Ideal Pre-school Teacher

I remember very well, when I was a kid I used to imitate my teacher after I reach home and make all my toys sit in a row like students and start acting like my favorite teacher Ms. Lilibeth. 

Since teachers in the Philippines wear uniforms, so I wasn’t really very much interested in her dress. But what I loved was the way she makes up her hair, the hair clip she used and yeah her perfume and I as a child wanted so much to be just like her. But of course these aren’t enough to love your teacher. There must be something really special in her that makes her outstand from the rest of the people around you and that is how she teaches you and what you are learning from her. 

I’ve mentioned Ms. Lilibeth since she was my pre-primary teacher otherwise I had my favorites in every level of my schooling and each one of them were special in their own way. Now, what I want to share here is what I’ve liked and appreciated most from my teachers so whoever will read my post would learn something and be inspired. Who knows you might become the favorite of a little boy/girl in your school. 

Well I would want teachers to be reading this but parents and anyone can benefit from this too since children are around us and it’s very important to be aware of their psychology and know exactly what they want and like. Please don’t get me wrong here, what I’m about to discuss aren’t enough to make a perfect teacher but these are just some important issues which is being neglected by many.

Work on your physical appearance- How you look is the most important here because believe me one of the main reasons kids start loving their school is because of how beautiful their teacher is.

Always wear clean clothes and try not to repeat your dress on consecutive days. Make sure you smell really good because when kids come near you, the first thing they do is check whether you smell good or not and if you don’t, they won’t come near you the next time you call them.


Though everyone washes their face in the morning, make sure you’re looking fresh and lively. Not all washed face look nice. So, you might want to put on some face powder and lipstick.

Don’t wear too much accessories like jewelries. Too much means too big because you will have difficulty handling your students since your earrings would need some handling too. Cute little earrings would look really decent. Wear something in your wrist too like watch or a tiny bracelet. Kids just love to see elders dress up nicely.

Be conscious about personal hygiene- I would mention this point again:

• Wear neat and clean clothes
• Long nails look really nice but make sure they are clean, in my opinion, I don’t recommend teachers of younger kids to have long nails and short nails look more elegant.
• Always wear clean and polished shoes or sandals. N this way, they would learn to keep theirs clean and polished too.

  Neat hair- Always think of a neat hairdo in advance since it’s a tough task thinking of how to make your hair and it might consume so much of your time, so better pre plan about it. You don’t need to do too much with your hair just make sure it’s neatly tied up.

  Speak gently- Although most of my teachers were very soft spoken and I tried my best to be one too but I failed in becoming so. Though I don’t have that soft voice and all, I definitely speak gently with kids. You don’t have to be soft spoken as it is something that comes naturally but you will have to practice to speak gently specially with kids since they are too young and are very sensitive. You may never know unintentionally you hurt their feelings by speaking loud or with high pitched tone and they find it rude so be careful.

Leave all your personal matters at home and meet your students with fresh, lively and high spirits. Bringing your personal problems to school can affect your way of teaching and you can become really boring in class or really rude. Remember you are handling very young kids and they are learning from every step you make and you wouldn’t want them to be rude and boring so ‘be like how you want your students to be.’

Last but not the least ALWAYS KEEP A SMILE ON YOUR FACE. Starting the day by giving smile would bring more smiles back to you.

The above are some points which I think are really important to be an effective teacher because if you lack even a single point from these, there is a child among lots who dislikes you for that one particular point. These are what I have liked in my teachers when I was in school and are what I asked my teachers who worked under me.

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MONTESSORI CHILD DEVELOPMENT CENTER (MCDC KARACHI)

Okay how many of you are dying to have your child admitted in this school? Montessori Child Development Centre is known to be one of the prestigious schools in Karachi mainly in North Nazimabad. There was a time when I myself dreamt of having my daughter enrolled there, impressed by what I heard and of course their record ’was’ good. But thank God I missed the registration period due to which my daughter now won’t be in that school at all.
MCDC isn’t following the proper Montessori Method at all. Yes, they do have Montessori material work but do not present it as it should be presented. But as a Montessori Directress myself and having experience from different schools, I don’t really mind this fact as most schools prefer to be hybrid rather than following the typical Montessori system. But MCDC showed themselves to be different from other schools by telling people that they strictly follow Montessori system. This I have heard myself when I went there for enquiry. This lie is very much misguiding.

