[PHOTOS & VIDEOS] After Three Years, This is My Two Cents on Little Bumblebee Montessori Preschool, Shah Alam

The girl on the left with the mic is my daughter and they're singing a teacher appreciation song in Mandarin during their preschool graduation 💓

As my daughter attended the school since she was 4 years old, I think they deserve some comments from parents like me right?

It's the end of the year, and I'm sure parents with little kiddos are surveying the perfect preschool for their loved ones by now. I for one, am quite choosy when it comes to my kids' schools. Growing up as a comot kid who hated going to school for soooo many reasons, I try to raise them to like school instead, so choosing the right school is very important for me

My review of Little Bumblebee Montessori Preschool 🐝

BACKGROUND

When talking about Montessori education, I understand that some Malay parents are very concern about religious studies... will the kids learn about Islam? Doa? Prayers? Etc... Fear not, from what I know, Madam Maria is a Muslim from China mainland while her husband is a Malay. So you can expect the school environment is very Islamic in its practices and teachings. I can see that Madam Maria is also very loving and professional in handling the kids, which eases a mother's worry of course.

The school previously was run in an apartment building and moved to a landed building in Shah Alam after they expanded (now they even have another branch in Setia Alam).

What is Montessori you might ask?

Montessori is actually a form of informal teaching method that is centered on the child's natural interests and activities. It attempts to develop children physically, socially, emotionally and cognitively - Wikipedia.


TEACHERS
Although the past two years had seen many teachers come and go, honestly I was never worried about my kid throughout her education here in LBB. She has always been treated kindly I must say. The teachers mostly are young and soft-spoken, some are even experienced preschool teachers.

But of course when teachers keep changing, some parents didn't like it because some kids were too attached with their favorite teachers, but for me this is just a small matter. Anyway, this year (2018) I see most of the teachers remained, so some good changes must have happened I guess :)


CLASSES
My suggestion when surveying the right preschool for your kids:

Know your kid's potential and talents first.

Iman Raihannah for us -- she's an Audio. She has talents in linguistics / communications, easy to adapt and can follow instructions quickly. That being said, she talks a lot (I mean, A. LOT!), likes to sing and dance. At the same time, we also need her to learn Islamic basics so I find Little Bumblebee has all that is needed to expand her potential and wisdom.

Since we use English to communicate with her since she was a tiny little bean, we enrolled her in the Mandarin based classes starting at the age of 4 yo to expand her language capabilities. It is also meant as a preparation for us to send her to a Chinese primary school.

Mind you, to enter a Chinese primary school these days, the child has to undergo an interview and must know basic Mandarin language, so if you are planning to send them there, you might as well start from preschool.

FYI, LBB offers two types of classes for your little ones: English Based and Mandarin Based (with Mandarin a bit pricey as compared to English).

We chose the latter.

And this is how we see her progress:

• At 4 yo: She started learning Malay and Mandarin at the same time! She absorbed like a sponge, good in Malay but Mandarin was just so-so la, not so fluent. Just the basic, 1,2,3. ABC and stuff which suits her 4 yo brain. She was excited going to school everyday to do all the fun activities, she started learning to write and draw, so the year went well Alhamdulillah.

• At 5 yo: She started to speak Mandarin in short sentences and writings, but still not so fluent. From what I understand, Mandarin is a difficult language, so of course we have to give time for our kids to learn more. She also started reciting short Quranic verses, learning prayers, doas, hadiths, prophets, etc. She became more fluent in Malay (kids around her speak a lot of Malay but there are also English speaking kids), but Alhamdulillah she still can balance her Malay and English skills. She also started reading slowly and by the end of the year she can read in Malay and English properly but still needs improvement.

• At 6 yo: Started to learn more on Arabic Language and write in Jawi. Her Mandarin proficiency (speaking and writing) improved as well as the school gave intensive learning to the Mandarin based students this year and she can already build some sentences on her own. She can even sing Mandarin songs fluently just by listening to the songs played at the school! Nonetheless, she still requires more coaching. At this age, she also draws a lot, expressing herself in her imagination and she is good in reading in Malay and English. As a kid however, she tends to lose focus a bit as compared to the past two years (not so sure why). But honestly, I have no complaints on this. I'm not going to be so hard on my 6 year-old, I'm still proud of her progress anyway Alhamdulillah :)

As it is an Islamic Montessori, the learning environment is very practical, Muslim-friendly and not the usual-school things. They focus a lot on playgroups and learning activities such drawing, painting, arts and crafts, cooking classes, plantings, Islamic practices and moral development.

