Nurturing Giftedness For a New Generation
The world has long been fascinated by prodigies—gifted kids whose accomplishments at such a young age, shed light to a child’s inherent talent, intellect and precocity.
In the Philippines, perhaps no other personalities represent the concept and reality of what gifted children are than the three who illustrated it via one of the most memorable television commercials of the 90s—Kiko Galura, James Flores, and Shaira Luna.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZONXZImBa0]
Yeah, I remember those times when this commercial was aired at around 1995, and my mom said to me that I should aspire to be like them. I practiced everyday with my declaiming skills(I was 3 years old back then and already competing for Lipa City's Day Care Pagent), but then as I grew older I got more interested in writing essays and poems and now I also am fascinated with photography.
When I watched this commercial again, I was kinda curious as to what is happening now with the budding poet, the promising astronomer and the medical marvel...
First of all, they’re all grown up now and second, their accomplishments as adults are just as impressive as what they were able to deliver as kids.
The young poet, Kiko Galura, has an established career as a publisher in one of the country’s biggest publishing houses. From making words come to life in his poems, he now provides an opportunity and a voice to other storytellers.
James Flores, who was known for his proficiency in astronomy stayed within the sciences, albeit in a different field, taking his masters in clinical psychology. From his love of the stars and their radiance, he helps bring out the brilliance in every child through outreach programs in music for children.
And finally, Shaira Luna, who was poised to enter into the medical world, grew up to become one of the most talented photographers of her generation. From her mastery of the human anatomy, she now captures the best in human form with her photography, building a successful career around her passion.
Was there ever any doubt that they wouldn’t grow up to become successful gifted alumni?
It’s easy to assume things come easily to naturally gifted kids. But it’s important to remember that it’s a factor of different things that will carve out a good future for any child.
“A gifted child can be expected to learn faster than other children, have more varied interests, have greater depth of feeling and generally be more than other children,” explains Dra. Leticia Peñano-Ho, President of the Philippine Center for Gifted Education
That said, one can only imagine how they have to struggle with expectations and the machinations of educational systems not built to support such young talent, not to mention the pressure it puts on a child’s social development.
But environmental conditions, honing the dedication to succeed at such an early age, as well as providing good nutrition, are all factors that contribute to their development—and are all typically provided for by their family.
To celebrate the current success of the gifted alumni, Promil Pre-School brought back together the famous trio, almost 20 years after their commercial first aired on national television. The brand’s heritage on giftedness is further exemplified through their achievements and their journey towards becoming valuable gifts to society.
Here are a few words of wisdom from the trio:
Kiko Galura:
Recognizing the gift in a kid is the first step, what matters is that, most of the journey towards becoming adults, so that your kids become the best version of themselves, is through nurturing. Because when the kid grows up, sometimes, he wants one thing but it's not really what he wants when he grows up. So the role of the parents is really to guide them, they can do that by exposing them to the fields of creativity. Example take them to different classes - theater, music, film.
James Flores:
They don't have to keep it in themselves because, if you have a light within you, you cannot keep it, it's gonna shine. So they have to believe it and that they should work hard (referring to the little kids in the audience) and to the parents, if you see that there's a potential, which every kid has, there's a light within them - we have to encourage them to develop and we have to support them to do their thing. Give them opportunities to discover and improve on their talent. But most importantly, besides this encouragement, supporting them, giving them opportunities, the priorities, of course, is that their children should be doing something that makes them happy. When I was a kid, I was happy with all the astronomy stuff. I was having fun doing them. That's how it developed, I was happy with music - there's no substitute for that.
And finally (si idol ko), Shaira Luna:
I don't think that what's important is to become superior than anyone else, be better than anyone else, you need to just do the work in disciplining your children, work ethics, learning how to cope with other people, I think the role is to be comftable adults, no matter how gifted you are. It's Ok to be different.
After the interview with our gifted alumni, we were treated to a great song and a few more little nuggets of wisdom by Mr. Joey Ayala. He has a great point- let children experience the outdoors, cause there's so much more to learning than just books and iPads.
Parents always envision the best for their children –From providing expert care, to the highest quality nutrition, to supporting their children’s interests and endeavors. Whilst some parents are deeply involved in their children’s development, the idea remains to be unsupported and uncelebrated by most.
In 2015, Promil Pre-School is launching their Gifted Movement campaign, which is a movement to supporting and celebrating giftedness in the country. The brand aims to spark interest and gain the commitment of moms and consumers to take an active role in advocating giftedness and nurturing it.
“Promil Pre-School, as a catalyst for the Gifted Movement campaign, puts focus on discovering and bringing out the inherent talent of today’s youth, by way of providing the proper nutrition, and proper care,” says Yu. “Combined with the support of parents to continuously encourage kids to find their passion and make learning enjoyable, there’s no end to what this new generation can accomplish, ” she adds.
And as a testament to this, one only needs to look at how these alumni successfully grew to become the passionate, well-rounded individuals they are today.
