Adam@home

little caliph

i must confess. we didn't do much analysis or surveying on the various (and some dubious) kindergartens available these days, when danish turned 5 (u grown up so fast!). and they were a lot i tell u. there were the cheaper to free governmental ones, the still cheap taska which i presumed to do a little bit more than day-care, the not so govermental ones (ABIM, PASTI) with moderate fees, the typical english speaking ones and the english+Islamic ones. i went for the governmental ones when i was a year older than you, danish. there were no PERMATA progams then, i went for a TABIKA KEMAS which i think was what they prescribe us rural kids with farmer parents. dont know how much that cost, but i'm pretty sure its next to nothing. we used to call it sekolah makan. i dont know if they still calls them that these days.. i dont remember much of those times. just enough to to know that it happened. just a few still pictures in my memory, which i'm sure will conjure up more stories i poke it deeper, but enough about me.

The big brands with a chain of franchises across the countries are the names we often heard of. these are usually the english based programs that boast carefully thought syllabus by subject matter experts in early education. these are usually described in big words in brochures and websites, designed to assured parents and bring confidence to their expert delivery system while giving no useful details nor tangible goals. well not the one u can bring to court anyway. some of the known ones that has built a reputation for the themselves include Smart readers, C.E.C., R.E.A.L Kids, Q-Dees and then there are also the Islamic based ones Little caliph, Genius Aulad, a bunch of them carried the word Aulad although not linked between them.., . they come in a variety of concepts, all i'm sure with great intentions of nurturing young minds to the right path early on.

for you, we both agree that it would be best for a English+Islamic type with programs that would enrich the social and the academic side, spiritual and physical.  and we're determine to give it to you although i was shocked at the fee structure of the english speaking and english speaking+Islamic type of kindergardens,... it turns out those were the norm of the day @ RM240 bucks per month. your grandpa were equally shocked when we told him the price structure. he was silent at first, and then turn to your mother and says " awak punya ITM fee dulu pun tak sampai dua ratus empat puluh!"

but i'm getting ahead of myself. with our knowledge on kindies based on word of mouths, buntings, some tv adverts and flashy billboards of the few brand names we know of, and a more extensive internet browsing, we decided that we like genius aulad. partly its more established, and partly because they have raihan and that talkative boy from that Tom Tom Bak show as their public faces. and so we query some chatter over the net, found some good comments, and particularly no smear campaign. so far so good. so we went to check out the nearest available branch at Bandar Baru bangi Section 9. that's when things go downhill. the fact that the principal wasn't there  as we thought after a call a few days before, add a little bit more demerit to the fact that its facilities reminded me of tuition class on the 3rd level of a 3 level middle shoplot that has very steep stairs and definitely limited windows. how would a 5 year old develop his senses and build characther in a place as crammed as this? not to mention no outdoor area, or the safety aspect of running children down a steep stairwell only to find a busy street awaits them. that gave us a bad vibe, and so we moved on.

by word of mouth of the close people we know, we learnt this quaint little place that i ws told it give wonderful integrated Islamic education from kindie up to secondary school called Sri Ayesha. its relly just opposite of where we found genius aulad in bangi. slightly better locale, its still uses commercial shoplots as  its centre with dark brown color. though i understand later that the ground floor would house the kindies, it still didnt offer the safety that i would be comfortable with nor the greenery of field that i think would do u good. i suppose, although i'm pretty sure these schools are great, we could not get passed the situation of their facilities. we thought, we should do better for you. i suppose shoplots+early education just dont work in our minds. i guess other parents don't mind as much.

and then we stumble upon Litte Caliph. again another stone throw from genius aulad, but this time its in the semi-D housing behind the KeTTHA zero energy building in section 9. they used to called it Pusat Tenaga Malaysia, which are easier to remember than the new name, which i cant remember. if anyone wants to find it, its the only building then that have a green colored wind turbine for demonstration of wind power harnessing, which more than once i suspected were a gimmick and probably powered by an electric motor. but still it looks nice. hurray for the government.

being in a Semi-D housing, it held better prospect of safety; less cars on the housing lanes, and it is a gated with green compound within. our initial thin-slicing were quiet prospecting that we went to the open day that was held a few weeks later. in the meanwhile, we query more chatter over the net to seek any feedback on this little caliph programs. again no spear campaign. some quite remarkable compliments. it seemed it was started a local lady, a once lecturer who noticed that she cant quiet make the necessary changes over her students on some grave issues, that she decide to go to the age that she can make a difference. how's that for a movie plot!

the teachers there were pretty nice and give u the maternal feeling of care and patience, which is of the ultimate requirement to handle 4 to 6 year olds! the only drawback was it's a new branch, so the teachers might be new to the program itself. but we have a good feeling on it.. and so that was how, u went to Little Caliph.. u were quiet the champ, u didnt even cry in the first few days of school, unlike ur classmates!

although we have our concerns over its program, after a few weeks, we noticed good improvements. and hopefully more to come! more on this later..