Siew Wah, principal of TotalChild Preschool Kota Kemuning

When I first met this little girl in my class a year ago, I realized that she is the reflection of me when I was young.

She is bright. She is able to speak, read and write very well. She is friendly and thoughtful. She tolerates with children of her age over issues. She has all it takes to be the teacher’s pet. She seems perfect in everyone’s eyes.

But I saw more than that. She is hesitant to try new things. She is self-conscious about expressing herself in the class. She feels uneasy to be the center of attention. She wants to do what she is already good at. She always stays in her comfort zone.

She has no confidence to be herself!

When I was at her age, I was a very quiet girl. I have no self confidence at all. I became quieter when I was in primary school. I did not even have the guts to raise my hand to tell teacher when I wanted to go to washroom. Of course I was not given a chance in classroom to express and promote myself due to my quietness.

I was once thought that teachers did not notice my presence and I was not important at all. I still remember I told my mother that I did not want to go to school anymore.  Instead I wanted  to sell ‘kuih’ made by my mother.

Until I was told by a Malay teacher who praised me, “Hey, you have done so well in Bahasa Malaysia. Very good indeed.”

That was really a great encouragement for me. The funny part was I did not realize that I was good in BM until then. Due to this incident, all in a sudden, I realized I was NOT a ‘nobody’. I started to ‘shine’ in my class simply because I felt good about myself.  A year later I was selected to participate in a ‘pertandingan syarahan BM’ in a district level and I got the third place.

Since then I knew who my soul mate was, that is, CONFIDENCE.

Back to this little girl in my class.

Today she has stepped out from her comfort zone. She dares to challenge the teacher’s ideas. She is more than just an obedient child. She has confidence in herself!

Confidence grows when love, encouragement and opportunities are freely given. 

On her 6^th Birthday, I bought her a storybook. I wrote in Chinese:

有自信的孩子最美丽

会感恩,懂珍惜的孩子最漂亮

愿你永远美丽又漂亮

Happy Birthday Tan Ling!

Teacher Emily, TotalChild Preschool Menjalara Kepong

It was a lovely morning.

While I was organizing the class, A hurried to see me, “Teacher Emily, a fish in the aquarium died!”
So I quickly followed A to check what had happened.

I then noticed that one of our pet guppies was trapped in the shallow water between the aquatic leaves. Not knowing how long the fish had been trapped, I told A that it was still alive because it was still breathing.

A was very glad to hear that. However he asked again, “Why the fish can’t swim? Is it because of broken bones?” I smiled and replied, “Maybe.” I did not take his concern seriously.
 
Then A suggested taking the fish to see a doctor. That was a wild idea! I have not heard about a fish see the doctor. Who would take a fish to see the doctor? It is just a fish after all.

In order to find an easy way out, I tried to comfort A by telling him the fish was going to be fine soon. We should let it rest for a while and hopefully it could swim again. Even so, A was still worried. He decided to stay by the aquarium to accompany the ailing fish.

It must have been half an hour later or so, we then found the fish died eventually.

I felt terrible. I was sure A felt even worse. We could have saved the fish’s life if we took the fish to the doctor, maybe?

I learned a valuable lesson from this incident.  Children care about things around them, be it the tiniest thing, and adults tend to overlook it.

news from TotalChild Preschool OUG 

J sat on the floor with both hands hiding her face. There was a  puddle of water right on the spot where she was sitting. She kept saying “I don’t want …” meanwhile, turning away from the teacher who offered help.

All in a sudden, the scenario made perfect sense to me. J peed in her pants.  The teacher tried to get her to change.

I could guess the little face behind the hands was full of tears. J was in total embarrassment. That was why she chose to sit on the spot to cover up.

The tricky part, I thought, was to persuade her to move herself to the bathroom to get changed as quickly as possible.  You see, kids can be stubborn at times.

 “Hey it’s ok. Let’s rush to the bathroom before anybody sees us, how about that?”

