by on 28/09/2017 6079
In this installment of our Featured Article, I am really excited to be able to bring to you Kids Academy in Bandar Puteri, Puchong. Since their founding in 2010, they have consistently maintained a low profile. Looking within and knowing their programme well, they have chosen to let their tagline of “Nurturing Young Minds” do their talking for them.
As I prepared for the hour-long drive from my home in Rawang to Bandar Puteri Puchong for the interview with Kids Academy, I found myself actually looking forward to the meeting. I could not understand what it was as I am not one who would enjoy a long drive in weekday traffic. After a journey of about 80km and several tolls, I arrived at Kids Academy on a bright sunny August day.
Picking out Kids Academy from among the other buildings along the road was really easy. Just head straight for the best maintained building on the block. The corner building that Kids Academy is housed in has obviously been redesigned and renovated to accommodate the founders’ vision. The paint and grounds are immaculate and it just screams “WELCOME”.
The curriculum at Kids Academy is holistic and child centric, encompassing literacy, numeracy, science, art, music, moral and a focus on social and emotional development. The syllabus has been carefully created in accordance to the National Standard Preschool Curriculum (KSPK) with the aim of preparing your child for primary school life. Mathematics in Mandarin has also been incorporated for those who wish to enter Chinese-medium schools.
This Robotics Coding class is incorporated into the preschool timetable for children between 3 to 6 years old. The brainchild of Kids Academy; being the first preschool in Malaysia to run this integral program, Robotics Coding class aims to foster the development of motor skills whilst exploring basic STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) topics at the same time. Instead of assembling Lego-bricks or robot parts, children aged 3 to 6 will learn how to do basic coding and programming through age-appropriate coding toys and specific software, familiarising children with introductory elements of algorithmic and problem-solving thinking.
Kids Academy also offers some of the most well known franchise enrichment programmes found today. With programmes such as FasTracKids, Kindermusik and Scholastic Early English integrated into its syllabus, children at Kids Academy will not only learn, they will also be having so much fun learning.
This programme allows children aged between 3 to 6 years old to be constructively curious and at the same time develop their communication, concentration, self-esteem and social skills. Interestingly, Kids Academy is the only franchise that has the complete suites of the FasTrack programme and is proud to offer them to their students. The fascinating and educational subjects are:
Using the award-winning ABC Music & Me curriculum, this programme allows the children to move, sing, pretend and share their love for music. As children engage in the programme, they improve their memory, cognitive development, learning skills and their ability to express emotions.
Scholastic Early English is a systemic and sequential English language learning programme that developes five key early childhood learning areas using the interactive whiteboard technology. Taught in constructive blocks, Scholastic Early English focuses on the mastery of these core language skills: vocabulary, phonics, reading, speaking and writing.
Herein lies Kids Academy’s uniqueness. With such a unique curriculum and subjects, coupled with a refreshing presentation format with hands-on and interactive engagement, Kids Academy has transformed the old school classroom into one that is modern, engaging and interactive yet retaining the old values of patience, respect and responsibility. In such an enabling environment, the teaching and learning divide is sometimes blurred. There will be instances where teachers will learn from the children or the children will learn from their peers.
With highly qualified and very well trained educators, children are assured of quality care and education. At Kids Academy, children are valued as individuals and where their need for attention, approval and affection are supported. Believing that children’s curiosity is ignited by their environment, Kids Academy has created purposeful and naturally inspired indoor and outdoor areas with sufficient space for children to explore and develop.
Lesson plans, excursions, school events and activities are planned well in advance. In wanting to make the learning experience as real and as engaging as possible for the children, Kids Academy will go to great lengths to fulfill their promise of ‘Nurturing Young Minds’ - a tropical forest for a science project, real live animals for ‘Farm in the School’ and tents for School Night Camp Day.
Just as in the fable, ‘One Thousand and One Nights’, each day at Kids Academy brings forth a new adventure. Even with the fusion of the best practices of different methodologies everything is well structured and organized. The founders and their team of educators have done an excellent job at Kids Academy. Long may they continue ‘Nurturing Young Minds’.
And I thought being tech specialists and at the forefront of the digital revolution meant sitting in a basement drinking coke and coding all day!
