The 9 Qualities of A Preschool Teacher - Teacher Selvi Puspa from R.E.A.L Kids Gasing Indah

Always remember to taste these fruits. These fruits are very sweet and delicious, and they are the 9 fine qualities that make a good preschool teacher:

1. Patience - be patient when handling the small one's.
2. Love - show more love and care.
3. Joy - display joy when seeing kids achievements in their studies.
4. Peace - have a peace of mind and do not bring any problem with you to class because you won't be able to deliver the lesson properly.
5. Endurance - wholeheartedly take up the challenge to handle the small one's.
6. Generosity - be gracious to reward the small one's with words of encouragement, eg: Bravo, Excellent, Genius or offer them a Star Sticker.
7. Mildness - be gentle when you're handling the kids especially during concert practice or field trips.
8. Faith - we plant the seeds of foundation in our children. In the coming days, they will bear fruits of knowledge.
9. Kindness - be kind to the small one's because they are innocent and still a kid. Always use kind and positive words with them.

Written and shared by Teacher Selvi Puspa from R.E.A.L Kids Gasing Indah

Test of Faith by Teacher Nik Waheeda - R.E.A.L Kids Kota Damansara

An inspiring finding by Teacher Nik Waheeda, something worth your time reading if you cared about helping your child improve but nothing seemed to work no matter how hard you tried.

Teacher Nik Waheeda is a Counselor by profession and she chose to work with children. 

This is her story.

“What do I do with you? Can someone help me, show me? How to deal with you?”

During her capacity as a trainee counselor, Teacher Waheeda has chosen to work with children. Her client was a very young boy, few years old. She was very excited because the boy was her first ever client! All bright-eyed, she looked at him, he looked at her in return, for 5 minutes.

“I’m trained. Let him play. Do whatever he wants.” One hour passed, nobody talked. “Okay. At least nobody died or cried.” Teacher Waheeda thought.

On the second appointment, Teacher Waheeda was ready with some ammunition. “I’ve tried this before and I can do it!” She looked at the little boy, said “Hi”. He went to his toy. For the next 15 to 30 minutes she was only watching him. Then the next 45 minutes to 1 hour. “This is a child, I don’t know what to do!!”

Third occasion, Waheeda kept herself high-spirited and dared herself to speak up to the boy, “What do you want to do today?” Deep down she was starting to get anxious, “I’m going to fail my practicum.”

“What have I done wrong? I know all techniques. I’ve attended all seminars and I’ve aced all my subjects! Seven levels of workshop! I’ve sat on the floor with the boy, rolled on the floor in sand, spoke baby talks. But time after time, it fails! Should I give up? This is not what I signed up for. Had I bitten more than I can chew?”

On the other hand, there is this little voice in her head that speaks softly to her, “Don’t give up.” There she recollected herself on her advanced techniques. Enacted with her friends and asked them if they think this or that could work, or rather not work.

Just shortly before she was about to give up, Teacher Waheeda recalled the most basic of all principles she learned back in school from a Principal Psychologist Carl Rogers, an influential American psychologist and among the founders of the humanistic approach to psychology.  

“Everybody has the potential capacity to change on his own.”

A counselor’s job is to provide the Environment (Pot). The client is the Seed. What necessitates the change comes from the counselor’s act of adding the necessary ingredients (water, soil, sunlight, fertilizer). So what is the missing ingredient?

The lack of faith! Teacher Nik Waheeda realized that she did not believe in her client! All she needed to do is to know for certain that he can change. Throw all the advanced techniques, sat there and be with him. Slowly he began to make small little changes and blossomed from a seed to a flower. Compared to normal child, this change was nothing. Her faith was tested.

So my dear friends, parents, teachers and counselors, have faith in your little ones. Know that they have the ability to change themselves for the better. This could be all it takes to help them make that tiny little change on a daily basis that could eventually transform them into lovely and responsible adults. Faith and Patience are great combination of Characters that could bring Hope to live.

The Love for Children Will Come - Teacher Gana from R.E.A.L Kids Puchong Jaya

"The love for children will come if you have the patience and kindness because the children are so innocent." - Teacher Gana from R.E.A.L Kids Puchong Jaya.

Teacher Gana is not the first preschool teacher that has come from a corporate background. Tthe reason behind why some of these teachers that decided to pursue a career in early childhood education never cease to amaze us and that is motherhood. 

“I wanted to teach my own children. I could not just sit around the house and do nothing. Therefore I enrolled myself to pursue a Diploma in Montessori. Thereafter, I ran my own kindergarten for 10 years. It was a very small self independent kindergarten that I managed alongside my sister and a helper. After making the decision to sell off the business, I stayed home for a short period of time to look after my aging mother-in-law. After some time, I felt restless and staying at home was starting to be very energy-sapping and that was when I came across an ad in the newspaper that was looking for kindergarten teachers. This was my beginning with R.E.A.L Kids."