2nd thing is the directresses there aren’t up to the mark. They seem to be not trained at all. They practice physical punishment and use inappropriate language. Oh yeah, there’s no sign of English there except for the front desk lady, so please don’t go for what she says only. Due to the teachers’ inappropriate approach towards the students, the kids are scared and when they make mistake, they behave as if they committed a crime. Well whatever the reason is, physical punishment and use of bad language doesn’t leave a good impact on kids.


3rd issue is their written work isn’t as good as is expected from them. Most of their artwork is done by the teachers themselves and shown to the innocent parents who think it’s their kids work. Reasons for this are mainly showing off to the parents how good their students’ work is.


4th issue is they don’t have proper planner that is being followed. A teacher has to be well prepared before entering the class. She needs to prepare her lesson planner on weekly basis But there isn’t any planner followed there, which means the teacher is not prepared at all, and when you’re not prepared before hand, this shows a very careless management and a less involved teacher.

These are the information I have for you till now and I’ll be updating this post as soon as I have more to share about MCDC. Reason for sharing facts about this school is to save kids from a disaster. I hope this can help lots of you.

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A Good School

The H.A.S Academy

Hey there Friends! So here is a school I want all of you to know about. It’s not renowned, it’s not situated in a posh area, and it’s not that big as your “Dream School” but who knows one day, after enrolling your child there, it can become your Dream School you would put your child’s siblings there and refer to your friends and relatives. It’s   The H.A.S Academy (Playgroup, Nursery to Secondary)- A SCHOOL OF INTERNATIONAL STANDARD. It was established in the year  2009.



The H.A.S Academy offers pre-school to secondary education to children aged 2.5 to 14years old. It provides a progressive educational program of studies and strong focus on the Arts, Islamic Education, Physical Education and Information Technology

• Foreign qualified, meticulous, loving and caring teachers


• Innovative child centered education to average and gifted students


• Enriched individualized instructions in a nurturing environment


• Emphasis on organization , study, communication skills, personality development, character building and leadership


• Special emphasis on modern education with Islamic culture and values.

The above mentioned points must be quite common to your eyes and ears as you must have read it in almost every school’s advertisement. So let me give you information which makes this school different from the others and that is, it is run by a foreigner. From the owner, to the Principal to most of the teachers are foreigners basically form The Philippines. They have this aim and mission of introducing quality education to students using, not just the latest but different methods which are proven effective to teach children from every walks of life.



The school is situated in Block ‘N’ North Nazimabad, and caters kids that belong to families with different standards. So you cannot expect the school to accept kids from very well-off families only but they accept kids that deserve to learn whether they are from rich or poor family. Well you must be thinking why I am even mentioning all these. That’s because we have this impression in mind that good schools means having children from rich background, which isn’t the case at all with The H.A.S Academy. I’ve mentioned in my previous posts that good schools don’t necessarily mean schools for rich kids, but schools that offer quality education.



The H.A.S Academy is one school that impressed me as I have seen it from the day it was born till date. The tremendous change is very obvious. They have 150 students now, and its greatest achievement for a newly opened school to have this much students in just 2 years. Their own students, along with their parents are recommending the school to relatives and friends which is a good thing since it means that because of utter satisfaction, they are spreading the good name of the school.

The environment is very well prepared and the result of hard work of teachers as well as administration. The administration staff themselves do the work in preparing the environment with teachers’ help, which is a very good practice as this increases harmony and understanding between them.



The teachers are highly qualified and very caring with very pleasant personality which every kid would love.

Okay here is the best fact about the H.A.S due to which I’m so excited to share to all of you. When you enter the premises you will notice everyone conversing in English. Well I have visited many schools such as City and Beaconhouse and found the staff conversing in English as well but this school is different. Why? Because not only the teachers speak English with each other, but each and every student from Nursery till Matric, and the reason is the Principal speaks English strictly and students willingly speak the universal language because they think their dear Madam can’t speak Urdu at all J  So just imagine little cute kids of nursery trying to speak the dream language of their parents…..



