Up Close with Makoto Shichida

Professor Makoto Shichida began his career as a passionate and much-loved English teacher in Gotsu, Japan. He taught all ages from infants to adults and as his career progressed he noticed how much faster and easier the youngest children were learning. He became so curious about this phenomenon that he dedicated the next 20 years to researching early childhood brain development and psychology. The Shichida Method was founded in 1958 as the original whole-brain teaching method, designed to draw out the innate abilities all children are born with. The first Shichida Early Learning Centre opened in 1976 and its popularity has since grown around the world.

Makoto Shichida’s Message to Parents

Dear Parents,

We have crossed the threshold of the 21st Century. What will this new era bring? I am convinced it will be a brilliant century full of hope, one that will transform the world.

From ages 0-3, the right brain works dominantly. During this period, it is important to provide as much as a baby needs, and to stimulate his or her five senses regularly. This is also a time when the child is fast absorbing information and is extremely eager to learn.

Children grow and mature faster than parents think. The human brain rapidly starts developing soon after birth. At the age of six, 70% of the brain is developed, and at around the age of 10, almost 90% of the brain is developed. To make corrections or changes later on will prove to be an incredibly hard task, and great effort will be needed for it.

When the right brain is developed well together with the left brain, the heart will be raised to a high level of potential. That is when a child is able to exceed our expectations and show his or her strengths. As a parent, please believe in this possibility – the potential your child carries, by loving him or her, and nurturing them well.

These children are tapping powers we never knew existed as if they are perfectly normal. Watching them rapidly memorize enormous amounts of information and recall with precision and understanding, predict future events, improve their athletic ability instantaneously serve as a guide for education that will revolutionize conventional approaches to child raising in the 21st Century.

Makoto Shichida, Ed.D.
Founder
The Shichida Method

Professor Makoto Shichida was a fellow of the International Academy of Education and advisor to the Japan Mathematical Certification Association. He had a doctorate in education and was a well known public figure in Japan for his numerous contributions to brain research and learning achievements. He was awarded the highest honorable Merit Prize by the World Science Council, a distinguished service for World Peace Grand Knight Title in 1997 and the World Peace Prize in 1998. In 2003, he was bestowed the Swedish Academy for Health and Medical Sciences Grand Prize and the Higashiku Ninomiya Invention Award.

Makoto Shichida led a worldwide revolution in education that is changing the way we understand children, their learning styles and their brain capabilities. Sadly, he passed away on 22nd of April 2009.