Contentment by Tong Kitt Chan

Kitt Chan sharing with us what Contentment and Happiness means through Character First April 2015 Gathering.

"Today, I would like to share a story. Once upon a time, there was a girl who lived in a village. The little girl’s ambition was to be a kindergarten teacher. To her, it was not a difficult ambition compared to becoming a doctor or a lawyer. The majority of her classmates had applied for business or economics courses in university, but she applied for an early childhood course. True, it was not difficult to become a kindergarten teacher and after four years she graduated and soon she was working as a kindergarten teacher. She was very happy and contented doing what she had dreamed about for so long. However, the happiness did not last long. After a year of teaching, she found her university friends who had studied business and economics were able to buy cars or a house, but she was earning only a thousand plus and riding a motorbike. Her income was far less than her friends.

Then she started to think of ways to increase her income. What could she do? Finally, she got an answer- part time job.  The girl started to work part time. She earned hundreds by tutoring primary school student. She continued at her full time job teaching in a kindergarten from 8am to 4pm. After that, she traveled to another centre to teach primary school children. Before she went home, she went to two houses to give students home tuition. At night she had to prepare work for the next day’s lessons for her full time job.  She even taught children art on Saturday.  Definitely, her income increased. She was very happy and proud of herself.

Do you think the girl will be happy ever after? Why?

The answer is no. She felt unhappy again.

Hi, I am the girl. During that time, I worked 12 to 13 hours every day. I was happy to teach young children in the morning. But, I was stressed when teaching home tuition at night. I seldom met my student’s parents, but they were watching me teaching tuition through CCTV. The parents want academic excellence. Nobody cares about the curriculum and the age appropriateness of it. Nobody bothered about character building.  I sacrificed my time with family and friends, health and my passion because of money.  I was really struggling at that time. Should I let go my part time job? But how can I survive with the little pay? Why had I spend 4 years of my time and effort studying something that couldn’t even support my life? It was the first time I truly felt that it was not easy to be a kindergarten teacher. I wasn’t contented when I learned that my friends are earning more, I wasn’t contented even when I earned more with my tutoring.

In March 2012, my grandmother fell sick. I resigned and I stopped all my part time jobs. I spent few months with my grandmother in hospital before she passed away. It was priceless being with her. I learned a lot during those few months. Money can buy you medicine, but not health; money can buy you clock, but not time; money can buy you house; but not a home. Dear friends, are you contented with what you have? Are you contented with your life? I am happy for you if your answer is YES! If NO, we can learn together.

How to cultivate contentment? Do you know how to be happy? Or you are waiting for happiness to find you? Happiness is a journey, not a destination. Till today, I am still learning to be contented. I am learning to live in the present moment because the people who are the happiest with their lives are able to enjoy and embrace the present moment instead of being stuck on the past or obsessing over how the future will look like. I am learning to be grateful for what I have instead of focusing on the things that do not belong to me. I am learning to stop comparing myself to others. Stop thinking about how big my neighbour’s house is, how great my friend’s job is and how perfect my best friend’s boyfriend is. At the end of the day, I can’t change what other people are doing, and I will never get anywhere if I keep comparing myself to others. I am learning to appreciate all the little things. Be thankful for the air we breathe, the food on the table, the quiet home we live in, the sunshine that brightens up our day. Every little detail in our life counts.

Today, I am thankful and contented that I am still working in the early childhood work environment. It is okay although I am earning less than my business or economic friends. I feel grateful that my current salary is enough for me to pay my bills and eat whatever I want to eat. 

Dear friend, let’s treasure happiness together. Find a purpose in our life, simplify our life, take the time to connect with people, hang out with those who are contented with their lives, and most importantly love ourselves. Remember, true happiness does not depend on material conditions. Smile, it is free! Contentment is the key to happiness. Thank you."

Written by Tong Kitt Chan.

I Will See To It That They Can Do It - Teacher Catharine from R.E.A.L Kids Shah Alam

A lifetime in preschool education industry would roughly sum up Teacher Catharine's experience and accomplishment in this industry. She is a proud teacher of many grown up professionals. Among whom includes a priest in his 30's who is now serving the church she attends every weekend.

Since she got married in 1996, Teacher Catharine joined CEC after she relocated to Shah Alam. She was working in Klang for 20 years prior to that. "In CEC I learned a lot from the school. Whereas before this, I learned a lot from the children. When I first started teaching in preschool, I had to come up with a lot of teaching materials from scratch. I would do some matching exercises with the kids and that's how I learned from them what is the best way for them to pick up new words. I take pleasure in simplifying lessons so kids could learn. It feels really good when they got confident with the letters and words I taught."