For more information about the school you can check their facebook page by typing  The H.A.S Academy on search tab.

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Choosing the Best Schools

Choosing the best school for a child is one of the toughest decisions a parent has to make. Since I have a toddler who is about to take her first step to school in May, I found myself in this difficult situation. Yes! Difficult situation I would say because it's a matter of choosing the right future for your child and that he/she should be given in the right hands. There are lots of things going on in my mind regarding this so I thought I should share them to you all, who knows it might help some of you in choosing the "Best School"

The very first thought that occured to me is to define exactly what do I mean by "Best School"Is it the school that is the oldest in town or the school that has a very attractive and beautiful name or the school that is renowned and is 'in' at the moment? NO! I don't want to go for just the name of the school. I would want to know what they offer in terms of education as well as extra-curricular activities.

 

So let's start our search with the below given points.

1. Location- The most important point to be considered is the location of the school whether  you would want it near your house or workplace if you have transport problem but otherwise you can think of schools from one corner of the city to the other.

2. List- Make a list of schools that you can think of in your desired vicinity. The list should contain each and every school that you can think of in that area from lowest to highest category.

3. Priority- Arrange your list from most desired to least desired school. You can arrange it by considering the name plus the reputation. Most of you might be hearing or getting  information about some schools from friends and family so do have that in mind as well. In my case, I'm aware about lots of schools from the inside as well since I'm already in the field so I would consider the name, reputation, feedback from parents and teachers who have experience with that school, their system etc and arrange my list accordingly.

4. Visit/Call- Make a timetable for visiting the schools you have listed. If it's easy to visit  then go for it, if not search for the telephone numbers of the school and the  following information:

a. When will admissions start for the desired level?

b. Procedure of admission-whether they would conduct an interview only or will  take entrance test too. (most schools would ask you to visit for details of entrance tests)

c. Fee structure

Note: Remove the schools you are not interested in at all from your list to avoid wasting time.
5. Shortlist- Now, here comes the real job. Consider the fees of each and every school and prepare another list of the affordable schools.

6. Visit- Visit the schools and gather the rest of the information you need i.e details of the entrance test like what is expected to come esp for toddlers for whom entrance tests  don't make sense at all but yes most of the renowned school conduct this for their new admission and ask all the questions that occurs in your mind like what should you  expect in the first 6 months of your child's schooling, how many teachers are handling  what number of children, what are the books used. Ask them for how long the current            teacher has been with them so you would know what to expect since frequent change  of teachers is very common in most schools and by asking this question at least you  won't get a shock in the near future. Don't forget to ask for any extra or hidden that they charge upon admission.

7. Others' opinion- Show all the information to your spouse or any elders at home that you think can give a wise advice to you or maybe someone that can help you think what to  do next. There's no harm in taking people's opinion. But the final decision should be of  both the parents.
Here's an outline of some thinking that I did regarding schools. I want my child to be in a school with big name but at the same time which offers quality education where my child would come home with lots of stories about her school so in that way I'll get to know more about her life outside the life I provided her. But sad to same most of the renowned schools in our place have become merely commercial with no quality and no longer serve their purpose. So what I've decided is I can go for smaller schools where I get to meet some friendly heads and teachers who I know would concentrate on improving the education they are offering to kids, and yes there are schools like that. One will have to compromise on something for a better result.






 

 

 

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Learning at a given space and time

Learning at a given space and time

"LEARN THROUGH PLAY"

Education….The Key to Success….Stepping Stone towards a Bright Future…

These are the most common phrases we hear to describe Education. All of us are aware of its importance and significance in our lives. For those who are blessed are given the opportunity to have this ‘Key’ or ‘Stone’ and are able to build a successful life. Let’s not talk about those unfortunate ones who couldn’t have, as it would be another very long topic.

Since Education plays an integral part of one’s life, it’s very important for us adults to provide our children with FUN EDUCATION.





