Le Sands

Came across this at the end of October 2012 and the school's not yet in operation. They haven't decided on the date to have the open day.
My optimism is wearing thin.

Brighten Le Sands. 

This post is gonna be a long one (when I'm able to compose this properly,) I promise.
However, to cut the long story short, I'm sold on a few things but I am not convinced that this is THE place.
Not yet.

Nice work on overloading the place with new toys and deco. Everything is everywhere. The ceilings, the walls, the shelves, every nook and corner. I have no idea why they fill up the space with stuff.
Maybe to make an impression?
I wonder how long can the novelty of the 'prettiness' last.

We are often so suckered into all things pretty and new, aren't we?
Hoping more parents will be more objective in picking a childcare centre and ask, do ask the essential questions. Check to see if the centre is well located and child-proofed.
Meet with the teachers and check them out.
Oh yeah... where are the teachers on the Open Day that's been going on for weeks in October, November and coming to December 2012?

Do you intend to have your child be in a place until it's time to move on to primary school?
Would you make do with a place because your child will be there for half day only?

If a school is more interested to have your child there for half day programs, what does that say?
Could it mean that they wanna make a quick buck out of the parents and couldn't care less about the children?
Not sure.

If the principal or whoever that is responsible to do the marketing doesn't return your calls and text messages and say they're busy or hand the phone to someone else to answer... what does this say?
Could the possibility of having the answer "I'm busy" when you're not informed should a child fall sick or any mishaps like that happen?

If they're not keen on showing you the books and explain about the syllabus to the parents, also keep things vague like saying "when the kids turn 6, we'll streamline them to see who's going to international schools, who's going to public schools....." I wonder.... Is that convincing enough to the parents?

If and when asked for the fee structure and was told they don't have the info at hand and was like guessing, "Erm.. I think it's 280 for half day and I think it's another 400 until 6:30pm..."
with no explanation of what the terms of payments like not even when asked about it, I dunno...
I wonder why bother putting up a bad act like something is up their sleeves.

No field trips for the 3 year olds. That is so sad.
The response about this was that they are too young to go out, too young to understand anything.
Too young to enjoy field trips. Too young to have fast food.
It's too hot out, they travel by buses.
If the 3 year olds are too much to handle on a once in a blue moon field trips, I wonder... how can they even handle a class on a usual school day.
If fast food is not good for the 3 year olds, are they good for the older ones?
If they think 3 year olds are too young to learn and absorb or learn out of the classroom, I wonder why they even have 'classes or programs' for them at all. They should set up tuition centres for older children who are in primary school and forget about having younger children at all.

I wonder too much about this place and I shall stop wondering. 

Here's another one that boasts about Montessori and talk like a salesperson except this one behaved like they had something to hide and is so afraid that competitors walk in to steal their ideas.
I totally agree when people say this - If you're good, you're good. Let your work speak for itself.
And if there's nothing to hide, if you are earning an honest living, who the heck cares if you have competitors visiting?? I'm also saying this because I was in fact taking photos for my friend who couldn't view the place at that time. That guy, Ting and his mother insisted I was a competitor it was so, so awkward. What can I tell the old lady? Tell her off? I mean, seriously. And then I was rushed through it all and left waiting for a long time when another parent came after I got there. So I got interrupted. There he went, "Anything else? Anything?"..... "What else do you wanna know?"
And I tried my best to keep my cool and tried to remember to ask about the essential questions as I was being rushed ie transportation, holidays, extended hours, who are the teachers, etc.
So I said that he was really rushing me and Ting said without hesitance that he has a dinner to attend.
I said maybe he could call me when he can so that I can gather my thoughts and he can spare me more information.

And he was reluctant to show me the entire place. Sour faced all the way from the living room to the first floor and to the kitchen, library corner and back.
Hello?
Maybe not everyone cares about checking a place out on a whole but some people actually do.
I have already made time to go there for a visit.... on foot!
Ting actually said there's nothing for me to see upstairs. I kid you not.
I said, "Looks like the renovations are done nicely" and he said, "It's OK lah, nothing so special. To me it's just another kindy."