If you think that managing a class full of preschoolers is easy, you might need to think again. Teacher Gana shared with us some of the challenges that are involved in managing preschoolers that she has encountered over the years teaching in R.E.A.L Kids. “Handling the parents is more challenging than the children at times. The children are happy in your classes but their parents could think otherwise. They have high expectations of the teachers and expect results from their children’s learning growth in areas such as reading and writing. Unlike the Western culture, Asian cultured parents have the tendency to be fairly academically driven. Classes are organized in such a way that each class would have a variety of levels of children but all of the same age. There are times where you struggle with time in guiding the slower ones to catch up with the class. This is where you would have to identify the stronger children and teach them to assist their weaker classmates. You’ll be surprised as to how children can sometimes learn better from their peers. We also get the stronger students to learn through puzzles and building blocks while we are occupied with guiding the weaker ones. Another challenge that I have encountered as a teacher is handling very active children. There are always a few children who are unique in character in a class. How do you handle them then? Some of these children are very smart and energetic. For example, I had this one boy who was very cheeky. I had placed the sweet drinks very high up on a cupboard and while I was attending to the other children, he was cheekily stacking chairs up to climb up and retrieve the drink. I had to run up to him and told him nicely that he could not have the sweet drinks now and that he had to be patient. Sometimes you have to explain nicely to the quieter and more timid children that teacher will not scold them if they behave well especially after they have seen you scold the naughtier ones. Everything has to be done in a very sensitive and delicate manner. Teaching in a big school and running back and forth for school duties can be very tiresome at times too.” 

However, teaching in a kindergarten is not all bitter as there are plenty of sweet moments too! Teacher Gana shared with us about her short experience in teaching at a Dyslexic Centre. “It was an NGO and I was there to teach a small group of dyslexic children and by using the phonetics method, we were able to guide some dyslexic children of age 7 & 8 years old to learn how to read. Later on, the centre started accepting autistic children and it became too time-consuming and tiring for me. I love and enjoy teaching children and what gives me joy is seeing how much progress the children has shown since entering my class. I was not trained to teach autistic children.” Why did teacher Gana decide to stay with R.E.A.L Kids Puchong Jaya for such a long time? “I feel recognized and comfortable with the people here. It feels good when you have a parent come up to you and insist that her second or third child to be in your class. It lets you know that you have been doing a great job and how your children are impacted by it. I want to be somewhere where everybody knows my name. I could have moved on to a bigger school with better financial security but I wouldn’t know what the chances are to meet a good school manager like teacher Janet who is comfortable with my teaching methods and trusts me enough to continue using my own teaching style.”

Teacher Gana was extremely grateful when she experienced parents who went up on stage to thank her publically for her competency as a teacher during one of the Graduation Day Ceremony. There are times when she feels that she would like to explore different careers after being in this line of job for so long. She was considering on exploring the real estate industry. However, there is something special and fulfilling about teaching children that has always kept her here. “Some time ago I bumped into an ex student of mine and she was currently already working as an accountant! I felt excited but yet at the same time a little sad for myself as I was still working as a teacher after so many years. However that student exclaimed, “Teacher Gana, you have basically taught half of Puchong! And that is what you want to hear and feel. Sometimes we may not feel that we have contributed much, but even after a child has grown up and still remembers me, I am very happy.” 

How has working with R.E.A.L Kids transformed teacher Gana for the better? “I used to be very introverted and shy. I was encouraged by the management to take up public speaking and it is very different speaking to children as opposed to speaking publically to adults. Children don’t judge you as much as adults do although I must admit that children are much brighter than we thought they were. They actually absorb a lot more than you think they do and they bring it back home to their parents.” 

Is anyone off the streets qualified to be a preschool teacher? “Patience is of utmost importance. This is followed by kindness and love for the children. Even if you do not love children, working in a kindergarten will grow that love for children eventually because the children are so innocent. I remember this one child who was always crying loudly ‘Teacher Gana, Teacher Gana’ to get my attention. After a while, she slowly grew to be independent and she was able to learn so much. Your heart will melt when you see how a child progress in your class. Sometimes it is the fear and separation anxiety that scares them and that is why they cry. After all this, I am now teaching her younger sister and I am always reminded of her elder sister. Being a preschool teacher is not a job that should be looked down upon. You need to have the passion for children and learn how to be hands-on with them. When a child makes a mess in his pants and is afraid to let the teacher know because he is afraid of getting scolded, you should not just throw him to the helper to clean him up. This might instil thoughts of rejection in the child’s mind.”

