晓萍老师，TotalChild OUG

这是一趟小旅行。怎么样的小旅行？哈哈！是既有挑战性，危险性，刺激又有满足感，还充满欢乐笑声和身心极度疲惫的旅程。很复杂耶。。嗯。。也不会啦，看下去就了了。。

一辆载着二十个女人，三个小孩的巴士，大约九点半从华联花园出发去关丹–林明山，这目的地，对我而言好陌生。。因为我孤陋寡闻。在这之前，真的没听过有这么座山，不过，出发前我做小调查，也略知一二。

一路上，大家都在嘻哈玩乐，因为兴奋嘛！要乘坐巴士到目的地，需要四至五小时。在这段时间里，巴士上的笑声是无间断的。你相信吗，在摇晃的环境下，有一伙人竟然可以玩“盖棉被”-扑克牌游戏的一种。四个人用脚顶着一个背包当桌子，就酱玩了起来！

当大家都觉得肚子饿时，我们也恰好到达关丹市区。在一家叫亲善海鲜楼的餐馆用餐。吃饱后，第一个景点，就是到海边去戏水！！这海边名叫“得落陈波达”-马来名直译。我们只被允许在此逗留半小时，因为住宿地的负责人来电，说那儿下着雨，可以的话希望我们天黑以前到达，真是意犹未尽。。

从这儿到那儿，要用另外一个四十五分钟。巴士逐渐驶入了乡村路，好“乌鲁乌鲁”哦。。我们来到了一个很乡村的乡村，人流量很少，车流量也几乎没有。。他们都到哪儿去呢？我们今晚的落脚处又会是怎样的一个地方呢？你知道吗？首先，巴士要渡过一座窄小的木桥，然后，还要经过一个华人墓地，友族同胞的墓地，才到我们的住处。。嘻嘻。。到达“酒店”，分配好房间，部分同事先冲凉，有的就准备晚餐。晚餐我们吃火锅，一锅素食，一锅全肉食。晚餐后，还有抽奖游戏哦。。今晚，我们得早睡，因为凌晨三点半要起床！！

 朦朦胧胧中起来，一杯咖啡+面包做早餐。我们3：50分出发。5分钟后到山脚下。我们还是带着很好奇的心情，期待着爬林明山是怎么一回事。。

凌晨4：00

山脚下有两个选择，向右走或向左走，没人晓得。。就在这个时候，迎面来了一辆摩多车，燕微截停他们问方向。我当时马上联想真像鬼戏情节耶。。半夜三更，在无方向时，就这么巧有人为我们指路。。右边是我们的起步点，

燕微带领我们上山。这时候，我想起卡茹娜的提醒，她吩咐我一定要带手电筒。因为在上山的路途里，是一片乌漆麻黑的树林，一条无止尽楼梯和烂泥路！！才刚步行二十几个梯级，就开始犹豫，要继续还是放弃。心跳加速跳到不行，不是怕鬼而是怕不能负荷。。怎么办？真的，没选择，大家都往前走，我跟晓娟说，我们一定得撑着。。一步一步慢慢的走。。十分钟后有个凉亭，做了个短暂休息后再继续上山。途中，一度缺氧，脑部发麻，想吐。。我能怎样？都到中段了，只能往前，不能后退。

凌晨4：41

我们到山顶咯！唔。。。只有一座小凉亭而已。。也对啦，还能有什么呢？没有人高声欢呼我们到了！！只见一张张疲惫不堪的脸互相对望着，一脸疑惑，我们来这儿干嘛？哈哈！这里还有一个较大的地方给我们休息。而这个地方其实是看日出的最佳位置！我们上山林明山有两个目的，看云海，看日出，很多人为此而来。当地村民说，云海不常有，日出时间不一。。我们还有一个景点要去，不能在此逗留太久，所以只能碰运气在下山前看到日出。云海看不到，只看到林明市的夜景。日出，我们也看不到，因为6：00我们开始下山咯。。

早上6:30

我们成功下山！这回，我莫明兴奋起来，因为我完成了一个登山活动，这是我跟晓娟的不可能任务！

早上7：00

早餐我们享用一些巴刹小吃。我在山脚下看见太阳升起来了。。有点小遗憾，若我当时还在山顶上，我肯定不会错过这一幕。。我还要再来一次吗？

早上7：30

我们换了短裤，拖鞋，准备就绪，要出发去彩红瀑布！导游先生一看见我们的装扮，马上命令我们换球鞋！他说，我们要下海，上山，拖鞋怎能胜任？他补充我们需要乘坐45分钟的四轮驱动车才会到彩红瀑布的山脚下。什么？！！45分钟后只到山脚下？！！不是直接到达瀑布哦？然后，还要进森林步行45分钟才会看到瀑布！我们差点没晕过去。。刚刚不是才下山吗？可能吗？不由得我们做选择了，上车吧！

早上7：45

四轮驱动车一驶进山路，手提电话马上没了讯号。我又有想法了。。如果我们迷失在山路或森林，谁能救我们？呜呜。。我很怕。。

早上8：30

到彩红瀑布的山脚，第一件要做的事就是下海咯。。水浸到膝盖，我把书包背的高高的，免得把里面的更换衣物弄湿。接着，走一段石头路，这路不好走，石头大小不一，要走得很小心，在里的石头更不要随便踩踏，因为石头长时间浸在水里会生青苔，会滑。水路走一段，石头路走一段，森林走一段。。就这样一路上攀攀走走的，非常崎岖坎坷。。晓娟较可怜，跌了一绞。导游先生步行的很快，一个不留神，就会跟丢了。所以，无论如何，我都不能被抛下，因为我怕！ 

