With the vibrant arts scene developing rapidly in Singapore ever since the establishment of the Esplanade and the rise of arts festivals in Singapore, the arts has increased its presence in several layers of the community, geography and even economy in Singapore. In schools, your child would have experienced music and art classes as part of the curriculum. With the National Arts Education Award and Tote Board Grant from the National Arts Council, most schools have even gone a step further by incorporating an arts education curriculum comprising of dance and drama. Schools given the title of “Centres of Excellence” for the arts, also have Direct School Admission programmes for children who exhibit talent in the areas of the arts. It is clear that even the government sees the importance of the arts in your child’s development – but, are you aware of the reasons? Over decades, researchers have found that academic achievement is improved due to the cognitive processes involved when a child takes part in arts activities. Here are 6 reasons why the arts can make your child smarter:

You would have heard people saying before that “Teaching is a noble career” and that it “requires a lot of patience.” Throughout your own childhood, you would even remember certain teachers more than others. Sometimes, you don’t even know the exact reason why you remember them, but the image of them standing in front of you in a classroom filled with your old school friends, would be stuck at the back of your head each time you hear someone talking about a “teacher”. Now that your child is attending school, and supplements his learning at enrichment centres such as Mind Stretcher, this thought would have crossed your mind – “How would I know that my child has a good teacher?” Here at Mind Stretcher, we picked the 5 common pieces of feedback from parents about their children’s teachers.

Has your child become addicted to your iPad & other mobile devices? Technology has become a digital pacifier for many parents — When a child acts up in public or grows bored over a meal, it’s easy to simply pull out a smartphone, prop it in front of your child and get back to more adult conversations. But should this be the case? Have we lost the art of building genuine relationships with our children?

As a busy working parent, even time-off work can feel like utter chaos, rushing from place to place to bring your kids to his or her next holiday class or weekly sports activity. The overall hectic lifestyle of a modern day working parent simply does not allow you to have enough energy even when you get time to spend some heartfelt moments with her or him.

Over the years, Maths teachers have seen how precious marks have been lost due to careless mistakes. Students drop in a band grade or get a result that they feel they did not deserve. This can be demoralising to them and affects their confidence in the subject. Ensure that your child gets the highest score they deserve with these tips! You can remind your child to pay closer attention to common mistakes when revising Maths questions with them.