Another thing I like about this school is that the teachers have connections with all of the kids, they monitor every child's individual development, so I am always informed on how my daughter behaves in the class, on her readings, on her Mandarin proficiency, her progress... everything :)


FIELD TRIPS
Every year there will be two field trips: short and long distance.

From what I can remember, they had gone to animal farm, bird park, Shah Alam jogging track for outdoor activities and this year they are going to Kidzania! How cool is that guys haha! Ibu yang teruja lebih...

Anyway, food were taken care of during the trips so parents don't have to worry much. No payments were required for these trips because they were already included in all those annual / monthly payment we made.

SPORTS DAY

The sports day are held in community halls, although it's going to be packed with parents, we're not going to get sweaty coz the aircond will be on full blast (not so sporty after all haha). But it's good la kan, we don't have to bother putting on sunscreens and worry that our kids might get sunburn. Some of the sports involve parents so parents have to wear suitable clothes for the activities. It's just that activities were limited due to small space, but otherwise the event is full of fun and laughter!

ANNUAL CONCERTS AND GRADUATIONS
Ok this is quite interesting.

Previously, the annual concerts were held in community halls (Dewan Serbaguna Shah Alam). Truth is, as much as I appreciate all of the teachers' efforts, I admitted I was quite confounded to see their concerts being held in a small community hall (comparing to other preschool concerts). Being a typical parent and knowing how much I paid monthly for the school, I expected to see their concerts in a grand ballroom or something -- like Brainy Bunch or Little Caliph sort of. However, I do praise the school effort in training the kids to give their best during the concerts. The kids never disappoint me hehe.

Lucky for us though, Iman Raihannah's last year (6 yo) at LBB sees their final concert and graduation day held at Section 13 library hall. This, I applaud! They did a very great job throughout the concert, it was managed carefully, successfully and thoroughly; almost similar to university students' graduation ceremony but with a splash of fun, lol! The kids were so talented, and of course; the teachers played crucial role in training them months before the concert... Thank you LBB teachers, you guys did awesome!!!

To see the concert marked the final year of my daughter at LBB, there were a mixture of feelings throughout this event: happy, excited, sad, touched... It was amazing, and knowing LBB, I'm sure they will continuously improve and deliver their best every year.

It's great to see Iman Raihannah grow up and nurtured in this school, learning her ABCs, reciting her doas, developing her motor and language skills, talking about her friends, the teachers... Ibu's going to be very sad thinking that next year Iman Raihannah will leave all this behind to move forward :')

       

For those whose asking, below is the expenses that we spent:

- Annual registration fee (beginning of the year): RM1k++ (varies, depends on child's age)
- Monthly fee half day (4 yo): RM300++
- Monthly fee half day (5 yo): RM400++
- Monthly fee half day (6 yo): RM500++

These payment is inclusive of daily meal, exercise books, field trips and activity materials.

Anyway, with all the love, education, fun and excitement that were given to our kids, I recommend this preschool if you can afford it. Building a child's character in the early stage is crucial if you ask me, and I trust LBB had done a great job for my child. So, InsyaAllah it's an investment you won't regret.

Alhamdulillah. Doakan kejayaan kami di masa akan datang ye!

*After several interviews, Iman Raihannah finally succeeded to enter a Chinese primary school, Alhamdulillah. She was rejected in the beginning as the school didn't think she can speak Mandarin well (she was shy during the interviews), but after Madam Maria got involved and proved to them on Iman's proficiency, she finally made it! Thank you Madam Maria for your full efforts on giving Iman intensive learning and preparations for the interview *hugs*

These are only from my point of view, based on the classes I enrolled my daughter in. If you want to see more details and their school activities, check out this link and this link. You're welcome :)