1. I treat others the way I want them to treat me.
2. It is okay to laugh at funny things, but not to laugh at others.
3. When I am sad, I help myself feel better by thinking of things that are good in my life.
4. I believe that I am someone who can do important things.
5. I appreciate my family, my teachers, and my school.
6. I treat everyone with respect.
7. When I listen, I show others that I care about them.
8. I am being a good citizen when I volunteer to help others.
9. I think for myself and make smart choices that are good for me.
10. I try to understand what my friends are feeling.
11. Everyone makes mistakes, so instead of getting angry with myself, I try to do better.
12. I do not give up; I keep trying until I can do my work.
13. Sharing with others makes me feel good and makes them feel good too.
14. I am being polite when I wait for my turn and say please and thank you.
15. When I smile at people, they usually smile back.
16. I encourage my friends to do their best.
17. I am honest; I do not cheat or steal.
18. When I do what I say I will do, I am being responsible.
19. When things do not go my way, I stop and think of what I can do to make them better.
20. I take care of myself by eating healthy food, exercising and getting enough rest.
21. I am being punctual when I am on time and do not keep people waiting.
22. When I cooperate with others, I get more done.
23. I follow the rules and try to make my school a better place.
24. I like to get to know children who are different from me.
25. Since I tell the truth, my friends trust me.
26. I look for what is good in others and I say what I like about them.
27. Using manners helps me keep my friends.
28. I have courage to stand up for children who are teased.
29. Before I do something, I ask myself, “Is it safe?”
30. I care about living things on earth so I recycle and do not litter.

TotalChild is turning nine years old!

Let’s take a look at what individual branches are up to.

TotalChild Menjalara Kepong with the theme “Happy Birthday TotalChild” will celebrate this special occasion on 24 April 2010 (Saturday) from 10am to 11:30am. The children are going to perform ‘Happy Birthday Song’ in non-traditional ways. Prizes will be given away to the most creative team judged by our honourable parents. There will be a tea party and cake cutting ceremony at the end of the session.

TotalChild OUG with the theme “The Tiger Show” will celebrate this special occasion on 25 April 2010 (Sunday) from 9:30am – 12pm. WWF Malaysia is joining us in promoting this environmental care campaign by giving a talk about saving tigers as one of the endangered animals as well as conducting children activities. Another NGO, Taiwan Buddhist Tzu-Chi Foundation Malaysia is joining us by exhibiting information about environment and recycling. Don’t miss out interesting activities such as children’s performances, tiger face painting and the cake cutting ceremony.

TotalChild Taman Desa with the theme “I Care” will celebrate this special occasion on 25 April 2010 (Sunday) from 10am to 11:30am. The children will perform a play about environmental issues in order to deliver an important message, that is, “we want a beautiful world with nature and harmony“. There will be an ‘I-Character’ Award giving ceremony for the children who have been showing good characters in the preschool. The event will end with a cake cutting ceremony and refreshment.

TotalChild Kota Kemuning with the theme “The Colours of TotalChild” will celebrate this special occasion on 8 May 2010 (Saturday) from 10am to 12pm. There will be a dress-up teddy bear contest and attractive prizes will be given to the three most creative dressed up bears. The families who come in red and yellow outfits will stand a chance to win the “The Most Outstanding Family” Award too! Daring parents are encouraged to participate in the quiz “How well do you know TotalChild? ” The adventurous families can participate in station games to go through the obstacles and challenges together. Children who have been showing good characters will be awarded “I-Character” Award. The event will end with cake cutting ceremony and refreshment.

Hello everybody!!!!

It has already been five months since I did an internship at your lovely little TotalChild Preschool. But to be honest, it feels like it was last week working there. I’ve been back at my home country – Holland – for 2.5 months now and I can only say that I miss the TotalChild Preschool, Kuala Lumpur and Malaysia a lot!

By now it is autumn in Holland. This means it is grey, rainy, cold and windy weather. Leaves are falling down from the trees and the flowers are nowhere to be seen.

But luckily I have a lot of beautiful memories about my time at the preschool and Kuala Lumpur to keep me warm during these cold and boring days.

