Like many others, we were skeptical at the beginning.

 

This is our mindset when we bought our first set of flashcards for our girl (Jo) five years ago. Today, we are completely blown away by the amazing potential of a child’s mind.

Jo loves reading and learning new things everyday. Apart from her childhood church friends, books are her next favorite. She is effectively bilingual and adores books from authors like Enid Blyton and Roald Dahl. Likewise, our son (now 18 months old) is excited about words and crazy over flashcard sessions – both DVD version and real cards. At 16 months, he is able to recognize Chinese characters and English words comfortably.

 

 

Many of us have underestimated and over-simplified flashcard pedagogy. Many of us thought that they are just pieces of paper with some words and pictures. Conversely, there are a number of elements that we have to be in control i.e. speed of flashing, size and colors of the words, repetition rules and etc. Both Glenn Doman and Makato Shichida had spent a total of more than 50 years into this area of research.

Flashcard sounds stressful. This is what I think so too in the beginning. My kids are a fortunate bunch. They have the most wonderful and passionate teacher on earth – their mummy / my beloved wife (Hui Sze). She is always full of energy and joy which trickles down to their flashcard sessions, storytelling sessions and many other fun learning experiences. Learning is not about stress, frustration or lethargy. It’s about fun, affection and bonding.

 

We were inspired very much by this simple quotation:

Learning is a reward, not a punishment.

Learning is a pleasure, not a chore.

Learning is a privilege, not denial.

We spent two years in developing our first DVD flashcard program. Our good photographer friend, JZ, has contributed more than 3000 photographs from more than 7 continents and10 countries over a span of 2 years. The project team also consists of Chinese teachers, early childhood specialists, videographers and multimedia folks. Only with these talented and passionate team members, our dream is realized.

Our fourth child’s ETA is March 2009. This is another fun journey with a different life. The best thing about our business is to know that the greatest beneficiaries are our own children and yours.