Philosophy
Edukey’s ideology and parent education courses are based on the following concepts:
- Experience matters - from day one: - Many research studies in the past few years support that genetic heritage has only partial influence over the development of cognitive, emotional and social skills in humans, which is significantly dependent on the environment and early experience from birth to adulthood. Furthermore, much emphasis is put on the fact that the first three years of a child’s youth are critical years and will have a lifelong impact in the formation of the brain and the defining of the neural and synaptic architecture.
- The risk of parent outsourcing: Our world has advanced faster in the past twenty years than ever before and parents have never been busier. Families with both parents at work are becoming the norm (often a necessity to sustaining a family), and the role of parent is losing its value in society. Nannies, nurseries, television and educational DVDs and technological tools have become the new parents of the 21st century for many families, maybe at the expense of the next generation. While all this support can be positive in moderation, parents are irreplaceable. At a minimum during the first few years, both fathers and mothers should make an effort to spend quality time every day with their children.
- A unique bond: Parents are their children’s role-models. In permanent need for love and attention, infants and toddlers will spend as much time as they can possibly get from their parents. With seemingly infinite energy, they will sing, run, talk and play endlessly if given the chance. They will also learn endlessly. The brain of children below three years old is hardwired to learn from anything they interact with, faster than at any time later in life. Any moment spent between a parent and its child can be a new learning opportunity, about the surrounding world, life, nature, languages, anything… Or it can be wasted away…
- Learning should be fun and challenging: Like work, teaching and learning can be very boring, or very enjoyable, depending on the methods and tools used. The priority is to motivate and entertain the child. Playing games, counting things, reading stories and chatting together during daily activities (like eating, walking around, bath times, etc.) are the cornerstones of parent-child education.
Based on a concept developed by a father and son from Switzerland, John and Alan Debonneville, Edukey’s practical parenting workshops have been developed by a team of education professionals, under the guidance of workshop development leading figures, Dr. Kwan Eung Lee and Dr. Mi Ok Cho, and the revision of developmental psychologist and linguistics expert, Dr. Catherine McBride-Chang.