I started my internship at the Totalchild Preschool at the beginning of March 2009. Right from the beginning I felt very welcome, but a little strange too… because I was really tall and white next to the teachers and the children. The first day at the preschool one of the kids told me: “You are a monster!”. Of course I was a little surprised by this comment on my looks, but later he told me that I looked like a monster, because I had blue eyes. I was the giant, the tall big girl and the funny teacher… but that didn’t bother me, I had so much fun making jokes about it! Every week I had to teach some classes, for example; reading, physical education and circle time and I assisted during the other classes. I had so much fun especially during the Physical education lessons. We did some dancing and exercises and had a great time. I enjoyed every lesson and the time I could spend with the children. I was surprised at how well the children could speak English and they were surprised that I couldn’t speak a word Chinese and couldn’t eat with chopsticks

I met some great people and children and I had such a great time during the lessons and activities. The Sports day was a great day to remember! Finally I met all the parents and we did a great, crazy dance with all the teachers, children and some parents.

I remember my last day at the TotalChild preschool like yesterday! I felt I had really gotten to know everyone at the preschool and I felt sad to leave. The children were shocked to hear that I was not coming back after the weekend. They gave me a big hug and said a lot of sweet words! Luckily I did return two times and I could wave at the children ones more.

In the last two months of my stay at Kuala Lumpur I travelled around Malaysia. I went to the most beautiful places; Melakka, Langkawi, Penang, Perhentian Island, Tioman Island, Kuching, Cameron and Genting Higlands. I had never been to such a wonderful place as Malaysia before! I loved every part of it and I was stunned by all the beautiful nature, buildings and different cultures.

As you might know; most white people love the sun and so do I! So I have visited the breathtaking beaches, the amazing jungles and I went snorkeling everywhere I could. I wish I could have taken the sun with me to Holland, because I miss it so much! I am already really white again

I want to thank you all for the great time you have given me during my internship at the Preschool! I have learned so much during this time and during my stay at Malaysia. I want to return one day to Kuala Lumpur, because I miss everything so much.

Say YEAH to ‘No Plastic Bag Day’ implemented in Penang and Selangor in year 2010!

Next, say STRANGE to ‘Everyday a Plastic Bag Day’ implemented in Kuala Lumpur, the Federal Territory of Malaysia.

Ironic enough, since the launch of ‘No Plastic Bag Day’ in Selangor early this year, the Kuala Lumpurian need to be alert that if they are going to shop on Saturday, make sure they bring along shopping bags if they visit shopping malls in Bandar Utama, Sunway, Subang and so forth. Whilst for residents of Selangor, they need not worry about bringing shopping bags if they are heading Mid-Valley Megamall or KLCC Suria.

What a joke!

We who live in the Klang Valley, who often travel between Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, have to learn the differences of rules and regulations in both areas. Now we have to learn which places that provide plastic bags on Saturday and which do not. Bear in mind that if you visit Cold Storage Supermarkets, they do not provide plastic bags on Thursday and Saturday nationwide. A bit confusing huh?

So what is the fuss? Let’s just bring our shopping bags everywhere we go.

As much as we love our mother earth, we are born in the plastic bag culture. It is utterly true that people who have been living with plastic bags for decades, will not tune into the ‘No Plastic Bag’ mode instantly. We need a push, a lot of reminders and practices. I can see people will not turn away the offer of plastic bags for convenience sake. After all, who welcomes troubles?

Urged by MPs to implement ‘No Plastic Bag Day’ campaign, The Mayor of Kuala Lumpur City Hall told the press that DBKL will observe and evaluate the effectiveness of the campaign by Selangor government, then decide if they will or will not adopt the idea. What a big joke! The Federal Territory is falling behind in environmental care with such a lame reason. This inevitably gives most people excuses not to play their role as a efficient citizen.

‘No Plastic Bag Day’ is the beginning of environmental care awareness campaign, we have a long way to go. Much more environmental friendly approaches must be introduced and enforced in the country especially forest conservation, town planning and development, energy and resources management, traffic system and control, waste management, lifestyle and education.

At TotalChild Preschool, we can do our small but crucial part, that is, lifestyle and education. We believe that children learn by role modeling. We show children that we care about the environment by doing the followings:

1) 3 R practice – reduce, reuse and recyle

2) minimising the use of chemical for cleaning by using garbage enzyme

3) adopting ‘LESS meat and processed food, MORE vegetables and fruits’ approach in serving meals

4) avoiding the use of disposable plastic and Styrofoam utensil

5) organising talks and campaigns to create awareness about environmental care

6) educating children about the adverse effect of pollutions such as ‘greenhouse effect’ and ‘global warming’

Hopefully we will produce new generations with strong awareness about the environmental care.

Parents, are you doing your part?

“We do not inherit the Earth, we borrow it from our children”