My Shichida Books arrived!

Woohoo... the Shichida books I ordered from Japan has finally arrived!! I was so excited and relieved that they passed through the custom with no problems. The reason I ordered the books was because I was desperate to find out more about this right brain training.

Personally I believed Shichida is the original right brain training. And then followed by Tweedlewink which improvised it and created it's own range of courses and products. And then you have Heguru, where the selling point is the MD used to be managing Shichida for 14 years and have also improvised it's method based on Shichida. But like most review from mommies in Malaysia, the standard of teachers in Shichida have dropped (I don't know how true is that) and a lot prefer teachers at Heguru. Heguru schools in Japan is said to be so popular that it has exceeded the number of Shichida schools (again not sure how true is that). I chose Heguru mainly because it's 30 mins away from my house and it's the closest method to Shichida. There's a Tweedlewink in Puchong, even nearer but I'm not convinced to pay RM100 to watch DVD in class :P

You see, I've registered Valerie in the waiting list in Shichida when she was 6 months old, and while waiting, I brought her to Musikhaus in Mutiara Damansara to test out if she would adapt well in a class. Something I've learned from mommies forum. Test the child in a cheaper class first and also to train her to sit through a class before sending her to expensive classes like Shichida / Heguru.

But after trying out 6 weeks we were exhausted because of the distance. Puchong to Mutiara Damansara on a Saturday afternoon takes like 1 hr + to get there and another 1 hr to get home. When the total journey time is double of the class time, you know it's far. So we didn't continue with Musikhaus after 6 weeks. And when we get the call from Shichida in January about enrolment, we declined. Wisma Lim Foo Yong in KL or Centrepoint. Both are about the same distance as going to Musikhaus. With all the rushing and jam, we knew we couldn't survive.

That's until we found Heguru at Midvalley. It's 30 mins from home and Ivan could do shopping while I attend the class with Valerie. The combination is just perfect :D Sometimes I would give Ivan a list of things to buy from Jusco during that 1 hr. That's like killing two birds with one stone. hehe...

Ok, I've diverted again. Back to the books. Well, after joining Heguru for a month. I like the classes and the sensei. But I'm concerned that I don't have much information on what is right brain training all about. And there is no workshop for parents to attend and all the books are in Japanese. I don't even know what home training I should be doing. If given a choice, I would prefer to join Shichida instead because I get to attend parents' workshop and they provide worksheets and guidance how to do home training.

I guess I'm the type of person that needs to know everything from top to bottom. Otherwise, there's no point in paying a bomb for a class if you don't know what is going on. I have to understand what each activity is all about and most importantly, how to train the right brain. So after finding out that there are some books by Dr Makoto Shichida in English, I was so excited.

The only problem is you need to email them and then call them up to give your credit card details. So yes, you need to call to Japan. But no big deal, it's a short call. I actually enjoyed listening to them speaking Japanese. They are just so polite and sweet.

I bought 3 books. Since I'm paying the same delivery charges, I thought why not grab all the relevant books. So here is the list:

1. The Shichida Method
2. Children Can Change Through Right Brain Education
3. Right Brain Education in Infancy

I have to say they are really good books if you want to fully understand what right brain training is all about. And I'm glad I got all 3 because they complement each other. The Shichida Method is like a handbook showing you the methods to train a child in right brain. Straight to the point and no nonsense. The 2nd book focuses on how we should raise a child in right brain education like showing a lot love and positive affirmation etc.. The last book may be a bit boring for some, it's more on the theory side of right brain education. Understanding how the right brain works, the principle.. etc.. All 3 books have overlapping testimonials but very inspiring. Basically the books say once the right brain is unleashed, you can do almost anything as long as you put your mind to it.

The only caution I have is finding a balance in between believing in yourself too much and having the dependency in God. Because there is one example quoted where people of one community praying to God for changes and when the changes came through, the author believed it was more of the power of the right brain willing the change to happen rather than God working the miracles.

Other than that, great books to have. Will explain more in the next post.