When it comes bringing up baby, mummy knows best

I have a friend who is an advocate of early education centers and has signed up at five institutes for her son, who is four days older than my one-year-old boy.

Ever since he was six months old, he has already had swimming lessons on Mondays and motor movement class on Wednesdays. Each Tuesday he is taken to a music class and on Thursdays he has been attending a reading class since he was eight months old.

Friday has always been reserved for "brain exploration", including some "left and right brain" activities playing with objects such as blocks or beans for creativity, in an structured and methodical way, she told me.