I asked at least 2 times about the routine and schedule for the 3 yo class.
Nothing specific was told to me except, upon arrival of the kids, the teachers bring them in and they have circle time, assembly. Then snacks are given at about 9:30am, so he said feed your child breakfast before leaving for school. He said, "If your child can tahan until 9:30 then OK lah."
The only time all the kids mingle together is during assembly time which is in the living room.
There was no clear answer when I asked how often do the kids get to be out to play.

Oh yeah... but of course they haven't gotten the full licenses and permits to run the school. 

Stand proud, Le Sands. Stand proud.
Maybe I'll be more sold when you're ready to be professional and by that I also mean when Ting is able to humble himself and apologize. Then maybe, just maybe I'll change my mind and give this place a chance.

Taska Chrysalis (Delicate Years)

Chrysalis had a change of name from Delicate Years. The principal, Roze has the best personality amongst all the principals I've spoken to or met. She deserves a medal for just that.
From giving me the directions to get to Taska Chrysalis to texting me with the website address to bringing me through all possible details that I needed about the place... the patience and effort she showed won my respect.

This place takes in infants as young as 2 months old till 6 years old. The baby nursery is well kept, well lid, clean and tidy. Nothing fancy or Crate and Barrel about this place but it's comfortable and clean. The owner's mother helped out with the babies and a nurse who is dedicated to looking after the babies.

They use the better brands of skin care.
The children were well behaved. There was not one who talked aloud. They cap the number of students to about 20 odd. 1 teacher to 8 students in a class.
The syllabus is according to US (Scholastic) and UK, so it's good for parents who haven't decided which school to send their children to after they're done with Kindy.
It's not a very huge place, but the classrooms are spacious enough.
Not enough books, if you asked me. Plenty of other options for stimulation like art & craft, music & movement, etc. Those things come under enrichment classes, so additional fee is to be taken into consideration. They said transport can be arranged with a fee starting from RM100 for 2 ways depending on the location. Field trips are held once a year only.

I love that they have waterplay and sandplay. Love that the children are introduced to music instruments at a young age. Love that they have children sized toilets and sinks. Love the uniform although I loathe the idea of having uniforms put on my son. Already it's a struggle to get his diaper changed in the morning, let alone putting on the uniform on him. I would definitely consider sending my child to this place if not for the distance. 
Wonderful people!
Lovely place.

No 25, Jalan Sg 2,
Taman Seputeh,
58000 Kuala Lumpur

Tel : 03-22741066 / 012-3779744

Totalchild (Also in a new premise 2015)

This school has moved into a new premise and is still in Taman Desa, diagonally opposite Public Bank.
I've seen it from the outside and pictures of the exterior to follow when I can update this post further.

Anyone has or had kid(s) attend this school?

Below is the post from my visit to Totalchild Taman Desa in 2015.

Made an another impromptu visit to another pre-school and decided I'd drop by Totalchild. 

All in all, it was a pleasant visit. The principal, Suguna, although doesn't speak perfect English, spent a long time talking to me and showed me some work done by the 3 year olds and 4 year olds. 

I got to observe the 3 year olds in class and the class teacher seems to be someone really patient with children. They had non-stop play and educational activities as I saw. 

There is no time-out corner but they do practice time-out on the 4 year olds and older kids. 

Their menu is simple enough, though the principal assured me they use less oil, salt and sugar. 

Items in the menu includes oats, banana cake, noodles with fishball and bread with butter or jam. 

There are enrichment classes offered and school holiday programmes. 

Art class: 

Thu, 1pm - 2:30pm

Weekly

With lunch included

RM95

Martial arts:

Mon

1 hour

RM70

No classes in Nov & Dec.

The classrooms are really quite small. As small as I've seen in some others like Rasberry, Happy Sunshine, Bright Horizon, JC Kids, ELC.... I suppose they're all quite similar. I like the activities that they have like Drama. They go according to themes every 2 months which is also quite fun. They say they use the Montessori method too but I'm quite tired of hearing this already. Because it seems that the schools use this Montessori as an excuse to charge a fortune. 

There's no reading for the 3 year olds and I asked what do you do with the children who know their alphabets and who are able to read... She said they'll still be taught alphabets but in different activitiesie art & craft, story telling, drama, games and so on. 

About sleeping arrangement, they provide stackable toddler beds.. those with a mesh at the base.