Some lifetime awards Teacher Catharine came were not in monetary rewards but the words of appreciation from the parents whose children she taught and guided. "I remember a Punjabi girl who was very close to me. I was very firm with the kids. To my surprise, she told her mom when she grows up, she is going to be a teacher like Teacher Catharine because teacher Catharine is a very good teacher. Another case was a lawyer's son. I attended an event where I met the parents. Both the husband and wife were very glad I taught their son. They said, 'it's only after coming into your class that my son knew what a school is.' Their son never wanted to attend school prior to attending my classes."

"What makes me different from other teachers is that I'm always into teaching and I will see to it that my children can do it. I work hard and go all out to make sure my children had good foundation in English to start formal schooling. There was a child who could not read a word at all and the parents were frustrated. They trusted me and I had to go one-to-one with the child by extending the class to 1.30pm just to help him catch up with the class. I am happy that most of our children are doing very well in schools now. Most of them are top 10 in their classes."

"Another interesting  thing about R.E.A.L Kids is that we did field trips and concerts that are educational for the children. Sports days are very important for the kids too. Occasionally we even have educational talks from the firefighters and dentist too. It makes their learning so much more fun." 

Company Owned, Not Franchised, Standardized Quality - Teacher Irene from R.E.A.L Kids

"It is definitely a challenging career. You got to love it. The passion for kids and to love them. Otherwise it will be too overwhelming for you to take the kids' cries, vomiting and poo-poo. It comes together with the teaching job. We had a kid who cried since day one this year, and she just stopped crying two weeks ago. She was not struggling with us, she just couldn't stop crying. Separation anxiety. She would walk nicely next to you holding your hand but she wouldn't stop crying. As a dedicated preschool teacher, you find out why they are crying and find joy in trying to help them ease their separation anxiety."

Positive Reinforcement, Upskilling and Basic Yoga Makes A Good Teacher - Teacher Joy from R.E.A.L Kids Puchong Jaya

Children are different these days. The chalk, talk & desk method is no longer suitable for kids of this era. I always feel that we need to upgrade ourselves with new skills in our handling with children of different intelligences.

I kept myself updated by attending various trainings and courses such as PTM (Persatuan Tadika Malaysia), church parenting courses and many other intensive courses on how to handle children and communicating with parents of this era. This has boosted my confidence & self-esteem in my profession. 

In my day to day interaction with children, I integrate games, activities, different teaching approaches with positive interactions and not forgetting to be firm in dealing with undesirable behaviours.

In addition to that, I used to teach poorer students in the suburbs, where the needs of the parents were different in comparison to R.E.A.L Kids parents who are well educated & knowledgeable about matters concerning their child’s education. This makes it even more important for me to further my studies in Early Childhood Education to engage with the children & parents better.

I experienced that by using puppets, hand signs, body language and playing music softly while the children are doing their work are various methods to attract the children’s attention and it helps to calm them down as well. Sometimes after gym, swimming or music lessons which got them all hyped up, I would use slow breathing exercises, sit down and cross their legs, close their eyes, hands laid on their laps and count to 10. Even blowing an imaginary balloon is good exercise for their lungs as well as having fun with the activity. 

Two of the most memorable moments for me would be firstly when I successfully completed my diploma in ECE just a year ago. I believe that my perseverance, diligence, experienced lecturers & team mates got me through this journey. The other memorable moment for me would be the joy of being able to lead my 2010 class to achieve a higher standard in their reading skills in BM & Eng as compared to my other classes in the previous years. I received a lot of appreciation and acknowledgements from the parents at the end of the year for my efforts in helping their children.

Using positive reinforcement such as awarding a star or smiley face sticker to reinforce good behaviour and when they attain 5 stars, I will award them with a simple gift like a pencil, eraser etc. Be it for their reading achievements, good behaviour or caring & sharing act.

I strongly believe that every teacher who handles a child should have some form of formal training to help them in developing a holistic child. Otherwise handling children wrongly can have a strong negative impact on the child in the long run.

Sometimes in class I have to put on many hats to impress, entertain or even just to be like one of the kids. Once I have succeeded in gaining their trust & respect, delegating duties to them during snack time, collection of books, handing out art materials, discipline & classroom management becomes easily manageable. I give chance to the weaker ones to perform tasks around the classroom as it builds their confidence and social skills with their friends.

Written by Teacher Joy

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.”