Odyssey is a preschool offering an award-winning curriculum using the Reggio-Emilia inspired framework, specially designed for exploratory learning amongst children. At Odyssey, the world we live in is explored through the eyes of the children, and together, learning is enriched through their inquisitiveness and the unrelenting focus on the world as our classroom.
The Odyssey journey really began way back in 1999, when the team witnessed an amazing exhibit entitled ‘The Hundred Languages of Children’ in San Francisco. This world-renowned exhibit showcased a myriad of children’s ideas, interpreted and documented by educators from the preschool centres of Reggio Emilia, a small city in Northern Italy.
The vision for an innovative early childhood education with a difference began to take shape and in 2001, a team of Odyssey’s curriculum directors and senior management made the first exploratory visit to the municipality of Reggio Emilia. The team then began its own process of researching, experimenting and exploring the various elements of the Reggio Emilia’s best practices. For the next five years, the curriculum team members made further visits to Reggio Emilia to follow up on the latest developments, and continued crafting an approach that encompasses the multi-intelligences of children. In 2008, Odyssey’s maiden campus was founded at Wilkinson Road. With a continuing commitment to delivering quality preschool education, Odyssey launched its first preschool in Malaysia, also the first outside of Singapore, in Penang on Macalister Road in 2008. And in August of 2014 the second Odyssey preschool in Malaysia was launched at Setia Eco Park, Shah Alam.
Gaining entry into Odyssey, Setia Eco Park is by appointment and via a manned security post at the locked gates. Odyssey is a beautifully designed 3-storey building of glass, steel and concrete with ample drive-through space for picking up and dropping off your children. At first glance, the exterior looks rather impersonal and corporate-like but upon closer inspection it actually emanates a certain warmth and is quite welcoming.
This could be due to the overall cleanliness of its surroundings, its clever use of colours and various design elements or maybe it is its huge outdoor climb, crawl and swing playset that stretches almost the entire length of its front lawn. With protection against the harmful UV rays of the sun being provided by huge trendy shade sails, Odyssey not only welcomes you, it invites you to enter with open arms.
With 18,000 square feet of space covering 3 floors, 22 teachers, 6 support staff, various administrative duties and meetings, a school full of preschoolers plus their parents and guardians to attend to, Madam Petulia Lun, the Centre Director still found time for this interview. She is unfazed and takes it all in her stride. “Good morning, welcome to Odyssey, The Global Preschool!” she greets me with a smile and ushers me into the meeting room. Throughout the interview and later during the tour of the premises Madam Petulia was literally a walking and breathing lexicon of all things Odyssey and Reggio.
The unique Odyssey experience is based on the latest and most modern pedagogies conceptualized by their own team of early childhood experts and benchmarked against international best practices. The curriculum is centred on experiences that promote intellectual skills, life skills and real-world knowledge.
Lessons are conducted in state-of-the-art learning spaces by a “teaching team” comprising a Curriculum Specialist, Chinese Language Teacher and an English-speaking Teacher. These highly trained and dedicated educators will apply warmth, innovation and creativity to every lesson taught. All Curriculum Specialists are qualified, experienced educators with Bachelor degrees in Preschool Education and Teachers minimally hold a Diploma in Early Childhood Education. In addition, Specialist Teachers in art, music, physical education and special needs are engaged to facilitate the children’s learning. Odyssey’s uniquely low child-teacher ratio allows their educators to work with small groups of children yet maintain focus on the individual child. Classes are structured and sized for optimal educational experiences and peer interactions which effectively contribute towards a child centric environment.
Key curriculum experiences include:
- Project work
- Stretchers Curriculum in the Early Years
- Music Odyssey
- Outdoor Learning Experiences
- Units of Inquiry
- Literacy and Math Inquiry
- Fitness Fun
- ECQ (Personal Skills, Social Studies, Environment Education)
- Skills Workshop
- Art Odyssey
- Little Chef
The curriculum is complemented by spacious classrooms and exciting learning labs that promote individualization, personalization, innovation and creativity.
Key facilities include:
- Piazza
- Little Chef’s Lab
- Music and Dance Studio
- Observation Room
- Atelier
- Children’s Library
Odyssey also welcomes the parents as an important member of its school community through:
Connecting with parents:
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Commune@Odyssey
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Allowing parents to be aware of how their child learns and constructs knowledge through Odyssey’s quarterly parent education programmes
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Parents-in-Class
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Involving parents in the classrooms so that they truly become a part of the Odyssey community of learners
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Showcase
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End-of-term curriculum or project showcase to share your child’s learning experiences
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Parents’ Curriculum Tea
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Special tea sessions communicating the school’s curriculum and event calendar, curriculum goals and expectations with parents at the beginning of each academic year
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Parent-Teacher Conferences
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Held twice a year to share and discuss the child’s progress and development
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Parent Support Group
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Encouraging parents to volunteer for events and fund-raising efforts
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With so many events and activities throughout the year, Odyssey is truly a preschool of the future. The next time you are looking for a preschool you might want to explore Odyssey, the Global Preschool and become a part of Odyssey’s movement to produce adventurous, confident and responsible children who love the planet and are learning to be the best they can be!
