Kiddy123 recently discovered that parents in Puchong have been especially active in checking for information on our website. As such, our team decided it was time to head south in our quest to answer the most frequently asked question by parents: “What are the good kindergartens in my area?”
We started off by surveying the sprawling neighbourhood of Bandar Puteri, then moved on to nearby Puchong Jaya and Taman Wawasan. In these three areas alone, we had the opportunity to interview the principals of an amazingly wide cross-section of preschools, with teaching methods and programmes ranging from Montessori to Waldorf to R.E.A.L Kids, Hanz Education, Hankids, Brain Dance, LPC Thinker, etc. We have compiled our experiences into two reports for you – one for Bandar Puteri (Part 1) and one for Puchong Jaya-cum-Taman Wawasan (Part 2). Read on to see the treasures available for your little one.
Next, we will be surveying Puchong Utama and Bukit Puchong, so do check www.staging2601.tekapo.co for our coming report in the next few weeks.
Note: The preschools below are listed in alphabetical order.
BANDAR PUTERI
Q Garden (Tadika Sri Kaliber)
Ms Esther, the principal of Q Garden, is soft-spoken and looks as if nothing can disturb her calm and patient demeanour. However, she is definitely a determined early childhood educator, no mistakes about it. She works hard to make sure all her students know their lessons well by keeping classes small and by providing extra classes in the afternoon for important subjects such as Bahasa Malaysia, English, Chinese and Mental Arithmetic. For parents who want their children to have something extra, Q Garden also has enrichment classes such as piano, art & craft and Taekwondo.
Ms Esther focuses on the thematic approach in teaching. This means that areas of the curriculum are connected together and integrated within a theme, for example, animal theme or transportation theme. Using this method, learning becomes more natural as creating connections is believed to be the best way for a child to learn. Testimonies from the students’ parents about their children’s progress confirm that Ms Esther’s teaching methods have been working well.
The kindergarten also focuses on hands-on activities to teach scientific principles. Ms Esther said, “We make science fun for the children by doing experiments and letting them discover science for themselves. Also, every child has a science kit with which they can try out the science experiments we do here at home with their parents. We tell our parents that in doing this they can help to reinforce what their children have learnt here.” There is also a Science Corner for the children to explore and learn, complete with interesting 3-D models of the Earth, the universe and the human anatomy.
From what we have seen and observed, Q Garden is your typical medium-size friendly neighbourhood kindergarten where parents and children get to enjoy individual attention. Throughout her eight years in operating Q Garden, Ms Esther has had to answer many pleas for urgent assistance from her students’ parents. Wanting a single drop-off before rushing to work in the morning, parents of her students have requested Ms Esther to help out temporarily by taking care of the younger siblings. Sympathising with their dilemma, this has led Ms Esther to start multi-sensory programmes and nursery facilities for the younger ones.
The story does not end here. Even when her students have graduated from her kindergarten and entered primary school, parents come back to ask her to allow their children to come to Q Garden after classes are over for guidance in their school work — definitely a testimony to the trust and confidence parents have in her!
We had a pleasant surprise when we arrived at R.E.A.L Kids in Bandar Puteri; it was so peaceful – the quietest kindergarten we have been to so far. When we complimented her, the principal Mrs David, explained, “It is about setting boundaries in a positive way. We use positive words, we don’t reprimand the children by saying ‘Don’t run! Don’t shout!’ Instead, we tell them our classroom rules are ‘Walking feet’ and ‘Quiet voices’. When they make noise during lessons, we remind them to have ‘Looking eyes’ and ‘Listening ears’.” She made cute little actions to demonstrate the rules. “The children soon learnt that when they are here, these rules must be followed. When they enter primary school, this discipline will help them to fit in well,” she added.
We also soon learnt that Mrs David was a paediatric nurse for many years before fulfilling her dream of becoming an early childhood educator. This explains the neat and orderly arrangement, especially when the 3- and 4-year olds are doing their work. We saw the little ones sitting on the four sides of a demarcated square on the floor, working quietly with their materials on their own little mat, or working as a team, without intruding into the space of others. If a child happens to take another child’s materials, teachers are on hand to settle issues amicably.
Mrs David is backed by a team of well-trained teachers, half of whom have a diploma in early childhood education, while two teachers are doing their degree-level course. From what we have seen so far, this probably makes R.E.A.L Kids Bandar Puteri the kindergarten with the highest percentage of diploma-level staff in the area.
We also had a look at R.E.A.L Kids’ wide range of colourful textbooks and unique educational materials. We learnt that these were developed in-house by their own team of curriculum development specialists in their HQ. The fact is, R.E.A.L Kids had to develop their own materials as they were the first preschool in Malaysia to adopt the Multiple Intelligences (MI) approach back in 2002.
