Kindergarten hunting – Part 2

Kinderland, Juara Cerdik, Educare and Peter & Jane

Approach to education
Peter & Jane and Educare employ the Montessori Method but during my visit to Educare, though I see some apparatus, they don’t look like the typical Montessori apparatus, unlike Peter & Jane. There's a clear difference between these two, with Peter & Jane having a more complete collection of apparatus which are neatly arranged, much like the actual Montessori classroom pictured below.

However, I get a sense that the 5- and 6-year old classes become more academic in nature, to prepare the children for primary school. Juara Cerdik belongs to the Damansara Utama Methodist Church (DUMC) and employs the FunGates System, which also uses lots of apparatus in their teaching. The emphasis on academics is pretty strong, with the aim of getting the children familiar with the concept of homework and assessments. Kinderland is also very academic in nature. All four uses the thematic approach (e.g., family, occupation, animals) in their teaching and only Peter & Jane offers Chinese medium classes. Kinderland and Juara Cerdik offers Chinese as part of the syllabus and according to the principal of Juara Cerdik, most of her students attend Chinese primary schools.

Overall, the quality of teachers in these four centres appears to be a GREAT deal better than those of R.E.A.L Kids, Smart Reader Kids and Q-dees.

Physical characteristics
Both Educare and Kinderland have a lot of similarites: both are housed in a double-storey bungalow, both have reasonably attractive façade and interior, both do not have child friendly facilities, and both have a minipool and sandpit in their compounds. Kinderland also has a music room with several keyboards, where the children learn music and fiddle with the instruments.

Educare

Kinderland

Juara Cerdik and Peter & Jane also have lots of similarities: both are housed in a custom built building, not your run-of-the-mill double storey bungalow or double-storey corner terrace unit. Both have really impressive exterior and interior as well as having child-friendly facilities. Juara Cerdik also boasts of a science lab and computer lab, and since it is within the large DUMC complex, it has access to the multipurpose hall for its activities. Peter & Jane also has a computer lab, and its music classes are conducted using the Musikgarten program, no less!

Child friendly facilities at Juara Cerdik

The huuuugggeeee compound of Peter & Jane

Security
Security at Educare, Kinderland and Peter & Jane are pretty lax. Similar to the R.E.A.L Kids and Q-dees centres I visited, though there’s a latch at the gate, it was not locked. At least at Peter & Jane, the first point of entry is the administrator office so there’s still some measure of screening of visitors. The DUMC complex is a guarded complex, but the guards don’t really stop anyone from going into the complex. The main entrance to Juara Cerdik though, is locked, at least at the time of my visit that evening. It’s somewhat similar to the typical office security system where access is only granted with an access card. Not sure if it'll be locked during school/dismissal hours.

$$$$$
Juara Cerdik and Educare costs about the same as R.E.A.L Kids, while Kinderland and Peter & Jane costs about 50% and 65% more respectively.

In conclusion
Among these four centres, I like Peter & Jane the most, but its fee is quite prohibitive. Juara Cerdik is a close second, and given its lower fee, appears to give more bangs for my bucks.

So what’s next? I’ll make another visit to Juara Cerdik when school is in session, to observe the children and teacher in action. I’ll bring Yiu Yiu along too, just to see if she likes the school. And if trial classes is an option, I’ll certainly enroll her. In the meantime, I’ll explore other Q-dees kindies in the vicinity.