A Filipino boy in Dubai can solve square roots even before he turned three years old.
Baby Neo Castiel Araula Bawag is quick with solving math questions. And we’re not only talking about simple addition or subtraction, baby Neo knows how to multiply, divide, and can even identify the divisible numbers for odd and even figures.
In videos shared on his Facebook page, you can see how natural computing numbers are for Neo as he prefers solving math problems as he plays.
According to Neo’s parents Johneil Bawag and Diana Anne Araula who originally hail from Cavite, Philippines, they first noticed his love for learning when he was only 18 months old.
“During the lockdown, while all of us were staying at home, he used to say “Aral” which that time means identifying the flags of the world and just few days already able to identify about 20 of them and more than 50 in less than 2 weeks. Then thereafter learned names and can identify Dinosaur, Planets, continents on top of the colors and the shapes,” said Bawag, Neo’s father.
He loved numbers so much that he can count them in eight different languages: English, Filipino, Spanish, French, Japanese, Korean, German, and Arabic. He can count numbers up to billions, millions, by 100k, by thousands, hundreds, tens and ones. In Arabic, he can count 1-10 then by tens up to 100.
“He can also read very fast na for his age and he started when he was not even 2 years old,” shared Neo’s parents.
When asked how they feel about Neo being advanced in learning so much, his parent said that they have mixed feelings.
“We feel so blessed, happy and really proud. But a bit worried on the other hand, as he intends to read and answer his activity books and play with his number blocks even if it’s really late,” said Neo’s parents.
Baby Neo’s parents links his smartness to his mom’s love for music while pregnant with him.
“During my wife’s pregnancy, she always listens to Classical Music like Mozart and Beethoven, that’s everyday especially at night before and while sleeping. She read few articles before about how these classical music helps on child’s brain development. We believed that, that helps Neo become what he is today but also the genes of his parents, just kidding,” said Bawag.
They also said that they credit his love for learning to their relative who creatively takes care of Neo.
“Aside from that, Neo’s Ninang (my wife cousin) who is taking care of him while we are at work is very creative and have really enhanced Neo’s ability on a daily basis by constantly doing activities such as painting, cooking, answering his activity books, learning different languages and even sign language,” shared Bawag.
Bawag also said that they try their best to still allow Neo to play normal toys.
“At an early age, we already noticed that his interest is more towards on educational toys/books so we have provided him more of those. We are still trying to give him toys that a normal kid of his age would like, even though we know that he will only play or use those once or twice,” said Bawag.
Because of his wit with numbers, Neo is being called “Calculator Boy” at his school. In a video shared by Neo’s family, he can be seen playing around as a calculator, answering all types of math questions.
Their tip to soon-to-be parents wanting their kids to be smart, listen to classical music.”
“The Classical music probably is really effective so why not try it din, wala naman mawawala. And syempre, as well as surrounding your baby with positive vibes and educational materials. I recommend showing them numberblocks as it develops a lot of math skills in a fun and creative way. And Just make sure to put a limit on them on TV or tablets but more on activity based learnings,” shared Bawag.
They are regularly sharing videos of Baby Neo on facebook to inspire other parents to nurture their kid’s minds and skills as well as to track Neo’s progress.
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