1. Describe yourself and what you do?
I am the founder of Mindgymn – a committed, loving and responsible trainer who enjoys working with children. Over the years, I have helped many children improve their learning abilities and total wellness. As such, I have established a strong rapport with many parents and children.
2. Is there a story behind WHY you do what you do?
I have seen many children who have attended countless tuitions but yet are still underachieving in school. I believe that my strong background in Child Development and Child & Education Psychology can help to make a difference in their lives.
Working with experts from US, UK, Australia, and Japan, we have jointly developed a fun and stimulating brain training program. There are many factors that can affect a child’s learning, I strongly believe that one’s cognitive skills can be strengthened to aid his or her learning and overall performance.
3. Share with us what you were like as a student and how school was like for you. In retrospect, how do you think that played a part in what you do now and who you have become?
School back then was very structured and education was rigid and teacher directed. I was a quiet but cheerful student who liked Math and was always happy and felt a sense of achievement when I managed to solve challenging Math
questions. I also liked to participate in group singing and dancing competitions. It gave me opportunities to build up my confidence and honed my creativity skills.
As an independent learner with a positive mindset, I had a “never say die attitude”. I remember that I used to walk
30mins to and fro from school, be it shined or rained and was entrusted at a young age to manage things on my own. On hindsight, all this contributed to my problem-solving skills. For this, I thank my parents who inculcated the mental toughness and resilience in me from a young age.
4. How do you reinvent yourself? What motivates you?
I am inspired to teach as what I do make a positive impact on students’ lives. Whenever I see students enjoy their lessons and are looking forward to attending their next Mindgym classes or when they subsequently improve academically andbecome more positive in their outlook on life, I get a huge motivational boost.
Positive feedback from students and their parents drive us forwards. With the support from the students and their parents, Mindgymn has been rated as a Most Well Reviewed and Learners’ Choice School. Thank You!
5. What’s the best piece of advice you ever received or given?
For the underachievers in school, please do not give up. Believe in yourself that you can improve your performance by enhancing your cognitive and life skills.
For the high-achievers in schools, please do not be complacent, continue to work hard and become lifelong learners in order to succeed in a challenging future.
6. The future-ready educator should…
In a rapidly changing and competitive world, students need to go beyond book smart. They need academic, technical, and life skills such as critical thinking, creativity, problem-solving, collaboration, and communication. They also need to be adaptable, resilient and persevere to thrive in an uncertain future.
As such, the future-ready educator needs to be a life-long learner, resourceful, be open to new technology and ideas, able to use various techniques to enhance teaching, get students’ attention and equip them with skills necessary for success.
7. Share an example of a life that you impacted
About a year ago, I taught one Secondary 3 student who was failing in all her subjects except for Chinese. She also had a chronic skin problem that affected her self-esteem. When I first met her, she was not motivated and was feeling depressed most of the time.
After teaching her for a few one-on-one lessons, I realized that she was actually a bright student. I sensed something amiss and after some probing, she revealed that her parents had marital problems and her father also often belittled her because of her bad results.
I went the extra mile to counsel her and worked in collaboration with her parents to improve her situation. She started to excel in school after six months of training. On her last day of lessons, she approached me and said: “Cher, thank you, I will definitely come and visit you if I will be successful in the future.”
It was so heart-warming!
8. How do you hope your business might do its part to transform or add value to the educational scene in Singapore?
There are many factors affecting children’s learning. However, according to scientific research, about 85 to 90 percent of learning difficulties are due to poor fundamental cognitive skills.
Children with poor cognitive skills are not able to grasp and process the knowledge fast in their lessons. As such, they feel frustrated and then underachieved.
Many students have benefited from our holistic training program specifically designed for children aged five to twelve years. They have enhanced their cognitive skills and overall wellness, become more positive, confident, motivated, and ultimately to unleash their full potential.
We strive to inculcate more students with all the necessary skills, so that they can be an independent learner, to intelligently and creatively apply what they are learning in school.
