*Disclaimer: This review is based on our personal experience and opinions only. It does not reflect others opinion, as everyone can have a completely different view based on different needs. Also brace yourself for a long post.
So where we left off in my post 2 years ago was that I enrolled Naila into Brainy Bunch Mahkota Cheras, at the time, a newly opened branch. After reviewing other options, me and hubs really liked the Brainy Bunch concept.. Montessori and all that.
The classrooms were attractive and fun to look at. We also learned that they teach classes in mixed-age groups which I thought was unique.
First, to talk about what I expected from Naila in 2 years.
I wanted her to:
1. make friends
2. be able to communicate with teachers (not scared etc)
3. be exposed to Islamic values with a progressive and modern approach.
4. to have a fun learning experience
PROS
In 2 years, did Brainy Bunch reach my expectations? I'm going to answer with a simple yes. There were hiccups and challenges without a doubt, but the end result is beyond what I expected in some aspects.
Naila was 5 when she joined Brainy Bunch. I asked the usual question "anything interesting happen today in school? Did you have fun?" She always has stories to tell.
In the first year, I noticed that there was a period of time that she refused going to school. She was really upset on some days. The teachers would say nothing out of the ordinary. So I prodded Naila a little bit. Then I found out that she was feeling a little bit left out because "she doesn't know how to read her ABCs and 123s" whereas her friends who started early from 4 years old are already well versed.
She was so stressed about being left behind and even cried about not wanting to go to school.
At that time, I met with teachers and discussed about Naila. I feel that the teachers really took into consideration the things I shared with them and Naila's mood improved considerably from then on. Naila has the tendency to clamp up in fear of being wrong. I just honestly said, I can't do it but I hope that you're patient with her and try to encourage her to keep trying. The teachers took it in stride.
Honestly throughout the year when she was 5, I wasn't worrying about her reading and math because I knew she could do it once she's ready. But she did slowly started to hafaz some surahs and sometimes she'd read her zikir while playing.
By the time she was 6, most parents concern was about being able to read. I can tell you that by the end of the year, she progressed by leaps and bounds and she had been reading Enid Blyton books herself during the school holidays. She was also doing well in math, doing addition and subtraction. She's started memorizing the timetables for multiplication.
I know some parents in other Brainy bunch schools took their kids out and put them in intensive maths and reading classes. It's a pity because honestly, kids will eventually grasp reading and math when the time comes, but they seldom get to learn in an immersive Islamic environment where they learn to pray together, and being taught Islamic values on a daily basis that it becomes second nature.
Anyway, by the time Naila was 6, I knew that she loved the science activities in class and she looked forward to it. She had good friends and aunties (teachers in brainy bunch) reported that Naila is doing well in school.
At home, she's a loving sister to her 2 younger brothers, always helping out. She's physically active and gets bored easily.
Which brings us to the cons.
CONS
Naila was in the full day program which means that she stays there until 6. She often complains her day is boring because after 12 there isn't much to do. She told me that she couldn't "run and play" and having to sit down and do quiet activities. She also complains about having to "nap" even though she doesn't want to.
At night, she goes to sleep at 8.30pm, therefore I didn't think the nap was necessary for some kids, although I understand that they probably needed some quiet time. Teachers allow her to lie down quietly without having to nap, provided she doesn't disturb others.
One of the things that me and hubs complain about since she was 5 is the management of sports day, school trips and concert. First, we had to pay an extra RM100 for each extra event which we wouldn't mind if other points are addressed. Second, the Brainy Bunch HQ lumped many schools together during these extra events and always held it at Cyberjaya. Frankly the experience for us parents aren't very good.
What I didn't like about them:
1. The sports day isn't very competitive. I'd have preferred traditional games such as running, gunny sack, even ping pong in a spoon. Or anything that made the kids sweat and maybe shout. It's called a sports day after all. Both years, the kids were smiling shyly while going through the intensively built course that's overly safe and not competitive.
I expected the kids to at least fall down on their knees, or run helter skelter. But alas, at the end of the course, they're all dry and gets to collect a medal. I'd prefer them to be all out of breath and dirty marks on their knees and maybe crying. Or am I just being extreme here? There's also no parading around the field. I don't like the segmentation and the parents lined up all the way blocking each others view. Frankly, I don't like the sports day at all. It wasn't a good experience for us parents and worst of all, the kids couldn't care less.
2. We opted out for school trip when Naila was 6. Because we didn't want to pay RM100 for a trip to a place we didn't know about. I expected trips to the zoo. The petting zoo. The fire station. Something along those lines perhaps.
3. The concert day was too long for 3 hours. We were surrounded by so many food and toy vendors. It felt like a trap we couldn't escape from. We loved watching her perform and Mahkota Cheras performance was so outstanding that us parents can't stop raving about it on whatsapp group afterwards. Credits to the dedicated teachers who tirelessly trained the kids every day. However it was too long by combining 3-4 school performance at once. Again it wasn't a good experience for us parents, especially when we also have smaller children to take care of.
We stood by the school particularly for it's environment, dedicated teachers and Naila's friends. We closed our eyes to the Brainy Bunch HQ bureaucracy and some things we didn't agree on. At the end of the day, Naila only sees her teachers and friends everyday and we only occasionally have to go through the other things.
