Impressions of a parent enrolled in the Kodomo Challenge courses in Chinese | Feature 1: Kodomo Challenge for Chinese children

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Sharing a kaleidoscope of experiences while watching your children grow

After my child was born, my greatest worry was what to teach her, at what age to start, and how to proceed. There are many magazines on parenting, in China, but these only give parents a very rough idea of development benchmarks — for example, “what the child should be able to do at three years of age.” When my daughter was one year old, I enrolled in the Kodomo Challenge course. Since I had previously worked in Benesse Corporation China’s call center, I was very familiar with the products, but I had no idea that my daughter could get so much joy from these products. She loves the songs and dances, and never gets tired of dancing around while watching the DVD. Recently she has been reading the picture books over and over, and before going to bed she always asks me to read them for her. Before I knew it, she was starting to remember the words to some ancient Chinese poems. It is so rewarding to watch a child as they learn. My husband also eagerly awaits the delivery of the new products each month, and as soon as they arrive he is the first to open the package and show them to our daughter.

The impact that Shimajiro has had in developing her social habits has been impressive. Sometimes if she won’t eat a certain food, I just have to tell her “Shimajiro likes to eat it”, and she will start eating. When it’s time to brush her teeth, she naturally imitates the way that Shimajiro does it. The only complaints I have are that the information about child rearing is a bit limited, and that all the toys are starting to take up too much space (laughter). Before our daughter was born, my husband and I used to say that we didn’t want to force her into all sorts of learning experiences, but would be happy just to let her enjoy her childhood. Kodomo Challenge isn’t the only thing needed, of course. But as we see her latent abilities blossoming, we can sense that her heart will lead her to reach her full potential.

Mothers’ Expectations for their Children *Questionnaire respondents were asked to select upwards of three items they valued most from among 10 items.
Source: Benesse Institute for the Child Sciences and Parenting, “2010 Report on Children: Questionnaire Survey on Children’s Daily lives and Parent’s Child-rearing in Five East Asian Cities”

Based on strong demand from children who completed the “Kodomo Challenge” program and were interested in learning more, the Benesse Group and CWI Publishing House are launching a new venture in the fall of 2010 — science-themed courses for elementary school students entitled . We are also preparing to publish “baby books” for children under 1 year old. We hope to continue expanding operations in China, in fields such as maternity and childbirth issues, and nursing care for the elderly. Considering the population and rate of economic growth in China, as well as the social changes taking place, we believe that the Benesse Group can make a strong contribution to people in China. Using the experience gained in China, we also hope to expand operations to a global scale. While remaining true to the Benesse Group’s ideals, we strive to develop solutions that match the local market. This is the theme of our global expansion effort. That it can eventually help people throughout the world to truly “live well”.

Courses in Chinese for elementary school children

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