Becoming Brilliant: What Science Tells Us About Raising Successful Children

by Roberta Michnick Golinkoff

The Ministry of Education wants the product of Singapore schools to develop a good sense of self-awareness, a sound moral compass, and the necessary skills and knowledge to take on challenges of the future. He is responsible to his family, community and nation. He appreciates the beauty of the world around him, possesses a healthy mind and body, and has a zest for life.5 Wow! While policymakers in the United States were taking music, art, and recess out of our schools to make more time for reading drills, Singapore was declaring those “extras” essential to educating the next generation of thinkers. The Ministry of Education realized that the 4- and 5-year-olds in their preschools today would be the workforce of the future and that to remain a modern-day economic miracle, they would have to train those children to be critical thinkers and creative innovators. The founders of MindChamps had jumped on the bandwagon and were betting that they could create a new educational model built on learning science that would address Singapore’s new definition of success. The website of Singapore’s Ministry of Education tells the world what they now value: We want to nurture young Singaporeans who ask questions and look for answers, and who are willing to think in new ways, solve new problems and create new opportunities for the future. And, equally important, we want to help our young to build up a set of sound values so that they have the strength of character and resilience to deal wi...