by on 27/02/2020 1630
Unlike the fleeting summer cloud or ephemeral flowers, Tadika Sri Kenanga has endured and flourished since its founding in April 1988 by Madam Cheah and her co-partner. I was welcomed with open arms today visiting Tadika Sri Kenanga at Bandar Botanic, Klang. The children were lovely, and Madam Cheah is a dispassionate lady who is ever-cheerful; always there with a smile and ready to help with anything and everything. Together with her son, Justin Chia, they run this centre as co-principals since 2016. The mother-and-son team is very personable and well-spoken, having loyal teachers that have stayed with them for more than 30 years for some! It’s no wonder that Tadika Sri Kenanga has thrived and endured for so long! The first Tadika Sri Kenanga was set in Taman Bayu Perdana, Klang on April 1988; whereas the second one had just opened in Bandar Botanic, Klang in 2016.
Madam Cheah revealed that she was inspired to start the school out of personal satisfaction and her love for children. Prior to establishing Tadika Sri Kenanga, Madam Cheah had worked in secondary schools, teaching English as a second language, among other subjects. This was when she came to realisation that the best way to nurture a child is by starting from a very young age simply because everything they do comes from their heart, which makes them easy to shape and manage. The school environment had been built into a positive learning environment for the children, where it offers a safe base for children to obtain conducive learning and teaching conditions. Madam Cheah also pointed out that children’s learning is understood developmentally. As such, the highly experienced and qualified teachers at Sri Kenanga were taught to respond to children not in terms of arbitrary expectations about “attainment levels” but through the children’s developmental progress that is constantly monitored and assessed. The response to the individual child is “as they are”—underpinned by a non-judgmental and accepting attitude.
Children at Tadika Sri Kenanga are nurtured via their engagement with the adults (e.g., teachers, parents) in reciprocal shared activities to develop their self-esteem. Some of these activities are play, having mealtimes together, reading, and talking about their feelings or past events. Madam Cheah often emphasised on creating a meaningful bond between the teachers and the children. Children respond to being valued and thought about as individuals. In practice, this involves noticing and praising small achievements, all of which are essential pieces in a nurturing environment.
Tadika Sri Kenanga is organised around a structured day with predictable routines. For instance, the children’s body temperature will be taken and recorded twice each day, once in the morning and another in the evening. What’s impressive is that the body temperatures are then recorded in an app developed by Justin. The app also does other cool things that make the record-keeping session less tedious. Teachers can clock in and out from work by a simple face recognition; while for the children, the app allows recording injury or pain intensity on a body map, making it a pain tracking app. Parents can keep track of their children through this app. Convenient, eh?
Madam Cheah relishes her son’s willingness to run the kindergarten together, as Justin can provide her with fresh insights about formulating innovative ideas and galvanising action that suit today’s modern learning. Most importantly, parents have been giving positive feedback on their children’s behaviour at home, saying that they are independent, played well with others, and came home with a head full of knowledge each day.
It feels much like a family here in Tadika Sri Kenanga. Madam Cheah has received numerous testimonials from parents who are absolutely happy and satisfied with their children’s progress at Tadika Sri Kenanga. She stresses that what makes this kindergarten special is the bond created between the teachers and the children. Upon concluding the interview, Madam Cheah teared up upon reminiscing how her students are now parents, sending off their kids at Tadika Sri Kenanga.
