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Text and pix by Ruzaik Farook
The seventh National Abacus, Brain Gym and Mental Arithmetic Competition and Awards Ceremony was held at the St. Joseph’s College Auditorium at Colombo recently, where the children showcased their mental calculative skills, concentration, focus, memory and memory recall attempting 125 sums in five minutes. The event was sponsored by Kellogg’s.
A total of 700 children in the age group between seven to 12 years from 22 SIP Learning Centers in participated in this Abacus, Brain Gym and Mental Arithmetic Competition
The Chief Guest, Research and Technology Deputy Minister Faizer Musthapha, inaugurated the event. Speaking at the occasion, Musthapha said he was was bowled over by the mental abilities of the children and expressed delighted in seeing such large numbers of children taking part in the event.
He was impressed to witness children calculating faster than calculators, appreciated the parents present for giving their children such an opportunity and encouraged them to retain their children for sustained long-term development coming through continued practice.
Ruing the fact he did not have this opportunity when young, he expressed interest in taking this SIP programme to more and more children in the country.
SIP Malaysia Founder Director Kelvin Tham said that children of Sri Lanka were indeed blessed to be able to have such a programme at their doorstep. He also mentioned that SIP children had won international accolades in various competitions in the world. He thanked the parents for their support and also urged the children to practice regularly.
SIP Lanka Managing Director Dinesh Victor said: “Our programme is doing well in Sri Lanka with excellent performance from the children. The key difference that sets SIP Academy apart from the competition is its programme content and children should complete the Foundation and Advance Level within the speculated timeframe. Towards this end, the parents should cooperate and see that children do their homework when they come for classes. The combination of Abacus and Brain Gym improves confidence levels. Regular practice of Abacus and Brain Gym improves listening, focus and visual memory.”
SIP Academy is a children’s skill development organisation headquartered in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Various programmes offered by SIP Academy Lanka have been developed after years of research and testing and are of international standards. These programmes focus on developing various skills in children. In the process of developing skills, they improve the learning ability of the child.
SIP Academy is a member of Asia Abacus & Mental Arithmetic Research and Development Affiliation (AAMARDA). The SIP Abacus and Brain Gym programme is currently available in 10 countries. More than 325,000 children have benefited from this programme from 1,000 learning centres spread across these countries. In Sri Lanka, the programme was initiated in 2004 and its efficacy has seen more than 10,000 children trained and developed by September 2009.
The SIP Abacus and Brain Gym Program caters to children in the age group of seven to 12 years. This programme uses internationally proven tools like Abacus, Brain Gym and Speed Writing.
The Abacus and Brain Gym programme is a system of education that maximises the potential of the child’s brain. The process of learning abacus methodology is known as mental arithmetic. Working on abacus optimises and integrates the functions of the left and the right brain during the early years.
Scientific research has proved that the use of Abacus stimulates the nerves in the fingers and sends messages through the neurons. This continuous process of information transfer energises the brain. Brain Gym exercises designed by Dr. Paul Dennison enhances communication flow between functional centres and removes mental blocks resulting in whole brain development. This programme has 11 levels of learning spread across three courses.
