Children are curious beings; they are like a sheet of blank paper, untainted and pure, ready to absorb any information presented to them and they love to gain new experiences because that is how they learn about the world and their surroundings. This is how the name “Young Explorers” came about for this kindergarten, with the aim to provide children the opportunities to explore, discover and create.
Nestled in the quiet neighborhood of Putra Heights, Young Explorers Kindergarten is run by a mother and her two daughters who have a strong passion in early childhood education. Madam Janice aka mother is Montessori trained and Australian Early Childhood certified with more than 20 years’ experience in early childhood education. Today, her daughter – Ms. Hannah – has followed in her mother’s footsteps and taken over managing the kindergarten.
Ms. Hannah has an Australian Cert 3 for Child Care Services, is PERMATA certified, has a Diploma in Early Childhood Education, plus a Degree in Early Years Education with 10 years of teaching experience.
Given the culture and education system in Malaysia, Ms. Hannah believes that an integrated learning method works better than using only one method to teach children. The programme used at Young Explorers is created by Madam Janice and her daughters, combining play-based Montessori methods with a thematic approach in tandem with the National Curriculum as set out by the Ministry of Education Malaysia. Their programme is created to nurture the children’s diverse talents and prepare them for a smooth transition to primary school.
We would get close and personal with the students, sometimes we would even cry when our students are not progressing, because we take their wellbeing to heartMadam Janice
Interestingly, every morning during the first hour of class, children are free to play outdoors in the kindergarten’s playground under the supervision of the teachers. As explained by Ms. Hannah, this would affect the children’s behavior in class for the rest of the day; if denied this period of play and exercise, children would be restless in the classroom later and may even disrupt the flow of the lessons.
At Young Explorers, other than the usual programmes offered, extra-curricular classes are offered as well, classes such as drama, Wasilah programme and Mandarin etc. During drama class, students are given the opportunity to express themselves and unleash their creativity, not only do the children enjoy it very much, it also helps build their confidence. They were having so much fun that we could hear their laughter and screams of joy from another room.
Madam Janice cares for the students at her kindergarten so much that she would make healthy and nutritious meals for them with ingredients that she buys from the market. She believes that the quality of food is important and nutrition is a big factor in choosing the ingredients for the meals. As most modern-day parents are too busy to cook, they do what they can at Young Explorers by providing children the best that they can offer. Such is the heart and passion of these early childhood educators.
Ms. Hannah is constantly looking for ways to improve the kindergarten, she even has plans to incorporate technology into their daily lessons. She is currently in talks to develop a fun educational application for students to use in class and it will also help parents monitor the progress of their children. New mobile technology is now a very good teaching platform and gives teachers new ideas for course integration, it also encourages students’ creativity and positive engagement.
True to its name, students at Young Explorers Kindergarten are free to explore their uniqueness and talents under the guidance of dedicated teachers like Ms. Hannah.
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