The schools will add 5,360 students for the 2024-2025 academic year
Athena having a reading session with her mother. - Supplied photo
Dubai - A new early learning centre in Dubai is hoping to give parents more reasons to send their children early to schools. With this, the mastermind behind the centre also hopes to bring a new educational concept to Dubai.
Presentation for parents
Masterminds Education is hoping to showcase its offerings for the first time to parents at Mina Salam, Madinat Jumeirah, on March 24. For more information about attending the event, visit www.masterminds.ae.
Tania Siddiqi, Dubai-based expat mother, is the brain behind the idea. After raising her own child in Dubai, she says there is a lot children can be taught before going to school for formal education. “When a child is born and till it grows to the age of six, it is the time human brain grows the maximum. You have to discover the things which interest your child and then have options to choose. I think all parents have the innate desire to provide the best for their children,” said Tania, co-founder and director of Masterminds Education.
Her six-year old daughter, Athena Siddiqi, who has already done the programme, is a fluent speaker of English, French and Arabic.
“As a mother, I have witnessed extraordinary results with my own daughter. This was the true inspiration to bring this to parents in the UAE. At 20 months, we introduced her to reading programmes and at two years we introduced her to maths. It allowed her to grow physically, intellectually and emotionally,” she explained.
Once approved by education authorities, the centre will have a capacity for 150 students.
The programmes will include French and Arabic language immersion, learning to play the violin, gymnastics and swimming, as well as enrichment programmes that will ensure children can read, do maths and have exceptional knowledge, physical and social awareness by the age of six. “Parents really try to enrich the lives of their children and they spend a significant amount of their lives taking their children to different classes and centres. We will offer everything under one roof,” said Tania.
While applying its own unique methodologies, the centre will integrate the British EYFS (early years foundation stage) system to keep it in line with an integrated curriculum of core learning areas.
“All children are born geniuses. They simply do not get the opportunity to demonstrate and stimulate their abilities. Intelligence is not a happy accident of genetics — it is a product of the environment. If you provide the right stimulation, the right opportunity and make sure the child is happy, you will get a bright child.”
An earlier study, conducted by University of Strathclyde researchers in Glascow, Scotland, found that children who grow up speaking more than one language have distinct learning advantages.
Children who learn different languages have better mental processes, allowing them to easily switch between languages. This not only improves kids’ language abilities, but also their mathematical and problem-solving abilities and their ability to think creatively. -muaz@khaleejtimes.com
The schools will add 5,360 students for the 2024-2025 academic year
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