Marissa Goes To Kindergarten - Smart Reader Kids

Marissa has been asking to go to school since last year, but we decided to send her the year she turns 5, which is this year, 2020. Marissa memang sangat-sangat excited to go to school, dia bole senyum and gelak if we mentioned anything about school. :) like literally her eyes will go big and I can see the excitement in her eyes. I'm not even exaggerating! Now is already about the second weeks in school and so far she is still excited. I'm really thankful that she can wake up easily in the morning. I will wake her up around 7-7.15am and usually by 7.30am she's ready. Then she will have her breakfast and watch a little bit of cartoon before going off to school. I can drop her off at school between 8-8.30am. 

Waking up in the morning 

I know for most kids, memang susah nak bangun pagi. Tapi Alhamdulillah syukur sangat Marissa senang nak bangun pagi. So here's what I do on a daily basis (weekdays) to make sure our morning goes smoothly.

Say a 'triggered' word 

Gently kejut and cakap, "Good morning sayang, jom bangun. We are going to school". Marissa kalau dengar 'school' memang she can open her eyes and terus bangun. Find a word that makes your child happy and excited, macam 'friends' or 'playground' or anything else. Sambil-sambil kejut ni, I will hug and kiss her. I think step ni important jugak so the child always rasa disayangi. 

Bed To Bathroom

Sometimes kalau dia still mengantuk, I simply hug and carry her to the bathroom (even if she still sleeping). Bila dah sampai bathroom, I continue cakap "Jom mandi, kita nak pergi school". While saying that, I akan buka her pyjamas and she will immediately wake up. Do not let your kid wake up and keluar dari bilik. I repeat, do not. Sebab nanti bila dah keluar bilik, nanti macam2 dia nak buat and seribu satu alasan bagi tak nak mandi.

Sleep Early
Get them to sleep as early as possible so senang nanti nak bangun pagi sebab cukup tidur.  Kalau Marissa tak nap petang, dia boleh tidur seawal 7.30pm. Paling lambat I will let her sleep is 11pm. Tapi most of the time she will go to sleep between 9 - 10 pm. 

Set 'the right' mood

Do things that makes them happy that eventually makes them in a good mood.  This is what I do :

- Use hot water for morning shower because kalau sejuk sangat confirm budak-budak tak nak mandi. Tengah mandikan tu, I akan borak-borak2 dengan Marissa, tanya nak breakfast apa, apa2 je bole asalkan dia response so nanti cepat la segar mata tu terbukak. hahahah dengan Micha ni senang, buat je lawak ngan dia, confirm dia gelak. :P

- I siapkan Marissa in the hall sebab taknak Eidruce bangun if I get Marissa ready in the bedroom. So Marissa can watch a little bit of cartoon before going to school just to make her happy.

- Marissa suka ikat rambut and whenever I do that, I will ask her, "Hari ni Micha nak rambut macam mane?" She will say, "Nak macam Elsa" or "Nak ponytail" or I will suggest her something new. Then kenala puji sikit, "Cantiknya princess mommy ni" :D  trust me, Marissa will be smiling je weh. *Hahahah*

- I always ask her what she wants to bring in her lunchbox. Her school sediakan breakfast, so I only prepare snacks for her. Ikut dia la, sometimes nak roti with nutella, sometime nak chipsmore cookies, sometimes nak marshmallows. Sekarang dia tgh recovering from cough, so I tak bagi fruits. Nanti dia dah fully sihat, boleh la letak fruits in her snack/lunchbox sebab she really loves fruits.

Ok now jom borak about her kindergarten. Of all the kindergartens yang I survey, we chose the Smart Reader Kids (SRK) because of several reasons. When you are choosing for a kindergarten, you must have  a list of what you are looking for. Here's a list of what you can consider :

Location - Depends you nak kindergarten dekat dengan your home or your office, so senang nak arrange schedule.

What the kindergarten offers - In terms of the syllabus, what kind of subjects you want your children to learn. Islamic based ke, Mandarin based ke, Montessori-based etc.

Budget - How much you are willing to pay for the registration fee and also for monthly fee.

Type of building - Nak kindergarten yang ada own property, area rumah teres, dalam shopping mall or shoplots.

School hours - Sekarang kindergartens ada yang half day (morning or evening), full day or even ada yang nursery.

How many students in a classroom -  Depends whether you kisah or not ramai students dalam satu class

Environment - Teachers friendly ke tak, caring ke tak. Classroom mcmane, etc.

So for Marissa, here are my reasons for choosing Smart Reader Kids. First off, I want Marissa to learn more about the alphabets, learn how to read, improve her communication skills, and learn about basic maths. SRK also ada subject Fardhu Ain, I am fine with her learning basic dulu, because nanti dah masuk primary school, Insyaallah she will go to sekolah agama.

Next, the kindergarten must be close to home as I work at home so it would be easier for sending off and pickups. This SRK is literally less than 10 minutes (with traffic) so location sangatlah perfect. 

Actually I prefer kindergarten yang ada own property or area rumah teres tapi yang I survey2 tu semua tak berkenan sebab crowded sangat and also ada yang dah full. Shoplot not a problem as long as the stairway direct to the kindergarten's door, which this particular SRK has. *Thank God* And lagi I suka sebab SRK ni bole drop off betul2 depan sekolah, tak payah nak cari parking. *Yes* Teachers akan tunggu the kids kat bawah to bring the students upstairs, so literally memang drop je, enjin kereta pun takyah matikan. Pastu the school ada CCTV and ada lock-gate system (I don't know if that is the correct term , but you get what I mean) so parents rasa that sense of safety tu ada. Orang kat bawah tak boleh simply naik atas. And pasal pickup kids from school, diorang ada list siapa yang bole pickup the kids, so siapa yang takde dalam list memang tak bole pickup the kids. Meaning diorang takkan simply let the child leaves.

Budget is an important factor too. How much we want to pay monthly as this will effect our monthly budget. Here is the figure we paid for 2020 intake :

Registration Fee *annually* = RM1929

- includes 2 months fee (January and December 2020), 2 uniforms, 1 backpack, 1 pair of shoes, 3 pairs of socks, books, learning materials, sports day, etc. If you want a detailed breakdown, please email me or DM me on my instagram. I can share with you the exact fee. :)

Monthly Fee = RM330 (I will start paying in February until November)

Both registration and monthly fees are actually really reasonable, and taking into accounts that January and December fees are already paid up. It is really important to know how much you can pay up for the fee to avoid any financial problems in the future.

Lagi satu, I suka SRK ni sebab one class maximum 12 students je. Some other kindergartens ramai sangat sampai 30 students pun ada. I prefer small numbers in a classroom so teachers bole focus n each of the students. 

I guess that's all about this historical event, *hahahah* Marissa seems to be enjoying herself there. Everyday she will tell me, "Kakak suka sekolah, mommy". Ahhhh I'm so happy hearing her say that! :) Hopefully she will enjoy school sampai bila-bila, may she gains abundance of knowledge and make friends along the way. Alhamdulillah homework pun senang nak suruh siapkan. :P Okay guys, next time kalau ada benda bersejarah gini jadi lagi, I share ok. :P You mommies boleh use this as guidelines, I'm just sharing. If you have different opinions, it's okay but keep the comments positive aight? ;)