SHAH ALAM, Selangor - Although a participant had to travel all the way from Kuala Terengganu, youths attending the second Quantum Learning course from13th to 14th of December, 2008 were totally overwhelmed once the course was over.
The course which was held at the Pusat Pembangunan Insan HALUAN Selangor in collaboration with Fathin Life Long Learning Centre saw 26 youths taking part comprising seven girls and 19 boys who were mostly from the Klang Valley. Excitement was how they described the two-day training with new knowledge gained.
On the first day, participants were exposed to the functions of the brain’s left and right lobes and the methods used to activate both sides so that learning can become more fun than before. On Day Two, the youths were put through several exercises by building Mind Maps and an introduction to ’speed reading’, a method whereby one will be able to read and understand a given text twice or thrice faster than normal. Imagine how this can help them cope with their revisions.
Nik Farzana Nik Rahmat (pictured right,) a fifth former at Sekolah Bistari USJ felt that the course was exhilirating and managed to raise her self-confidence taking her closer towards her goals. She attended the course after seeing some positive transformation in her younger sister who attended the same course last November.
According to Master Trainer, Haji Mohd Osman Ibrahim (pictured left,) storytelling is a skill which children can pick up by arranging thoughts and sentences into simple bite sizes which are easily digestible by the people listening to them, hence capturing their attention entirely. This is important for effective communications among peers or with the family members.
”My exposure to the use of mind maps and speed reading will come in handy for my SPM exams later, inshaAllah,” said Muhammad Muzzammil (pictured right) a student of Sekolah Menengah Ibnu Khaldun who hails from Batu Pahat, Johor. He finds the course very useful and fun although missing his hometown and family on the first day. He is a resident of the Kompleks Haluan Penyayang (KHP) at Bukit Naga, Shah Alam, an orphanage and underprivileged children’s care centre.
The longing for his hometown subsided through the course because in his own words “this course content is fantastic”. What fancied him was mind mapping whereby the teenager never knew that an exciting method existed whereby a student can record down facts and memorise them better which will make it easier for him to do his revisions later on.
For Ali’izzat, his mixed feelings after having to come for the course all the way from Terengganu due to parental decree was totally unfounded as the course unfolded. The second former was full of anxiety at first but come the second day, the situation turned to fun learning when he found out the good natured Mr Mohd Osman has a way with kids.
”There’re so many things that I like about this Quantum Learning course. Especially when the instructor explained the usages of the left and right brain via the ’brain gym’. This will make learning more fun, not boring. I never realized that our brains can be forced to think the other way in solving problems,” he added.
Participants in general were quick to say that the Quantum Learning course was highly beneficial. They would not hesitate to recommend it to their friends to come for future courses here at HALUAN’s centre.
Even so, HALUAN Shah Alam as the host has not come up with its 2009 calendar of events. Nevertheless, several courses are being planned in the area of Mind Mapping for next year which are targetted at residents of Shah Alam, said the Chairman of the Pusat Pembangunan Insan HALUAN Shah Alam, Encik Ahmad Hasbullah.
Pokok zaitun boleh hidup sehingga 1500 tahun.