Okay, many would wonder what Fun Education is? Well it’s the same education we have but in a different and effective way for today’s child. Education is a must for everyone and no one should try to escape from it.

But we all know, there are some who escape, in fact a lot of children escape from studies and most parents are just too pre occupied with their work that they don’t bother asking their kids the reason for that and instead tries to ignore the child’s continuous negligence in his studies.

The most common reasons that your child can become very fussy about studies is, heavy bag, boring teachers, strict Principal, strict teachers, boring subjects, school is bad. These are the reasons that your child will give you. But there are actually different meanings of these reasons which your child himself won’t even know, and as a parent you should know so you can find solution to all these issues.

The following will help you understand more about the problems:

• Heavy bag           ----->     your child actually dislikes the books he is  having either because he finds it boring or he can’t understand it.


• Boring teachers -------->   it’s not actually the teacher that is boring but her method of teaching  which makes her look boring. Go talk to the teacher please.


• Boring subjects  -------->  He doesn’t understand what is being taught to him or he just doesn’t  have interest in understanding it.


• Strict Principal/Teachers --------->  This means he has been scolded or punished about something and trust me you need to know that ‘something’ because of  two reasons which are :


• Somebody is bullying him which makes the school bad. 

OR

• He himself has done something mischievous due to lack of interest in studies.

 

I would sum up the above issues with the fact that kids love “play”, they love fun so why not make studies fun for them?  Here, both parents and teachers has important role to play.

Teachers should make their lessons interesting and change their method of teaching from the typical one to “learn through play” In this way, the child will be learning while doing something fun, all he knows is he is playing, having fun but in fact he is learning a great deal.

Search the libraries for some good ideas, internet is the best source of latest method of teaching. Please be resourceful and you’ll not only teach but will also learn yourself. For parents, search good and colorful books depends on the age of your child but mind you even adults appreciate colors so choose something really lively, search internet as well and check what interests your child most while you’re doing homework with him, ask him questions.

For kids who are too young to express what they want, ‘learn through play’ is the best method for teachers and parents because this is the age when the child finds it difficult to sit and do some work. So you better have plenty of ‘fun equipment’ to entertain him. e.g Buy him a very good set of coloring materials in a very nice box which will urge him to pick the colors and use it, instead of giving rough paper give his homework and in this way you are making him do his work and for him, it’s fun!

One thing is to be kept in mind while handling kids of this age- Do not pressurize the child to study. If you have set a time for his homework and he is not in mood to do it yet, don’t worry and don’t be angry, give your child the time and space he needs. Try to find out what he wants to do instead and tell him he can finish his homework later on after doing that. In case the child is not ready or willing to do the work at all, leave the matter there, and inform the school the next day.

I’m sure, if your child is in a good school, the teacher or Head would advise you the same not to pressurize the child at all and let him work when he feels like or is ready to.

 

Note: Age 2.5- 6 yrs is the most important years of your child’s life. You can build his whole personality in these years and teach him as many words as you want at this age. Even this is the right time to make your child learn the languages you want him to learn as a child’s mind at this age is like a SPONGE which can absorb what he sees and hears in his environment.

So GOOD NEWS for parents who want their children to learn English, this is the right time to speak to him in English or provide him with an English environment like, most of the members, if not all, of the family speaks the language, put some English Educational DVD’s , English rhymes etc.

Don’t worry this is not going to be too much for your child, as he would be speaking his mother tongue no matter what. Not only in speaking but the best age to build the habit you want to develop in your child, like reading, namaz, afternoon nap, table manners etc etc.

 

These are few points only that parents and teachers should keep in mind when handling a child. We can go for detailed stuff whenever necessary. Good Luck!

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Learning the correct Phonic Sound

Learning the correct Phonic Sound

In my nine years experience as a Montessori Directress, the major problem I faced while handling kids of age 2.5- 6 years is the phonic sound. We introduce the alphabets using its sounds at the very initial stage and parents at home teach the “name” of alphabets which results to great confusion for the children.

Parents, this is a serious problem which you should consider when your child starts going to school. First of all, you should be aware of what system does your child’s school follow. Most of the schools in Pakistan follow the phonic system in introducing the alphabets so it’s always good for parents to learn the phonic sounds themselves as it would be easier for you to help your child with his homework and not confusing him. Always keep track of their syllabus and you should know when they are introducing the names of alphabets.