Fortunately J thought that was a good idea too. She stood up and tiptoed to the bathroom.

In the bathroom, while cleaning her, I tried to cheer her up with my embarrassing moments.

“You know what, when I was little, I peed in my pants too. There was once I passed motion in my pants.”

“Huh? Really? That’s embarrassing. How could you let it happen?” Her little eyes were shining as if she was much better compared to my case.

“I guess accidents happen sometimes. As long as it doesn’t happen every day, we will be just fine.”

“Shame shame, teacher.” J gave me a cunning smile.

Shannon Low 有话说

 前几天，三五知己搞了个聚会，聊生活、聊工作、聊经济、聊孩子…… 其中一个就铁定地说开幼儿园最好做，因为不受经济不景气的影响，每个孩子都必须上学嘛！

“做你这一行既简单又好赚，不然幼儿园也不会到处都是！”

“就是啰，女人和小孩的钱最好赚。”

Well…… 自己有苦自己知。谁说这行不受经济影响？本来想让孩子三岁去学校玩玩，现在还是等四、五岁吧；本来要送孩子到很好的学校，现在有书读就好；本来想多生几一个，现在不生了。 妈呀！这不是天大的影响吗？

在生意的角度，我说， 有人数就好做，没有人数，你什么都不用做，等关门吧！

天下哪有免费的午餐？没有付出，哪有收获？社会是现实的。

在人文的角度，我说，办幼儿园，是个整颗心在工作，不是pandai pandai就能够做啰。

第一，要有心（passion）

第二，要用心（commitment）

第三，要细心（care）

第四，要耐心（patience）

第五，要真心 （genuine） 

唯有用整颗心去培育幼儿园里的种子，树苗才会在最佳生长环境下愈长愈壮！这一切一切，是一种使命感。我们期待的回报，就是父母对我们的欣赏和赞赏！

所以，我在乎的不只是数字，更在乎素质。

我的朋友觉得我在这一行待这么久，真不可思议。人马座的我不会在一处待很久的，除非使命还未完成！

TotalChild company trip

Go go green!

19 of us from TotalChild Preschool OUG, Kota Kemuning and Menjalara Kepong headed to a green valley surrounded by mountains and forests ~ Sg Lembing.

The first stop was Kuantan, the capital town of Pahang. Teacher Esther was our tour guide because this was the place she grew up in. We had a sandy walk at Teluk Cempedak, Kuantan.  Some kept taking photos. Some couldn’t wait to jump into the water! Some had smooth and creamy ice-cream at the beach. Yum!

The next stop was Sg Lembing, a village around 30 minutes drive from Kuantan. Sg Lembing is best known for her spectacular view of clouds and mist from the hilltop. We made sure the alarm clock wake us up at 3am for the climb. Teacher Yow volunteered to be the morning knock-knock call. With our sleepy eyes and sleepy legs, it’s kind of tough to climb the never ending steps at Bukit Panorama in the dark. When we reached the peak, it’s only 4:35am! Yeah!!!

Unfortunately we didn’t manage to see the sunrise because there was another spectacular scene awaiting us. It was the Rainbow Waterfall. 30 minutes of four wheel ride experience plus another 45 minutes of jungle trekking, we were truly drained. Teacher Joan hurt her buttocks too! But the moment we saw the 15-storey high waterfall, our grumbling and cursing stopped. We could only make an ‘o’ shape with our mouth. WOW!!!

It’s a fresh and green journey of discoveries ~ the scenery, the food, the people and our physical fitness! And of course this trip had brought us closer than ever.

From Teacher Esther

It was an unexpected trip that cheered me up. I thought I was going back to my hometown, Kuantan a place that I was familiar with and there was nothing could surprise me. However, I discovered something much interesting that beyond my knowledge. The Bukit Panorama and waterfall were eye catching and wonderful, especially the rainbow waterfall had given me some great experiences. I had never thought of touching the rainbow in my entire life, but I managed to touch the rainbow with my own hands. It was an amazing experience that I think I will never forget. In addition, having a shower under the waterfall and swimming in the cold pond were good experiences for me. I wish to thank Shannon and Yen Wey who planned this trip for us. I enjoyed spending a night with all the OUG teachers in the so called BIG room where we had crazy activities.

