure a safe and hygienic environment

Each student is given a table during classwork to ensure minimal contact with others

How the kids have benefited from Heguru

Moving on, I would like to highlight some of the improvement areas I have observed in the kids. I have to say that the one who has shown the most progress in the last year is the four-year-old boy. Sure, he might still be shy, timid, clingy and needs plenty of assurance from me whenever he steps into class but he has also openly declared his love for his Heguru teachers and tells me how much he enjoys the lesson content. In the last year, he has shown the biggest improvement in the following:

1) Fine motor skills
This is one of the activities that he enjoys the most and some examples include using a pair of tweezers to pick up buttons or a pair of chopsticks to transfer pompoms. While honing his fine motor skills, these activities also help to capture his attention span and makes him more focused in class too. My good friends are always very amazed to see how he deftly uses chopsticks to eat his food and I must say the key is in having consistent practice and not giving up easily.

Picking up small erasers with a pair of tweezers and placing them in allocated spots

Using chopsticks to pick up pompoms one by one and lining them up to form a caterpillar

2) Numeracy and memory skills

There are two activities to do with numbers that he extremely loves - one is the dot bar where the teacher uses dots to teach simple arithmetic addition and subtraction and the other is the number memory where the child is tasked to memorise a string of numbers within seconds. 

This boy gets very enthusiastic whenever the teachers asks for answers during dot bar and would always shout out his answers. I was amazed to know that he could remember equations likes 7+3=10 or 10-4=6 and it proved to me that this method worked wonders in helping his mind to grasp the mathematical concepts.

He loves the number memory activity and has on more than one occasion shown to me that he could perform well in his tasks, the hardest of which would require him to remember seven numbers in less than 10 seconds. From a boy who would barely write numbers and was not sure which side '5' should face, he has definitely come a long way.

He looks forward to the number memory activity in every lesson and tries his best to achieve a full score every time

As for his memory, he has also shown vast improvement which is evident by how he can remember colours in a simple Mandala and recreate them or how he can remember 10 words by linking them to tell a story. These are some of the incredible ways that the teachers at Heguru train their memory and I can personally vouch that they are indeed very effective on young minds. That is also why it is recommended for kids to embark on their right brain training journey as early as possible before it becomes dormant and fails to reach its peak potential.

Filling up the colours in a Mandala based on what he remembers after seeing it on screen

Flashcards play a key role and they help to activate the right brain and strengthen instant memory

3) Logical and analytical skills

During the circuit breaker, we took out our tangram puzzles to practise and it was plain to see that this boy misses doing it and could still do it swiftly and correctly. Yup, I love that they get to work on puzzles every week in class because these are such a great way to learn to be creative as they analyse and solve a problem, for instance they have to think of which shapes go where, how to combine two pieces together and how to rotate a certain piece to make it fit. It's amazing seeing how his mind works to complete a puzzle nowadays and he doesn't even need my help already!

He can work on his tangram puzzles independently now and usually completes it within the stipulated time

4) Eagerness to learn

Last but not least, he has also become a more eager learner and that broadens out in many aspects, including a willingness to read more books, practise his phonics, learn a new game like Monopoly or a new sport like rollerblading. I think a big part of it is because he is very much loving his Heguru class which exposes him to new knowledge like cultural history, art, scientific concepts and even foreign languages which piques his interest and makes him wonder.

He might still be shy to go to class or answer questions but he has surely shown vast improvement in more ways than one

He is four and a half years old now and still loving everything he does in his Heguru class

As for the girls, they have been enjoying this rare opportunity to attend the same class together, despite one being three years older than the other. The teachers cater to their different levels and also give out varying difficulties of classwork and I can only imagine how tough it must be to handle an entire class of primary schoolers - which explains why there are usually at least four teachers in their class.

During the circuit breaker, the teachers took the effort to come up with online classes and also did interactive zoom sessions with the students. These two would happily sit side by side to have their lesson but instead of monkeying around, both of them actually did their utmost to solve questions, do puzzles and complete their work. 