Have a look at the table below for better understanding between phonic sounds (alphabet sounds) and alphabet names:

Alphabet	Name	Sound
A	ay	‘a’ as in apple
B	bee	‘bu’ as in ball
C	see	‘kha’ as in cat
D	dee	‘du’ as in dog
E	ee	‘eh’ as in elephant
F	eff	‘fff’ as in fish
G	jee	‘gu’ as in goat
H	ech	‘hhhhh’ as in house
I	ai	‘ee’ as in igloo
J	jay	‘ju’ as in jug
K	kay	‘ku’ as in kitten
L	el	‘lll’ as in ladder
M	em	‘mmm’ as in monkey
N	en	‘nnn’ as in nest
O	ow	‘oa’ as in orange
P	pi	‘pu’ as in pencil
Q	kyu	‘qua’ as in quilt
R	arr	‘rrr’ as in rat
S	ess	‘sss’ as in sun
T	tee	‘tu’ as in tent
U	yuu	‘uhh’ as in umbrella
V	vee	‘vu’ as in van
W	doubleyu	‘wu’as in watch
X	ex	‘x’ as in x-ray
Y	wai	‘ya’ as in yo-yo
Z	zee	‘zzz’ as in zebra

Note that, Uttering the names of any object repeatedly will help you learn its first sound more. The alphabet ‘X’ has no sound but x itself. While learning, make a list of different words which begins with the sound you are learning and read them aloud repeatedly. e.g apple, axe, ant etc When the alphabet is in capital, you are supposed to just say its name but when it is in small letter, it means you have to say its sound, since small letters represents the sounds of the capital letters.

Also, I plan to add the audio clip for each sound, so - stay tuned! (0:

Remember: Practice makes man perfect.

Advice: Introduce these sounds when your child starts speaking since phonic sounds will help your child read.

In this blog, I’ve tried my best to help parents and teachers proper sounds of the alphabets. This is a genuine effort to help you teach your kids or even learn what you haven’t learnt in your school life. Who knows, you will also improve your reading.

Best of Luck!

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Preparing your Toddler for schooling

Preparing your Toddler for schooling

Congratulations!! You are now a proud parent of a toddler, ready to take his first step to school.But not all kids would be very happy with the idea, so this task can sometimes be very hectic and stressful for parents. You need not worry much though,  since the task will be easier and exciting if you do the following at home when you see your child has started understanding instructions already.



Preparing your house environment:

The very first place where the child learns is from his environment so it's very important the parents should provide him with the environment that they want their child to grow up in and learn from.

1. Start displaying children's books in you shelves if you do not have library or if you have one at home, take your child there and talk about the place, like this is the library, it has lots of interesting books and show him/her colourful posters or pictures.

2. Buy your child a study table and tell him/her its purpose. For this to be effective you yourself should have one where your child sees you doing your paper work.

                                                  

3. Give him/her a paper and crayon and encourage scribbling.(All the written work should be done on the study table)

4. Encourage tracing in the air of alphabets and numbers with two fingers, in this way your child will learn the correct formation of the letters and numbers which will prepare him/her for writing.

5.Make your child sit with other children at home who are going to school while they study and give him/her some writing materials too.

6. Set a proper study time for your child.

7. Take your child with you when you shop for study materials for him/her and involver him/her as much as you can like asking which colour book would he/she like to have, which eraser he/she would like to keep etc etc.

8. Buy a very attractive school bag and lunch box for you little one. Tell your little one that thse are what he/she will take to school. In this way, you will build more interest in your child for schooling.

9.Last but not the least, talk to you child about his/her school and that he/she will have a very nice and kind teacher there.and that he/she would be drop and picked by you soon so it won't scare him/her.
The above points are just some tips which are proven quite helpful to mothers, but please keep in mind "study" here doesn't mean the reall study we adults do. It is just familiarizing your child with the study materials like pencil,paper,eraser, ruler, colour pencils, crayons, notebook, books etc etc.