早上9：15

我们一直追问着，到底还要多久才会看到瀑布？导游先生只会说，快到了。。老实说，我有点撑不住了，这当下，不能放弃，不能回头，只能跟着走。一路上一直有个疑问，为什么我会在这里？这行程是谁安排的？很折磨。。

终于，一步步的努力爬，我们到了！真的有点难以置信我会来到这儿。这是我能力以外的事，体能上不可能，想像中也不可能。。

到达后的第一件就是找地方歇一歇，再来就是问：彩红在哪里？导游说，再上一座小山坡就能看见！要不，就坐着等。哈哈，再上山是不可能了，我等！

队员们陆陆续续到达，大家也只能显露一副精疲力尽的样子。嗯。。可能真的很累了，我只想坐着。。燕微打头阵游过对面到瀑布下玩乐，她极力怂恿我们过去，但此时的我们，没人有那股力气。。

休息一会儿后，有人开始行动咯，一个接一个的游了过去，大声喊道：快点过来啊！好壮观的瀑布啊！好美的彩红啊！我还是受不住诱惑，请求导游先生助我一把。这一刻！我真的傻眼了。。我在瀑布下，彩红在我眼前耶。。洒下来的山水超冰凉，还甜甜的。。还有，彩红还会随着视线摆动。晓娟和秀华也被引诱过来参与我们！彩红瀑布下就充满了一班女人的嬉戏笑声！

大家都被这美丽的地方吸引着，忘形了。。有没有人想我们还得从进来的路出去。。我有，所以很懊恼。。烦恼着我还有体力吗？

由于晓娟跌过一绞，行动不那么方便，导游先生特别关照她，让她随着他后。我也跟在一块儿。我相信是因为体力透支了，下山时，我非常没信心，几度差点摔跤，不过我没有，倒是晓娟又摔了一次，这下子她又哭又笑的，我也爱莫能助，只求不要再跌第三次了！！

终于!我们回到了平地！成功走出森林！！完成了攀山寻找彩红瀑布的使命！

最近，每当想起那段崎岖山路，那次旅程。。。我们都有一个同样的想法，走在平地上是幸福的. 噢！再补充一句，那座瀑布山不只有彩红，它还有水晶哦！

有人说，孩子是天使，那么地天真无邪。

有人说，孩子是一张白纸，等待增添生命的色彩。

有人说，孩子是大人的镜子，处处反映大人的言行举止。

我说，孩子是一份特别的礼物，你在期待他的到来，却不确定是不是你想象的那样。

你可能得到惊喜，你可能被吓到；你可能觉得他很合你意，你可能觉得他很不适用。

但是，当这份特别的礼物落到你手中，从此他的命运就被你操纵。

每个礼物都包含心思，值得你去爱惜他。

每个孩子都很特别，值得你去发掘他。

世上没有教不好的孩子，只有不会教的父母。

p/s 当你觉得教得好累，是时候探讨你是不是缺乏知识和技巧，赶快去上课补一补。

What are parents most afraid of at the moment?

Is it Bird flu? Hand-foot-mouth disease? Kidnapping?

No. 

It’s the increasing cases of Influenza A/H1N1 in Klang Valley. With no more than 1% fatal rate, lower than death cases in road accidents, people are still very concerned.

Parent A: There is a case in Sg Buluh Hospital now. I’m so worried. Should I send my child to school?

Parent B: Are you going to stop the sick children from attending school? Who knows if they are infected?

Parent C: You guys should clean the school properly. Make sure the children wash their hands frequently and don’t touch each other.

Parent D: Why don’t you measure everyone’s temperature at the school gate every morning?

Parent E: There is a number of school closure. H1N1 is spreading vigorously. What do you do for prevention?

Since this epedemic of influenza A/H1N1 passes from person to person, from one airport to another, our country has set off the alarm by tracking the cases closely. Still, the best way to deal with it is to cut off all human contacts. 

In a nut shell, zero human contact leads to 100% prevention of the disease. This is the same theory as birth control. Abstinence from sex leads to 100% prevention of pregnancy.

However is this theory feasible?

Certainly not.  

Children’s contacts are not limited to friends and teachers at school, but also their parents, siblings and other relatives who live in the same household. Their parents’ contacts are not limited to their family members, but also their bosses, colleagues, clients, strangers they meet in the shop and on the road.

Can we stop the parents from touching the children? Can we stop going to work? Can we stop shopping for daily needs?

At this stage, fighting H1N1 is not about refraining everyone from contacting us. Fighting H1N1 strongly relies on responsible behaviour of individuals and transparency of information in the society.

The government has set directive to implement 7-day house quarantine for those who are from the infected countries, the infected patients, and people who have contact with the infected patients. We must obey the rules. If we are infected with influenza A/H1N1 we must notify the health authorities and the related parties. We must not hide anything.

If there is a case in the preschool, we will notify everyone in the school and take immediate and appropriate action to cut off the connections. But if we do not have a case, we will behave normal and not overwhelmed by this issue. This includes practising environment and personal hygiene as well as keeping an eye on the children at all times.

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！