Have Fun Learning English at Scholar Base
Most parents envision and hope for their children to be well-mannered, intelligent and studious, and would try all means to prevent their addiction to electronic devices. In reality, one could hardly find a child without exposure to electronic devices, let alone a home that is conducive to reading. Parents want to direct their children towards books but most do not know where and how to start. Sending children to tuition centres which repeat school work will not only bore them but rob them time and the opportunity of nurturing a reading hobby.
Madam Tan Poh Lee, programme director and the founder of Scholar Base, has the solution. With her experience being a mother of four, and passion in teaching children, she had perfected a method that had turned thousands of children into readers and introduced the concept of Fun English Learning. She recalled, “A parent had to take her son to Scholar Base every day during Hari Raya Puasa when we were closed for a week, just to pacify him from his demand to attend the centre. It shows how much fun her son is having while learning English at our centre.”. “We have parents who asked what concoction we give to their children so much so that they want to attend Scholar Base even though they are sick. That shows our method of teaching is effective in drawing children to learning.”.
Scholar Base developed children’s literacy through a curriculum of reading and writing for learners aged 4 to 6½ years and 6½ to 15 years, respectively. While parents get easily impressed by visual writings, Scholar Base strongly believes that children below the age of 7 years should not learn by sitting and writing. Children need to discover, experience and be engaged actively while learning. The younger 4 years olds are placed in the reading programme where they listen to English stories and learn to speak properly. They are introduced to Scholar Base Phonics, an approach that helps them to blend the letters and syllables of words in developing reading skills. The class lessons are conducted in disguise of games so that children learn with pleasure, and not pressure.
The primary school children will be guided in reading story books of different genres such as fantasy, mythology, adventure, classic fiction and mystery. These books stimulate their imagination, bringing them into the magical world, where they embark upon an adventure to slay two-headed dragons and experience the life as pirates. Reading allows them to have secondary experience, expands their vocabulary and helps the development of the mind. Active learning at Scholar Base is conducted in the form of games, interaction, competition, and public speaking activities such as role-playing, storytelling, stage performance, singing, poem recitation, speech and drama, choral speaking and news reporting. Not only do they live through the characters in the book, they develop communication skills as well as the ability to think creatively and critically. These, in turn, benefit their confidence, concentration and self-esteem, which essentially are the pillars of Scholar Base Foundation.
Upon completion of the reading programme, children progress to developing their writing skills. The approach continues with reading at a more advanced level, covering texts rich with complex plots and narrative structures. Emphasis is placed upon their expression of thoughts in a cohesive, organized manner while exploring literary techniques through various genres of writing. Their writing activities include essay writing, comic-writing, research projects, news reporting and journaling. These children also understand the different settings during the historical periods and learn to analyse characters in the stories, discuss the plots and even invent their own stories. With a few years of these literacy activities, these children become little authors, writing in their own style with their own creative expressions.
The classroom atmosphere encourages two-way interaction which allows discussion and brainstorming, managed by a team of highly-trained teachers who are called facilitators. Children are challenged by competition, stimulated by their interests, motivated by their curiosity and more importantly, they have no pressure from exams nor homework. All assessments are done internally without report cards, which serve as a reference for placement of their levels which determine their milestones. Their progress is monitored and conveyed to the parents via regular progress meetings.
During the national school holidays, there will be a holiday programme to cater for non-Scholar Base students. The end of the year culminates with the annual Year-end performances featuring children’s wearing elaborate costumes, re-enacting the scenes from the storybook and an award session where we celebrate the hard work and effort of the deserving students.
To ensure utmost safety of the children, CCTV surveillance cameras are placed in every room, installation of carpet underlays to insulate falls and access control doors are some of the precautionary steps taken. Additionally, dedicated in-house transportation services with reliable full-time drivers are available at a reasonable price.
Scholar Base has grown in the intervening years to include a range of branches in Old Klang Road, Ulu Kelang and Taman Desa Jaya. The framework of the programmes provides a strong foundation in developing English literacy, sets the tone to an enjoyable learning experience and encompasses a process of self-development. The safe, stimulating, creative and positive environment helps children develop themselves to their full potential, cultivating a life-long love of learning. Ultimately, Scholar Base aims to educate every child to be someone who loves reading, enjoys writing, thinks creatively and expresses his thoughts confidently; We call him a Scholar.
LISTING_CONTACT_7066