What are Teacher Gana’s thoughts on Early Childhood Education? “It is the period of time for us to teach them right from wrong. Reading is critical at this stage of life for them to accumulate general knowledge. By learning to read, the child is able to progress further in learning. This is the time where we are still able to mould them, imagine trying to change someone who is already in their 50s. It is near to impossible because they are already so set in their ways. I learned through my experience of raising my 3 children that teaching positive things are crucial. My eldest child took a break of 7 years after her SPM and was jumping from course to course until she finally settled down in dentistry. As compared to my youngest son, who is only 16 now, is very independent. He knows how to take the bus on his own to school every day and sometimes I feel hurt when he tells me “don’t worry about me mom, I don’t need your help now, I can take care of myself.” Both my eldest and youngest child behaves so differently from one another. My son is independent enough to cook his own meal whereas my eldest cannot even heat up her already cooked meal. I am still learning how to cope as a mother and learning how not to be selfish sometimes to wanting to be needed by them.” 

Teacher Gana rejoined us in 2006 and she has no regrets. “I have no regrets but there are times I feel burnt out. I really give all my heart and soul and it can be tiring. It is definitely not easy to be a teacher. However, I like going the extra mile. I have a soft spot for children who are weaker in the class but it can sometimes take a toll on me.”

 

   

Love, Patience and Kindness - Teacher Maliga from R.E.A.L. Kids Kajang Prima

"You can change a child with love, patience and kindness"

                Ms Maliga is one of the teachers in our R.E.A.L Kids Centre in Kajang Prima and she has been with us for 4 years now. Ms Maliga comes from an experienced career background in construction of 14 years but decided that she would like to do something different with her life. She took a one year break from work and used this time to catch up with family, friends and just some alone time for herself. Fortunately for us, Ms Maliga felt a sense of emptiness in life and decided to join us at our R.E.A.L Kids centre in Kajang! She is now extremely happy with where she is and looks forward to work every day! We had the opportunity to have a short talk with teacher Maliga and that helped us to getting to know her a little better.

                Ms Maliga is not just your average kindergarten teacher. She comes across shy, quiet and reserved and did not have much experience in the education field. She had one year work experience in a kindergarten after her SPM but that was all. Everything that she has learnt today was solely built on her passion for children. However there was a time where that passion in teacher Maliga was almost extinguished when she faced challenges in her work. She struggled with writing up reports and updating the children records and she was on the verge of giving up. She actually had one foot out the door when our beloved principal, Ms Tan, had the compassion and love for Ms Maliga and believed so strongly that she had so much more potential in teaching. She sat her down after school to help guide her in learning the ways of writing reports and such. It was because of the love and care that was shown by Ms Tan that encouraged Ms Maliga to step back into teaching with both feet planted to the ground and a passion that was reignited for the children. “If I was able to withstand the pressure of construction business for 14 years, I am able to see this through especially with the guidance of such an inspiring leader” said Ms Maliga.

                The career change for teacher Maliga was tough initially but as soon as she got into the groove of teaching, she progressed with flying colours. Her passion for her students was not just confined in the classrooms but even in her dreams! “I would have dreams about ideas on how to be creative in my classes” said Ms Maliga. She got the idea of using decorated flash cards in her class through her dreams where she quickly took note of the moment she awoke. This is a very different side of Ms Maliga from when she was in the construction line where she was hot tempered and stressed from the pressure of work. Now she is a happy, patient and contented person and is fully committed to her career as a kindergarten teacher.

                One of teacher Maliga’s highlights being a kindergarten teacher in R.E.A.L Kids is their annual concerts. She describes how both the teachers and children are all excited as they prepare for the concert. They have speeches, dances, singers and all sorts of creative entertaining programs for the parents. As teacher Maliga tells us, “it is not easy to prepare the children for the concert but they are so excited about it. I would even go to the temple to pray for them that they will dance and sing properly. I am so happy when I see them on the stage dancing and singing all their parts correctly and you will see the parents so proud of their children.” It is good to see how much Ms Maliga loves her job now and its moments like these that warm our hearts.

                Teacher Maliga has only been teaching in R.E.A.L Kids for 4 years with no ECE background but she has shown so much growth.  She was once a hot tempered person but is now a loving, patient and kind hearted person. Teacher Maliga portrays dedication and bravery in her job and tells us “don’t give up when times are tough. You can change a child with love, patience and kindness.” Some wise words from Ms Maliga to future ECE graduates, “you must love your job. If a hot tempered person like me from construction line can learn to change, you can definitely do it. I believe in ECE because it not only teaches children ABC, but character, independence, manners and respect too.”