From Teacher Belle

It was a tough and unforgettable experience for me. We started climbing up the Bukit Panorama at 4am, and reached the peak at 4.35am. I was exhausted and I couldn’t believe I made it. We were the first group who reached there in that morning. Although we were unable to see the cloud and sunrise it was a good experience being in the trip with my ‘crazy’ colleagues. These city girls were curious and excited about everything they saw - the rocks, trees, beach, waterfall and river. They laughed, shouted and played hard during the journey. I wish we can have another gathering in the coming future.

From Teacher Yen Fung

This was my first time going to Kuantan. It was really an exciting and fun experience for me. We went to the most beautiful beach, Teluk Chempedak in Kuantan. The sand was white and soft, and the water was clean. I could not wait to jump into the water and had fun playing in the water under the hot sun. I had a good time with my colleagues at this beautiful beach.

Shannon Low 之幼儿园Tips 大赠送

又开学啰!
又? ? ?
一月份才刚开学, 因为农历新年, 孩子又放假一星期去了。 所以又开学啰!
妈妈也许会头痛, 心肝宝贝刚适应, 哭了将近一个月, 现在又开学, 宝贝又要从新哭起, 真是难挨难过呀!

但是，老师说：宝贝很快不哭啦，我会好好照顾宝贝，放心放心。
结果，first time 妈妈只好照做，说了bye bye再bye bye, 头回了再回, 忍痛踏出课室，又舍不得，再偷偷从玻璃窗窥探。心里纳闷：怎么宝贝天天玩这个难缠的pattern？是不是他不喜欢幼儿园和老师呀？还是其他小朋友欺负他? 是不是他不会表达啊？一万个问号。

在这里, first time 妈妈和爸爸可以试一试：
1. 洗脑 ~ 有意无意, 带宝贝经过幼儿园。经过幼儿园时一定要告诉他, 这是他的学校。在学校里有小朋友, 有疼爱他的老师。他可以玩很多好玩的玩具, 学很多好玩的东西。千万别一而再，再而三地强调：你来这里读书, 要乖乖听老师的话，不然老师会骂你。记得输入正面的讯息哦。

2. 哭，别怕 ~ 您一定要明白，小宝贝第一次自己逗留在陌生的地方，他难免会不安甚至惶恐失措！管他玩具城还是游乐场，他要妈妈！（大人去到新环境，都会战战兢兢，有人 homesick，更何况是初出茅庐的小宝贝。）失措大哭绝对是一种正常的表达方式。别心太乱或心太软，因为孩子会查颜观色，您怕他哭，以后他很可能会利用“哭”这武器在任何所有大小事件上来影响您的情绪和决定。

3． 沟通 ~ 无数次的沟通是上上之策。当您选择幼儿园时，您一定要了解了该幼儿园的教育理念和方针，教学制度及师资。如果一切符合您对幼儿教育的期待，大体上，您应该可以无忧无虑的把小宝贝付拖于学校。多和老师沟通，了解孩子在课室的情况是很重要的。再者，协助老师了解孩子的喜好、兴趣、情绪也能帮助老师协助孩子更快适应环境。千万别否定孩子！听听孩子对新学校感受，不但鼓励孩子能言善道，也能从孩子身上了解孩子在学校的状况。切记：教育也是家长的事，所以大家需一起努力。

4. 赞赏 ~ 每个人都喜欢听好话，听赞赏！您可以奖励小宝贝，如果他XX天很勇敢，没有哭着去学校，他就可以得到XX。哈哈，算不算贿赂？孩子嘛，不过小礼物就好，不然您也许会落的钱不够用的田地！

祝福父母，开学愉快！以上所言，希望可以帮助大家。哈哈，大家自己人, 不用客气！