Faster Learning Can Be Achieved By Your Kids This Way, Says Doctor

• Parents want only the best for their children and for them to hit the developmental milestones at the right time. But sometimes getting worried and constant wondering become inevitable. 

  Bianca Gonzalez, for one, can’t forget the time she and her husband JC Intal just had their first born, Lucia, who’s almost six years old now.

  The TV host-writer recalls, “I would always text my pedia. ‘What is the milestone dapat at the first month, the fifth month?’ Ideally talaga dapat we want our kids to hit those milestones.”

  Bianca, who’s also mom to second child Carmen, is thankful to have learned how she can help her kids achieve faster learning.

  The formula for faster learning is proper nutrition and responsive stimulation, says Dr. Jose Rodolfo Dimaano Jr., the Nutrition Medical Director for Asia Pacific of the global healthcare company Abbott. He gave a talk during the online launch of the Similac e-xplorers mobile app on June 17, 2021.

  

  The Similac e-xplorers mobile app is an immersive educational tool featuring the Batang Katutubo exhibit from Museo Pambata.

  PHOTO BY Courtesy of Abbott Philippines

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  Proper nutrition

  Dr. Dimaano explains that parents can help maximize the learning potention of their children by giving the little ones a diversified diet. He adds that if supplement is needed, a milk formula for kids like Similac Gain School is recommended.

  Bianca, who’s at the online event as a Similac Gain School brand ambassador, shares her past conversation with Dr. Dimaano about proper nutrition: “The way Doc made me understand it was very visual.”

  She goes on explaning, “So, imagine a highway. Kapag ang highway, smooth, maganda ang pagkakagawa, mabilis na makakarating ’yung tao from point A to point B. Ang kotse mabilis. That’s proper nutrition.

  “If our kids don’t get proper nutrition, ’yun ang highway na baku-bako, may mga potholes, may mga humps. So matatagalan ang pagdating ng kids natin, let’s say, from point A to the milestone, which is point B. So that made me understand proper nutrition. It supports them, so that they can develop at a pace, which is faster.”

  Responsive stimulation

  Another way that parents can help their kids achieve faster learning is by providing responsive stimulation. Bianca says she’s happy that her two girls have each other for stimulation even if they just stay at home because of the pandemic and quarantine restrictions.

  When the restrictions loosened a bit to allow the kids outdoors, that’s the time Bianca allowed Lucia and Carmen to walk their dogs while still following health protocols, like wearing of masks. The girls also have a blast just looking at the trees, touching the rocks, and just enjoying the stimulation around them.

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  Indoors, Bianca says she uses the requirements from the online school that the girls attend to for more brain stimulation. She points out, “They have a lot of print this, cut this, ganyan. Iba rin they’re learning from the screen than be able to touch it.”

  The mom of two has found another tool for responsive stimulation: the Similac e-xplorers mobile app, which features the Batang Katutubo exhibit components from Museo Pambata. It has three parts: Musika, Kasuotan, and Kalikasan. It basically serves as an interactive virtual field trip for the kids.

  

  On Instagram, Bianca shared a video of her and her daughter Lucia trying out the Similac e-xplorers mobile app.

  PHOTO BY Instagram/Bianca Gonzalez-Intal

  Bianca says, “Si Lucia kasi she’s at the age that she understands when you explain already. What I can say is madali siyang gamitin for kids. My daughter is 5. She can read short words, but can’t really read full sentences.

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  “What I noticed, based on the pictures, she knew which ones to tap right away. She knows how to get to the next screen kumbaga. It’s super friendly for kids. Natuwa siya. She was genuinely curious. The app makes it fun for kids to learn about all these different things.”

  Speaking of Museo Pambata, its executive director Maricel Montero announces during the online event that more components can be added to the mobile app. She points out, “Our culture is so diverse and how beautiful for our children to know more about the different cultures just in the Philippines.”

  She adds, “It’s good for children to know that there are children like them who are indigenous kids who enjoy indigenous games, language, textures, patterns, so much. The exhibit is just the tip of what we have.”

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