Dutch Lady Smart Steps Workshop

Recently I talked about the special Smart Steps Workshop organised by Dutch Lady and how much fun if parents could join us for the one day of learning about IQ, nutrition and smart practical activities that can be done with our kids to help increase their IQ. Finally, two weeksago,  I attended the workshop with a lot of other parents and we really went home with lots of extra knowledge.


The Workshop was held a Connexion@Nexus in Bangsar which was a really really nice place. The organisers even set up play areas knowing kids will be coming, so before I even registered, my kids were already inside the playground. There were also tables with wooden blocks to play with.


Once inside the workshop venue, the children were also given colouring sheet to work on so to help spend the time. Needless to say, some really active kids like Jordan just could not sit still and I took a lot of videos but no point putting them up as I could only hear voices of children talking in them (my kid that is).


Nevertheless, the workshop started and we were introduced to our Key Panel of of Experts, from L- R Dr Alvin Ng, Dr Yong Junina Fadzil and Professor Dr Poh Bee Koon. The three of them shared a fountain of knowledge from their practice and from their experiences and most of what they shared were really helpful and practical.

Dr Alvin Ng, being the Psychology man, talked mostly about mental health and how we as parents can help increase their IQ by allowing our children to explore their surroundings as much as possible, and from their own curiousity they will learn new things and ask questions that we can help to guide them in. He was also the one that conducted the workshop on Speed Smart, basically from my understanding, speed training. Read on to find out how you can apply Speed Smart in your home too.


Prof Dr Poh also shared with us from the aspect of nutrition and how it affects not just the kids’ growth but their brains too. They need a healthy well balanced diet that is age appropriate for their optimum growth. Some parents lament that their kids at 6 would not eat food, but only drink milk. This is not considered healthy, and Prof Dr Poh recommended methods of how to overcome such problems. For example, are the kids still drinking milk from a bottle? Did they have enough rest every day? Was there adequate variety of food offered at each meal? There were lots of ways to overcome every issue, just the parents really need to intentionally work hard and find out about their kid. Plus everything is interconnected, from the way they learn, to the exposure to play, to their nutrition, to the love of their parents, all are needed for a healthy smart child.

Dr Yong Junita Fadzil called this Holistic growth, when the kid’s mental, emotional, social, and physical health all affect one another and all should be healthy to make a truly healthy child. She also talked about love, how love for our children is one major aspect for their well being and their growth, I so agree with her statement. If we provide everything to our children, money to food to clothing and care but have not love, we gain nothing.

After the workshop with the experts, we proceeded outside for the Speed Smart Training. Is it basically a method of practicing a skill repeatedly in a short and limited time, like just in seconds. You can start with simple actions like putting balls into a basket, from simply slowly to become more complex according to the child’s age. It needs to be focused on speed and accuracy though.


For example, for toddlers like Jordan, he was taught how pick up balls, separate into colours and was timed while doing it. They asked him to do it faster and faster and when he succeeded, he received a lot of praise, high fives and hugs. Jordan really loved it and you can see the pride in his face whenever he received praises.

Older children can be guided too. Dr Alvin was guiding Mia Sara in solving some hard Maths questions using the Speed Smart method.

Josiah also took part in the ‘games’ by doing writing, counting blocks, separating by colours etc. He was challenged to do it faster and faster. Basically, the secret is our brain work faster and better when we train it to do things faster. This is very applicable in the real world. When our kids grew up and start working, they would be expected to do things quickly and yet efficiently. I frequently face problems at home by asking them to clean up, wash up and all that but they do it SO SLOWLY, taking their sweet time. We end up scolding them or threatening to take things away, and that usually only works temporarily, plus they will do it with a long face. Using the Speed Smart method, the kids don’t even know they are doing their chore, but they think it is a game. Plus they are rewarded and praised with hugs and kisses for doing something faster and more efficiently each time. I really should apply this to parenting at home, starting with cleaning up their toys. One thing to note, we should not make it into a contest among siblings as that will bring about negative feelings when one party loses to the other.

Benefits of Speed Smart Training.

1) Fun
2) High Energy
3) Highly Motivational
4) Faster learning
5) Increase self confidence and reliance and efficacy
6) Effective time management
7) Decrease cheating
8) Shape an effective habit
9) Increase memory retention
10) Free the Cognitive Space / Mental for further learning
11) Increase understanding
12) Concept of Time can be learned quickly
13) Encourage Creativity
14) Encourage freedom of reaction
15) Proficiency in Trained Skills

Pardon my translation, above is for my non Bahasa Malaysia reading readers. Basically, Speed Smart method has so many benefits, nothing bad about trying it out.

I love the organiser of this event, they fed us with breakfast before the event and followed by a very filling lunch after, not to mention lots of coffee! Everything is well thought out. Thanks to Dutch Lady for having me at this event, I really brought back knowledge that money cannot buy.

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