So do I recommend Brainy Bunch Mahkota Cheras? Resounding yes. Naila experienced the things I expected and academically, she's ready for standard 1.
So where we left off in my post 2 years ago was that I enrolled Naila into Brainy Bunch Mahkota Cheras, at the time, a newly opened branch. After reviewing other options, me and hubs really liked the Brainy Bunch concept.. Montessori and all that.
The classrooms were attractive and fun to look at. We also learned that they teach classes in mixed-age groups which I thought was unique.
First, to talk about what I expected from Naila in 2 years.
I wanted her to:
1. make friends
2. be able to communicate with teachers (not scared etc)
3. be exposed to Islamic values with a progressive and modern approach.
4. to have a fun learning experience
PROS
In 2 years, did Brainy Bunch reach my expectations? I'm going to answer with a simple yes. There were hiccups and challenges without a doubt, but the end result is beyond what I expected in some aspects.
Naila was 5 when she joined Brainy Bunch. I asked the usual question "anything interesting happen today in school? Did you have fun?" She always has stories to tell.
In the first year, I noticed that there was a period of time that she refused going to school. She was really upset on some days. The teachers would say nothing out of the ordinary. So I prodded Naila a little bit. Then I found out that she was feeling a little bit left out because "she doesn't know how to read her ABCs and 123s" whereas her friends who started early from 4 years old are already well versed.
She was so stressed about being left behind and even cried about not wanting to go to school.
At that time, I met with teachers and discussed about Naila. I feel that the teachers really took into consideration the things I shared with them and Naila's mood improved considerably from then on. Naila has the tendency to clamp up in fear of being wrong. I just honestly said, I can't do it but I hope that you're patient with her and try to encourage her to keep trying. The teachers took it in stride.
Honestly throughout the year when she was 5, I wasn't worrying about her reading and math because I knew she could do it once she's ready. But she did slowly started to hafaz some surahs and sometimes she'd read her zikir while playing.
By the time she was 6, most parents concern was about being able to read. I can tell you that by the end of the year, she progressed by leaps and bounds and she had been reading Enid Blyton books herself during the school holidays. She was also doing well in math, doing addition and subtraction. She's started memorizing the timetables for multiplication.
I know some parents in other Brainy bunch schools took their kids out and put them in intensive maths and reading classes. It's a pity because honestly, kids will eventually grasp reading and math when the time comes, but they seldom get to learn in an immersive Islamic environment where they learn to pray together, and being taught Islamic values on a daily basis that it becomes second nature.
Anyway, by the time Naila was 6, I knew that she loved the science activities in class and she looked forward to it. She had good friends and aunties (teachers in brainy bunch) reported that Naila is doing well in school.
At home, she's a loving sister to her 2 younger brothers, always helping out. She's physically active and gets bored easily.
Which brings us to the cons.
CONS
Naila was in the full day program which means that she stays there until 6. She often complains her day is boring because after 12 there isn't much to do. She told me that she couldn't "run and play" and having to sit down and do quiet activities. She also complains about having to "nap" even though she doesn't want to.
At night, she goes to sleep at 8.30pm, therefore I didn't think the nap was necessary for some kids, although I understand that they probably needed some quiet time. Teachers allow her to lie down quietly without having to nap, provided she doesn't disturb others.
One of the things that me and hubs complain about since she was 5 is the management of sports day, school trips and concert. First, we had to pay an extra RM100 for each extra event which we wouldn't mind if other points are addressed. Second, the Brainy Bunch HQ lumped many schools together during these extra events and always held it at Cyberjaya. Frankly the experience for us parents aren't very good.
What I didn't like about them:
1. The sports day isn't very competitive. I'd have preferred traditional games such as running, gunny sack, even ping pong in a spoon. Or anything that made the kids sweat and maybe shout. It's called a sports day after all. Both years, the kids were smiling shyly while going through the intensively built course that's overly safe and not competitive.
I expected the kids to at least fall down on their knees, or run helter skelter. But alas, at the end of the course, they're all dry and gets to collect a medal. I'd prefer them to be all out of breath and dirty marks on their knees and maybe crying. Or am I just being extreme here? There's also no parading around the field. I don't like the segmentation and the parents lined up all the way blocking each others view. Frankly, I don't like the sports day at all. It wasn't a good experience for us parents and worst of all, the kids couldn't care less.
2. We opted out for school trip when Naila was 6. Because we didn't want to pay RM100 for a trip to a place we didn't know about. I expected trips to the zoo. The petting zoo. The fire station. Something along those lines perhaps.
3. The concert day was too long for 3 hours. We were surrounded by so many food and toy vendors. It felt like a trap we couldn't escape from. We loved watching her perform and Mahkota Cheras performance was so outstanding that us parents can't stop raving about it on whatsapp group afterwards. Credits to the dedicated teachers who tirelessly trained the kids every day. However it was too long by combining 3-4 school performance at once. Again it wasn't a good experience for us parents, especially when we also have smaller children to take care of.
We stood by the school particularly for it's environment, dedicated teachers and Naila's friends. We closed our eyes to the Brainy Bunch HQ bureaucracy and some things we didn't agree on. At the end of the day, Naila only sees her teachers and friends everyday and we only occasionally have to go through the other things.
So do I recommend Brainy Bunch Mahkota Cheras? Resounding yes. Naila experienced the things I expected and academically, she's ready for standard 1.
