Education is akin to making a sound investment in one’s future. Early education, on the other hand, is ensuring that the investment is foolproof and highly profitable.
Experts say that 85 percent of who you are –intellect, your personality, your social skills –is developing from age 0 to 5. During this critical age, parents have to be smart in their kids’ cognitive and behavioral exposure, especially in choosing the right academic institution for them. They should also keep in mind that in today’s digital age children need to have the mindset of both an entrepreneur and a global leader with a heart for the environment, using their particular intelligences.
Multiple Intelligence framework pioneer and Multiple Intelligence International School founding directress Mary Joy Canon-Abaquin ED. M, believes that the engagement of preschool kids today should go beyond feeding them with the typical academic knowledge. The way we see and interact with the rest of the world is so much different now. Top professions and businesses are now looking for people who are not just academically smart.
They’re looking for people who can add premium to the workplace and/or their industries. Experience and particular intelligences are ultimately climbing the top of the hiring requirements. With that in mind, kids need to have the proper foundation that will prepare them to become future-ready, or global citizens.
“A preschool education that gives students the mindset, the set of skills, and formation that will allow them to lead in the future is more relevant now than ever. The preschool should have a very clear understanding of their kids’ different strengths and opportunities and develop them. The future will be about good communicators, critical thinkers, creators, innovators and good leaders,” says Abaquin.
Entrepreneural mindsets
The Philippines has produced a lot of progressive preschools in recent years. Most are focused on the holistic development of a child: physical, cognitive, social and language. Only a few can actually claim to having programs that tap the leadership and entrepreneurial mindsets of kids let alone having global standards.
Almost two decades ago, Abaquin, who has a master’s degree in early childhood education from Boston University, brought the concept of the Multiple Intelligence (MI) education to the country. The MI framework, as discovered by Howard Garner, focuses on targeting and developing the child’s particular intelligences: word, number, spatial, naturalist, musical, bodily kinesthetic, self, people, and/or entrepreneurship.
The MI framework combined with a progressive preschool’s holistic method of teaching has since been espoused by the Multiple Intelligence International School in its early education system. “The MI preschool approach provides more opportunities for children to discover their different strengths early on. At a very young age, students are given the foundational skills to learn through the intelligences and more important, learn for the intelligences,” says Abaquin.
She adds, “The MI preschool provides the necessary experiences and stimulation to children so that they will be able to develop thinking and social skills. It aims to prepare them for critical life skills and to be future-ready.”
Specialized programs
Among the specialized programs of the MI preschool curriculum include Word Smart, a very strong literacy program where love for reading is instilled in kids and where they gain confidence in oral communication. Number Smart is about learning numbers but not limited to the work sheet. Concrete objects are used to allow kids to learn to engage meaningfully and to understand how numbers are related to each other and how they can problem solve.
Spatial Intelligence brings about future architects and artists. Kids are encouraged to build blocks, create images, backed by a strong arts program. Naturalist intelligence develops a scientific mind. Musical intelligence involves music and movement as part of the daily routine for pre-schoolers. Bodily Kinesthetic teaches kids to perform meaningful movements instead of just repetitive motions through cooperative games where in they use their bodies. Entrepreneurship, a trademark MIIS program, sets the foundation for an entrepreneurial mind.
There is also People Smart where students learn to work in groups, mounting exhibits and setting up museums for example. Self Smart builds the confidence of children to be self-aware of their respective strengths.
The Multiple Intelligence International School is a member of the Council of International Schools, ensuring that kids develop their global mindset early on.
All things considered, says Abaquin, an MI preschool helps discover and enhance a child’s strengths that will become their “something extra” in the future. They don’t just become an ordinary employee but a leader who has extra abilities in various areas.
“Before, the mindset was to give kids as much knowledge as possible. Now, it is how to use that knowledge to innovate and create things. We believe that children should not be just ordinary but extraordinary citizens of the future,” says Abaquin.
MI pioneer
Mary Joy Canon-Abaquin pioneered the Multiple Intelligence (MI) framework in the Philippines, besides being the founding directress at the Multiple Intelligence International School.
Started in 1996, the Multiple Intelligence International School has programs from preschool to high school. The Multiple Intelligence framework of Harvard-based psychologist Dr. Howard Gardner, equips the Filipino child for the demands of the 21st century and innovates how they learn to enable them to use their intelligences to make a difference for the country.
Joy Abaquin has a masters degree in Early Childhood Education from Boston University (Summa Cum Laude), an undergraduate degree in Psychology from the University of the Philippines (Magna Cum Laude) and took continuing education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Programs in Professional Education. She is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in Educational Leadership from the Nova Southeastern University. She was an instructor at the University of the Philippines, Psychology Department, a contributor/writer for various publications and a teacher trainor. Her recent work, GoNegosyo’s “8 Simple Secrets to Raising Entrepreneurs” has become a bestseller in National Bookstore.
Beyond advocating for best practice by establishing a school, she spearheaded initiatives and programs to address educational reform for the Filipino child at a national level through:
a. the 1st Philippine Multiple Intelligence Convention (2005), a national convention of 2500 parents, educators and business leaders to work for educational reform;
b. the MI Smart Start –Comprehensive School Reform(CSR) program (2005-present) to serve underprivileged public daycare children through early childhood education with Local Government Units. 33 Daycare Centers in Tagbilaran, Bohol have been serviced and Regional Capability Training conducted for the Department of Education.
c. the Multiple Intelligence Awards (since 2005) a nationwide search for role-models for the Filipino youth;
d. Pioneering Youth Leadership and Entrepreneurship programs in the country (Smart for All Camp (ASEAN), Kid’s Can: For Kids, By Kids Movemens, Kids Can Entrepreneurs with Hearts Bazaar).
Her work pioneering work has been recognized in the Philippines:
• Go Negosyo Filipina Starpreneurs 2014
• Ernst & Young EOY (Entrepreneur of the Year) Finalist 2010
• TOYM (The Outstanding Young Men) 2009
• Working Mom of the Year 2009
• Go Negosyo Sigaw ng Kabataan, Youth Entrepreneurship Enabler Award 2009
• Go Negosyo’s 55 Inspiring Women Entrepreneurs 2009
• 40 Inspirational Women, Age of Confidence, Maryknoll College 2008
• Working Mom of the Year Balance Awards 2004
• Meralco’s Ilaw ng Tahanan Awardee 2004
• 2002 Gintong Sikap Awardee
Abaquin’s efforts to pilot MI and Good Work have gained worldwide recognition in the 2010 Multiple Intelligence World Symposium in Beijing as model for the international community. Her accomplishments have been widely recognized through 2 international book publications: Multiple Intelligences New Horizon (Basic Books, 2006) and Multiple Intelligences Around the World (Jossey-Bass, 2009), where she was a contributing author. She is also an advocate for sustainable development through education through her current project of establishing the first LEED Green School in the Philippines. TVJ
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