Like in all R.E.A.L Kids preschools, academics is complemented by extra-curricular activities. The children here enjoy weekly swimming lessons in the pool at the side of the building as well as Taekwondo classes. There is also a MI Corner and a small library for the children to explore and learn. Living skills are also taught from young. The children have learnt to butter their own bread and those who stay back for the extended programme fold their own blanket after their nap. This is definitely a preschool for parents who want their children to grow up to be well-balanced individuals.
With a 14-year history in Bandar Puteri, Tadika Vista Cemerlang is one of the most well-established preschools in the township. The spacious kindergarten, with its signature “alphabet wall” and beautiful artificial grass, sits majestically on a hill that overlooks a breathtaking panoramic view of Puchong and beyond.
The principal, Ms Tham, has been involved in early childhood education for more than three decades, and exudes the confidence and calm of an experienced educator. She had developed her own curriculum over the years and, based on feedback from her students’ parents, her programmes have helped to nurture the children into individuals who are responsible, disciplined, and willing to work hard to achieve academic excellence. Even today, she is continuously exploring new approaches and ways to enhance her programmes.
“I’ve taken so much pains in developing my curriculum because I believe the first six years are crucial for inputting into the child the skills, knowledge, and character traits that will help him or her succeed in an increasingly competitive world. We not only focus on the academics but also on other activities such as music and movement, art & craft, cookery classes, and taekwondo to provide the children opportunities to learn new skills and to build their self-confidence,” said Ms Tham.
“Building self-confidence is important for a child. It is not easy for a child when he or she enters primary school, especially when it is a Chinese-medium school where the competition is so keen. However, our student’s parents have seen that their kids are not afraid to go to school. This is because our students can already read, write and speak in BM, English and Chinese when they enter Primary One; they have learnt mathematics and science; they are disciplined in their studies. All these give them self-confidence,” she added.
Ms Tham also emphasises on safety and security. The whole kindergarten is equipped with CCTV while the side gate, its only entrance-cum-exit, uses a magnetised door access card system. Much thought has also been put into the children’s surroundings. The edges of the walls are curved to provide greater safety in case there are falls, while laminated flooring makes the floors easier to clean and sanitise.
Interestingly, we saw that the covered walkway from the side gate leads straight to the principal’s office door before turning left into the classrooms. Ms Tham’s office door is almost always open, which means she can see every child who walks through the gate and observe their mood and behavior. It also means an open-door policy for parents who wish to discuss any matters with her. Such strategic arrangements certainly speak clearly of her commitment to her students and their parents.
Wisdom Kids (Tadika Sinaran Manja)
Wisdom Kids is a busy kindergarten. The children are busy, the teachers are busy, even the kitchen staff is busy. You have that feeling that everyone is working very hard in this place.
Mervin Tan and his wife Irene are the owners of this busy kindergarten. Smiling at our observations, Mervin said, “We are very committed to our students and the parents who have entrusted their children to us. We want to give our students the best education. In doing so, we have to provide them the relevant knowledge, develop their thinking skills, and cultivate their right attitude towards learning during the core learning ages from 3 to 6. If we don’t do that, it would very, very challenging for the children when they start formal education in primary school. But if we succeed in building a strong foundation, it becomes a springboard for them to effortlessly want to learn more and to improve themselves.”
Regarding the teaching method that Wisdom Kids uses, Mervin explained, “We found that LPC Thinker achieves the best results for our students. Our aims for our children are to be able to learn, i.e. acquire knowledge, and to be able to share, i.e. acquire wisdom (thus, the name Wisdom Kids). If you have knowledge but cannot share that knowledge effectively, it does not benefit your future employer. The children are also taught how to think using thinking tools, diagrams and maps so that they will be ready for the higher order thinking skills (HOTS) required in KSSR, the new primary school curriculum.”
To show us how effective their teaching methods are, Mervin took hold of a big card printed with a table containing pictures numbered 1 to 50, and asked a little boy to tell us (including spelling) what the 50 pictures show. To our surprise, the child responded with the correct words (we could view the words behind the pictures) and spelling – all 50 words! According to Mervin, by the time the children are 6, they can spell up to 650 words.
Said Mervin, “In fact, some of the 5-year olds attending our enrichment class, the Young Learners Cambridge English, have sat for the external Cambridge English Starters Level exam and excelled, while almost all our 6-year olds are capable of taking the exam and doing well. By the time our students reach 7, most of them can take the next level, i.e. the Movers Level exam.
“In the beginning, all these may be hard work for the children but the results will soon speak for themselves. That is where we need the trust and cooperation of our parents. When we achieve what we set out to do, parents can be assured that when their child enters primary school, he or she only needs to concentrate on the new school environment, new teachers, and new friends. Parents have nothing to worry where their child’s school work is concerned. Academically, their child is more than well-prepared for Primary One.”