Hard at work during their interactive zoom session with their Heguru teachers during Circuit Breaker

In terms of their progress, these are the three areas that I've picked out:

1) Heightened memory and thinking skills

Without a doubt, memory skills are a big part of their right brain training and I can only say that I am both impressed and thankful to see how the kids have all progressed in this aspect. Of course, I would like to think that genes play a part too but the fact is their weekly Heguru lessons definitely played a crucial role and I've seen how they can achieve things that even I can't. For instance, the big girl has amazed the teachers and I on numerous occasions by how she can memorise a string of 20 numbers with no error at all. At first, I thought it might be a fluke but she did it again, and again, and again and proved to us that it was not by chance and she really had the ability to do it.

She achieved a perfect score for her number memory activity and amazed the adults, including the teachers and I

It definitely helps that the girls put on their thinking caps at every Heguru class and are trained to use both their right and left brains simultaneously, which I feel will not just benefit them academically but also branch out into other aspects of their lives, take music for instance.

As for the 7-year-old, she might not be as accomplished when it comes to numbers - yes, please remind me never to compare - but she shines in her own unique ways. We've been learning to play the piano through YouTube and self learning and she is the one who can memorise notes at a fast and amazing speed, so much so that I find myself having to struggle to keep up so I can continue to teach her. If this is not a good indication of her memory skills, I'm not sure what is.

This girl loves playing the piano and can memorise notes and learn new songs as a swift pace

2) Increased interest and ability to solve puzzles and mind challenges

I love puzzles, both as a kid and even as an adult now. Yup, I like to solve math problems, I like IQ tests and I can never resist solving a good riddle too. The thing is, it's not always easy to pass on this love to the kids who, in this age and time, have access to electronic devices and lots more entertainment options than we used to have. Thanks to Heguru, the kids are exposed to different kinds of puzzles - Iroita, Tangram, Kamoshika, String, Pelican - every week and it gives them a sense of accomplishment every time they manage to solve one within the time limit given by the teachers. Over time, they have developed a love for puzzles, which to me, is something to celebrate because it helps to develop their critical thinking and problem solving skills. It also means they like to take on hard problems and not shun away from a challenge. Nowadays, even in our free time, we like to take out out puzzles and do them together as a family too.

Tangram puzzles help kids to learn mathematical concepts such as symmetry, spatial awareness and geometry

We like to solve puzzles as a family and this means we have less screen time and more meaningful parent-child interaction

An example of a challenging problem they have to learn to solve in their classwork. It really makes them think hard!

3) A sense of responsibility and independence

Both of the girls have been performing well in school in the past years. Besides bagging Edusave Merit Awards and Character Award and receiving positive feedback from their teachers, the most important thing is that they have been showing independence and proven that they can take responsibility for their own tasks. For instance, they practise their spelling and dictation on their own without needing me to test them, they pack their own bags and get ready their uniforms, they do their HBL learning as best as they can on their own.

While having a good memory and strong analytical skills helps in their academics and is one of the reasons why we are still tuition-free, Heguru takes one step further and helps to inculcate morals and core values in them, like reminding them to be good, kind and helpful people who will contribute to the society. That, is something I am truly grateful for.

The girls take responsibility for their individual schoolwork, including memorising their weekly spellings on their own

While we will always have our fair share of ups and downs and handling bigger kids who are entering the tween phase is never as easy as it sounds, I am just thankful and proud to see how these girls have grown and look forward to seeing how they will further blossom in future years.

For now, we are happy and thankful to have resumed our Heguru classes because it is a weekly highlight for the kids and all of them continue to enjoy their lessons and find them fun and exciting. It's something that brings joy to us and I hope it does the same for you and your child too. Remember, try to stick around for at least a year or more to reap the benefits and see the difference. If you have any questions, feel free to drop me a DM or email me anytime.

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Heguru Education currently has five centres located in SingPost Centre, Waterway Point, Our Tampines Hub, Oasis Terraces Mall and Serangoon NEX. They are backed and managed by a stellar team of highly experienced and dedicated local educators with strong credentials who are commited to nurturing young minds. To find out more about the courses (for babies 6 months old to children 12 years old) and the respective contacts for the centres, visit https://www.hegurueducation.com.sg/.

Guess who is always so happy to go for Heguru class? Actually, all three of my kids are!

Disclosure: This is a sponsored collaboration between Heguru Education Centre and A Happy Mum. All opinions are my own.