3Q MRC Junior BRP 6 (Tadika Junior Sri Ceria)

A preschool is only as good as the next one that comes along. You can have the best and the most up to date programmes and syllabus and yet at the end of the day, come up short. I have always believed that what makes a kindergarten stand apart from the rest is its educators. It is the passion and the dedication of this human factor that distinguishes an excellent kindergarten from the usual run of the mill everyday establishments.

Tucked away in a quiet and peaceful part of Bukit Rahman Putra 6 in Sungai Buloh is a 3Q MRC Junior kindergarten first established by Mdm. Jane Hew. Today, Mdm. Jess Yee, a business associate of Jane runs this preschool as its principal. Jess has been its principal for 5 years.

These four centres are situated in close proximity to each other but are far enough apart to each cover its own focus area. Despite her tender years, Mdm. Jane, with her drive and astute business acumen has put in place very competent management teams at each of the centres for it to function professionally and with dedication and passion. In the process, reaching out effectively to the neighbourhood with SMM Education Group’s unique brand of education and preschool programmes.

When I arrived, Jess was conducting a Mandarin language class for about 15 of her students. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the kids were very well behaved. During the lesson the students were very attentive and when it came time for the question and answer session the whole class participated whole heartedly. Seeing this warmed my heart as I recalled my own preschool days some 50 years ago. Those days, many of us would try to avoid eye contact with the teacher so that we would not be called upon. We would sit trembling in our little wooden chairs lest our names were called out and we had to answer or speak before the entire class!

Therein lies the uniqueness of the 3Q programme. The interesting study tools keep the children excited about their day to day learning while working effectively to synchronise the left and right brain for whole brain development. The 3Q programme has also been adapted to the national primary school syllabus so that the children who graduate from this programme are well prepared for Standard 1. The subjects offered are very comprehensive and aim to optimise and enhance the children’s learning capacity.

Together, the subjects promote whole brain development while honing the child’s imagination and thinking skills through the environment and materials used. The 3Q Programme also has a number of innovative systems such as the Super Memory Map (a chapter learnt is summarised into a fun and easy to read pictorial page to encourage long term memory storage) and the Flazzle Cards (a unique syllabus related card deck that combines flashcards and picture puzzles which makes mastering the 3 languages entertaining and efficient).

Aside from the academic aspect of learning, this excellent holistic program also emphasises character building whereby the necessary social skills to enable them to grow into responsible people are inculcated into the students. Some of the crucial social skills that are cultivated are good manners, responsibility for your own actions and respect for your elders, your peers and yourself. The children are also encouraged to think and not to just follow instructions blindly; to question and enquire when necessary and to participate in social settings such as concerts and public speaking.

Talent competitions, concerts and sports day at 3Q preschools are always a largescale carnival! For all preschools adopting the 3Q programme (there are about 1,000 in Malaysia and Singapore including this preschool), their main events are a concerted effort that sees all the preschools coming together to put on a huge celebration. Each child is gently guided to develop their full potential according to their unique strengths and talents and their national-level stage enables them to showcase their various gifts and talents.

Meals are prepared fresh daily. Security is the usual report and inform system with CCTVs installed throughout. And the health and cleanliness aspect of the preschool is very good. You will also be spoilt for choice with their holiday camps which offer science experiments, cooking classes, gardening, arts and craft, and logical and linguistics.

In her passion for wanting to make the 3Q brand of preschool education more readily available to parents, Mdm. Jane has teamed up with a group of friends who also operate 3Q kindergartens. This group of 12 preschools presently have footprints in Kota Damansara, Bandar Sri Damansara, Bukit Rahman Putra, Putra Heights and Sungai Buloh. By coming together as a group, they are able to share and exchange ideas, resources, information and knowledge thus enhancing the quality and effectiveness of the preschool education that they are able to offer. Furthermore, the group is administered very professionally with report systems in place and meetings every 2 weeks. They even organize team building events among themselves. Among this group there is never a lack of motivation, dedication, passion and innovation!