Parents are to bring pillows, blankets or bolsters and covers/ sheets if their children require so.

Frankly, the principal did a really good job. She was friendly, approachable, patient and all that but I don't see it in their place. It looks like a generic pre-school kindy. The school seems to have the system in place. There's a report book that the student brings home and back to school daily. Comments and notes by the parents and the teachers can be written in that book.

The students bring home the books or worksheets every Friday so the parents are aware of what the kids have done in school. There's a yearly PTA too. So, I was told that the last concert was held in the UM and there are 3 field trips in a year. That's pretty awesome. 

Seems like a well organized school!

Just like most places, they're closed the last 2 weeks of December every year.

No classes during the school holidays but the daycare will be opened.

Fees are paid every 3 months. 

RM350 for the tuition another RM350 for the daycare. 

Daycare is RM280 in December.  

One of the more important things for me is the time. It officially ends at 6pm and they make an allowance till 6:30pm. Any later than that, there will be additional charges incurred and I don't remember how much. Something like RM100 more or so. Say if it's 7pm, the charges are to be paid as a fixed rate monthly. 

The next open house is on Nov 24/ Sat

10am - 12pm

It's also their Children's Day celebration.

Suguna said she's organizing stalls outdoor and in the classrooms. The older children will be participating as vendors. I fear to think how packed it will be on that day. Cute idea nonetheless.

2 Jalan Desa Mesra, Taman Desa, 

58100 Kuala Lumpur

Tel/Fax: 03-7982 1492

Bao Bei

Rasberry Preschool

Rasberry Preschool is the newest school in the neighborhood to date.
I've been talking to the Charan, one of the teachers also admin person. She's so pleasant to talk to and makes me feel welcomed. Too bad I can't say the same about the principal from their centre in Kajang. Best she stays in Kajang :)

The open day is on Oct 21, 2012.
More on this post after that.

I thought that by reserving the information to be revealed until the open day was a way to say "We'll get ready everything and lay them out by October 21st."


The presenter, Mrs. Singh introduced herself as the learning coordinator. She spoke with less vigor, proud like a peacock, condescending to the parents and down right rude. Very, very rude.
After explaining what Montessori is (which bore the audiences to tears), she introduced this man who is the rep or a supplier of this IT edusystem called the Little Scientist. They explained that someone else was suppose to be there to do a demo on the programme but he was unable to make it.

Anyway, they tried to get something to work on the computer and they couldn't.
Then Mrs. Singh opened up the session to Q & A.
One of the parents asked "Do you think 2 classes in a week for Mandarin is enough?"
Mrs: Singh: We didn't say err, err, we are preparing the children for Chinese schools. We didn't say we're preparing them for Sekolah Kebangsaan. This is what we have."

Did she answer the question?

Then another parent asked: "What about Moral?"
Mrs: Singh: What do you mean Moral?
Another parent, who tried to help to rephrase the question: What do you do about discipline? Do you practice time-out, what methods do you use? One day someone will kick my son, another day, my son might bite another child... so what do you do in situations like this?
Mrs. Singh: Discipline must start at home. Parents cannot expect us to teach the children everything in school. It's the parents' responsibility to discipline the children.
Parent: Yeah, sure. But we're talking about in school.
Mrs. Singh: How many children do you have? You have only one? If you have two or more you will know what children are like.

Was she addressing the questions?

Parent: What do you do when a child is sick. They can fall sick at anytime of the day.
Mrs. Singh: If the child is sick, we don't take them in. We call the parents.
Parent: OK. What do you do if someone falls sick during school hours? For instance, is there a room that they can rest in while they wait for the parents to come?
Mrs. Singh: We have a daycare room where the children sleep, the sick child will be placed there.
Parent: I saw that there's one room for the children to sleep in. It could be a fever, a flu but what if it's something more contagious like HFMD? I'm trying to understand here, how do you isolate the sick child away from the others. I wouldn't wish for my sick child to get others sick too.
Mrs. Singh: We have that room.


