Tadika Dian, Alam Impian, Shah Alam

Tadika Dian was the very first kindergarten that was set up ten years ago to serve the families in the community of Alam Impian, Shah Alam with a service that allows parents to entrust the care of their children to teachers who love them like their own. Despite the mushrooming of other schools in the surrounding area, Tadika Dian remains well-received to this day, and not to mention, children love that this is such a fun place to be at.

By fostering positive relationships within the whole school community, Tadika Dian strives to work together as a team to prepare all children for a positive impact in every step of their lives. This is just as the name of the school suggests – Dian (Malay for the gleaming glow of a lamp) – which is symbolic of illuminating the path for a bright future.

To do so, Tadika Dian establishes a rich learning environment that capitalises on children’s curiosity as a learning motivator. “Children are curious by nature. You cannot keep them from exploring as they try to comprehend the world around them. And as educators, it is very important that we do not stifle that curiosity, but instead, create opportunities for them to satisfy their curiosity through safe and playful exploration. Subsequently, these experiences will fuel children’s intellectual, social, emotional and physical development,” explains Ms Sopiah, founder of Tadika Dian.

Then pair that curious child with a world that is so full of new words to understand, new games to play, new foods to taste and new concepts to master, we get children who loves to ask a lot of questions. “It is also our task to listen respectfully, respond to their questions and nurture their communication skills. We encourage them to learn to reflect about themselves, know what they want, how to articulate their wants and be confident talking to another adult besides their parent. This is key to helping children learn effectively throughout their lives,” Ms Sopiah continues.

Besides encouraging children to express themselves, the teachers at Tadika Dian embrace the individualities of each child, so much so that there is a no uniform policy (except for a physical education attire for Physical Thursdays) to define the child.

At the same time, each child has unique capabilities and learning styles. As put forth by Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences, all children are born with nine different types of intelligences but each to varying degrees of strength. This makes some children better taught in a linguistically-based environment (reading and writing), while others are learn better through visual-spatial-based activities (engaging with images and pictures). Because no two children are exactly alike, teachers here won’t be seen teaching using a cookie cutter approach for all.

Teachers keep track of what works for each child and what doesn’t; they tune into what entices children with wonder, and let that guide the children’s learning experiences. Every day is an exciting adventure for the children when learning takes place through a myriad of fun activities that not only captivates their interests, but also keeps their active minds growing and developing well. The core programmes are usually enhanced with field trips, holiday camps, sports days, graduation concerts, and extracurricular enrichment activities like Taekwondo, and Mandarin and Quran classes. Even though some are cancelled due to the coronavirus restrictions, the teachers at Tadika Dian remains dedicated to make sure learning goes on in other creative formats.

While making early learning enjoyable for the little ones, Tadika Dian places an equal emphasis on building a foundation of school readiness skills like knowing how to learn and how to persevere, so that children will have a smooth transition to primary school. And to see past graduates being able to thrive in any type of primary school is a testament to the efficacy of the kindergarten’s programmes and teaching practices.