Visit Wyeth at: http://www.wyeth.com.ph/index.html
Promil's Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/promilpreschool
In the Philippines, perhaps no other personalities represent the concept and reality of what gifted children are than the three who illustrated it via one of the most memorable television commercials of the 90s—Kiko Galura, James Flores, and Shaira Luna.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZONXZImBa0]
Yeah, I remember those times when this commercial was aired at around 1995, and my mom said to me that I should aspire to be like them. I practiced everyday with my declaiming skills(I was 3 years old back then and already competing for Lipa City's Day Care Pagent), but then as I grew older I got more interested in writing essays and poems and now I also am fascinated with photography.
When I watched this commercial again, I was kinda curious as to what is happening now with the budding poet, the promising astronomer and the medical marvel...
First of all, they’re all grown up now and second, their accomplishments as adults are just as impressive as what they were able to deliver as kids.
The young poet, Kiko Galura, has an established career as a publisher in one of the country’s biggest publishing houses. From making words come to life in his poems, he now provides an opportunity and a voice to other storytellers.
James Flores, who was known for his proficiency in astronomy stayed within the sciences, albeit in a different field, taking his masters in clinical psychology. From his love of the stars and their radiance, he helps bring out the brilliance in every child through outreach programs in music for children.
And finally, Shaira Luna, who was poised to enter into the medical world, grew up to become one of the most talented photographers of her generation. From her mastery of the human anatomy, she now captures the best in human form with her photography, building a successful career around her passion.
Was there ever any doubt that they wouldn’t grow up to become successful gifted alumni?
It’s easy to assume things come easily to naturally gifted kids. But it’s important to remember that it’s a factor of different things that will carve out a good future for any child.
“A gifted child can be expected to learn faster than other children, have more varied interests, have greater depth of feeling and generally be more than other children,” explains Dra. Leticia Peñano-Ho, President of the Philippine Center for Gifted Education
That said, one can only imagine how they have to struggle with expectations and the machinations of educational systems not built to support such young talent, not to mention the pressure it puts on a child’s social development.
But environmental conditions, honing the dedication to succeed at such an early age, as well as providing good nutrition, are all factors that contribute to their development—and are all typically provided for by their family.
To celebrate the current success of the gifted alumni, Promil Pre-School brought back together the famous trio, almost 20 years after their commercial first aired on national television. The brand’s heritage on giftedness is further exemplified through their achievements and their journey towards becoming valuable gifts to society.
Here are a few words of wisdom from the trio:
Kiko Galura:
Recognizing the gift in a kid is the first step, what matters is that, most of the journey towards becoming adults, so that your kids become the best version of themselves, is through nurturing. Because when the kid grows up, sometimes, he wants one thing but it's not really what he wants when he grows up. So the role of the parents is really to guide them, they can do that by exposing them to the fields of creativity. Example take them to different classes - theater, music, film.
James Flores:
They don't have to keep it in themselves because, if you have a light within you, you cannot keep it, it's gonna shine. So they have to believe it and that they should work hard (referring to the little kids in the audience) and to the parents, if you see that there's a potential, which every kid has, there's a light within them - we have to encourage them to develop and we have to support them to do their thing. Give them opportunities to discover and improve on their talent. But most importantly, besides this encouragement, supporting them, giving them opportunities, the priorities, of course, is that their children should be doing something that makes them happy. When I was a kid, I was happy with all the astronomy stuff. I was having fun doing them. That's how it developed, I was happy with music - there's no substitute for that.
And finally (si idol ko), Shaira Luna:
I don't think that what's important is to become superior than anyone else, be better than anyone else, you need to just do the work in disciplining your children, work ethics, learning how to cope with other people, I think the role is to be comftable adults, no matter how gifted you are. It's Ok to be different.
After the interview with our gifted alumni, we were treated to a great song and a few more little nuggets of wisdom by Mr. Joey Ayala. He has a great point- let children experience the outdoors, cause there's so much more to learning than just books and iPads.
Parents always envision the best for their children –From providing expert care, to the highest quality nutrition, to supporting their children’s interests and endeavors. Whilst some parents are deeply involved in their children’s development, the idea remains to be unsupported and uncelebrated by most.
In 2015, Promil Pre-School is launching their Gifted Movement campaign, which is a movement to supporting and celebrating giftedness in the country. The brand aims to spark interest and gain the commitment of moms and consumers to take an active role in advocating giftedness and nurturing it.
“Promil Pre-School, as a catalyst for the Gifted Movement campaign, puts focus on discovering and bringing out the inherent talent of today’s youth, by way of providing the proper nutrition, and proper care,” says Yu. “Combined with the support of parents to continuously encourage kids to find their passion and make learning enjoyable, there’s no end to what this new generation can accomplish, ” she adds.
And as a testament to this, one only needs to look at how these alumni successfully grew to become the passionate, well-rounded individuals they are today.
Visit Wyeth at: http://www.wyeth.com.ph/index.html
Promil's Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/promilpreschool
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