Parent: Are you guys licensed? Because from what I know, the Taman Desa Residents Association is against this school being set up. Do you have approvals from the Bomba, neighbors, Kebajikan and so on?
Mrs. Singh: We have submitted all the approvals and they're in process. What happens with the government people we have no control of but they know we have the intention to start a pre-school.
Like I said, we dunno what goes on with them.
Parent: Wait a minute.... What you are saying is you don't have the license, you are not legally allowed to have this set-up. So briefly, your answer to my question is NO? And you intend to operate in January 2013? That's 2 months away. Can you be sure that the approvals will be sorted out by then?
Mrs. Singh: No but like I said, we can't control what the Government does.
Parent: OK. Thank you.

Parent: Do you offer trial classes?
Mrs. Singh: Yes, we do... 2 weeks.
Parent: Free of charge?
Mrs. Singh: Yes.

Parent: Can we join the enrichment classes only?
Mrs. Singh: Yeah, of course.

Parent: If a child is not use to English, how to adjust?"
Mrs. Singh: It's not a problem. Parents should try to speak more English with them.
 

By this point, a few of the parents looked at each other and made eye contact.
We shook our heads and walked out. There was a demo on Aikido at the front porch.
Most of us were ready to leave with a big sigh and talked among ourselves.
One said, "Inexperience..." The others said, "They're very very new" and rolled her eyes. The others, "Cakap macam terra...sombong betul" "Such a small space inside"

I say... I'm not at all impressed and I'm turned off.

See, I gave them the benefit of the doubt and thought they'd be prepared on the open day.
Was only that day that they were bringing in snacks and drinks for the kids.
Even Mr. Clown who was suppose to be there much earlier to entertain the kids was late.
So kelam-kabut.
It's nice that they have a big compound, nice new toys and Montessori thingamajigs.
You don't gain the parents' confidence by telling a parent, "I'm so sorry I offended you. It's just how I talk. No hard feelings... I'm use to lecturing."

The parents are not your students, woman. We were there for out children and we want to know what value our children will get especially when we are your potential customers and will be paying good money for a service you render. You were there to play a role and you were assigned to do a good job. Can you at least smile and be more approachable?!

Needless to say, there was no follow up phone calls or call answering since that day.
I'm glad they feel all those questions shook them up.

There wasn't anything I got about their programme except the emphasis of Montessori. Which they had put it so generally. One can go on the web to look for information about Montessori if they want to. But it's an open day. Why have one or have a Q&A session if it's gonna be all fluff and if you can't provide the information parents need? Come on people of Rasberry. There are better ways to make money. Get serious and passionate about what you do!
Fix that broken staircase railing while you're at it. It's jutting out and it's not safe for anyone.
 

Q-dees (2012 & 2015)

There was so much hype about the new premise. Supposedly bigger, newer, better, wow this, wow that.
A good thing I didn't think much about this place and went to see it anyway.
Went to the old school first and it looked like a dump. Gaffer tape on the stair rails, dirty, dusty, badly lit, cluttered. Ugh!

The teachers don't speak properly and I didn't see how they connect well with the children.

Went to see the newly built place. It's not all that huge, c'mon.
Huge is like Kinderland.
The compound in Q-dees is pathethic. The children don't get to be out often enough and I think they're pretty stingy in investing in play materials. Maybe most of the money went to buying cheap doors, cheap kitchen cabinets, cheap tiles, toys from Ikea. The CCTV is for their staff, not parents to monitor the children.
Why even bother bringing up that they have a CCTV? Big deal.

The children don't get to mingle with those from other classes of different ages.
Not nice.

That guy Irwin who is the founder is lousy in selling (he was in sales before), couldn't give me answers like "What do you or the teachers do when you realize a child is sick?"
"What do you do to discipline the children?"

Generic answers given straight out from the template.
Hey, I don't care what your new place is like if I see how badly maintained the current place is.

Not convinced.
Really not convinced at all.

http://q-deestamandesa.blogspot.com/2012/06/superhero-camp-at-q-dees-taman-desa-day_05.html

Update, January 2015

I gave the school a call to inquire about the hours and was told that if I am late to pick up my child, he/ she will be brought home to the principal's home in Taman Desa say after 7:30pm onwards.
I don't know if there's additional charges for this option but there is this option which is great for working parents. Transportation is available within Taman Desa. Sounds good.
I'm not sure what is the school like now or if it has a good size outdoor compound since my last visit.
If anyone has an updated info on this school, please please e-mail me or leave a comment below :)
Thanks!