Note: Please note children of this age should not be pressurised at all to study and learn but instead encouraged to work at his own space and freewill with your 100% guidance. Encourage "Learning Through Play" which would be in my next post.

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Quality Education

QUALITY EDUCATION...

That's what we want for our kids, for them to have the best education available.

But what is really Quality Education?[gallery]

Is it buying our children the most expensive books and bags? or is it seeing what are the contents of those books, or is it having our children get admissions in the most costly and prestigious schools in town? YES!! That's exactly what's quality education for us. Getting education in one of those big named schools in the city! And what made us think that's quality education, That's because children coming from rich and well off family are getting admissions there, plus its costly,so we assume that they pay good to their teachers and thus their teachers will teach our kids very well. Above all when we sit in a gathering and someone asks the name of the school where our children are studying ,we feel proud when we mention the name of a renowned school.

But my friends that's not what quality education is, quality education is when your child comes home repeating what his/her teacher has taught, quality education is when you sit and open your child's book during study time ,he/she will tell you why 2+2 is 4 and not just justify it saying because my teacher said so. Quality education is when you see your child has reasons for everything he has learnt and when you see that his concepts are clear about just everything irrespective of the school he is studying in or how much his teacher is paid or how much his books cost.

So let's change our point of views and try searching for this golden education instead of the amount to paid.

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My Shocking Visits To Schools

As a Vice Principal, I had to accompany our school Principal to different Pre-primary schools in North Nazimabad to give invitations for our school’s Open House.

We 1st visited Fatima Child Development Centre. I was completely disappointed to see the school. From the outside, it looked just like other schools I’m familiar with. But I was completely disappointed to see the inside when I saw dirt everywhere. They had dustbins which was very dirty, uncovered and was placed just besides the canteen table where eatables were placed. The walls were also very dirty with all kinds of stains and empty wrappers were all around the place and above all the school was stinking!! Since I have seen parents dying to have their children admitted in that school, I was expecting something else which was quite opposite to what I just witnessed. I was also expecting an impressive Principal’s Office with an impressive Principal but all in vain. The Principal’s Office counts a lot as you expect all kinds of people visiting you so it should be presented well. As our Principal started speaking to him (FCDC’s Principal/Owner), I discovered he wasn’t even impressive in speaking. Overall there was a lack of public dealing quality.

[caption id="attachment_24" align="alignnone" width="111" caption="This is how it works!!"][/caption]

The 2nd school we visited was MCDC (Mariam Child Development Centre). Who doesn’t know about this school? But again I was disappointed with what I experienced in my short visit. We approached their male receptionist who at the time was dealing with a parent. Let me tell you, that wasn’t how I would talk to parents who want admission in my school. Again parents dealing …..ZERO! The receptionist showed his arrogance when he should be polite and welcoming. Anyway, our Principal introduced herself to him and after 3 minutes of thinking he asked us to sit and wait. We were made to sit outside in their open area. From there both of us could see just about everything except the inside of the classrooms. What I noticed first was the lists they posted on the walls. Those were lists of students who qualified for St.Pat’s, St. Paul’s ,Mama Parsi etc etc and one group of names was written on an ivory sheet, the other on printout sheets , the other on ordinary papers and all handwritten which showed how hurriedly the assigned person wrote the names. Wherever has presentation gone??? It’s good news for God’s sake!! The children got admission in those well know schools!!!At least it should have been written in a very good handwriting or printed out and pasted on very good sheets that would look uniform.

While looking at all these, I recalled interviewing a teacher from MCDC who had nothing good to say about the school and at that moment I was sure 70% of what she said was true!

These are just two of those schools where most of the parents dream to get their kids admitted there, but the points I’ve mentioned might not be of significant to most parents and they tend to ignore it. But please….. a school, who cannot welcome you or can’t be polite with you, can hardly teach your child to be polite as well. Every child wants importance, how can you expect such a school to value your child when they can’t even write your child’s name properly?? In the world of Pre-Primary presentation is very important. I’ll be discussing about presentations in my future posts.

Parents please be very observant as it’s a matter of your child’s learning process! :)

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