SPH Kindergarten:
SPH Kindergarten: Establishing a culture of learning for a brighter future or The fun of learning for long-term benefits
The traditional approach when educating young children is to teach pupils to read, count, draw, learn shapes and colors quickly.
But the old-fashioned method of evaluation has been abandoned by today's educators because such academic skills do not reflect today's thinking and fail to produce students with the advanced thinking and problem-solving abilities that are needed in the 21st century.
The modern worldwide trend in early childhood education recognizes that teaching is a process and therefore parents should not expect fast results.
Since its establishment, Sekolah Pelita Harapan kindergarten -- aimed for children between the age of one and five -- has adopted a modern approach and is continuing its efforts to develop children's intellectual, physical, social and emotional abilities, alongside spiritual growth, as part of character building.
"Our education scheme is aimed at developing a child as a whole, which covers the child's cognitive, psychomotoric and emotional development," said Wiginy Kusliawan, principal of SPH kindergarten.
"We develop these three aspects based on the child's age."
In other words, she added, the development of these three aspects should not be delayed for any reason because they play a critical role in the next stage of child development.
A four-year-old child, who can identify the letters of the alphabet and can add, but whose nonacademic faculties have been less developed, will face psychomotoric and emotional development problems later, she explained.
At SPH kindergartens, the teaching method being used is aimed at stimulating children to think for themselves. "We therefore never ask them to memorize facts but encourage them to explore subjects together with their teachers."
As SPH also offers International Baccalaureate (IB) programs for students who want the highest international standards for eventual entrance into overseas universities, all SPH kindergarten students automatically take part in the Primary Years Program (PYP), a comprehensive teaching-learning approach that is modeled on an international curriculum.
"Involving them in the PYP program, for students three to 12 years old, will give them easy access later to join our IB programs, which have very high standards," said SPH spokeswoman Hannah Achmadi.
Currently, each SPH kindergarten has five classes; toddlers (for one year olds), the nursery (for two year olds), K1 (for three year olds), K2 (for four year olds), and K3 (for 5 year olds).
The kindergarten has a total of 198 students at three locations: SPH Lippo Karawaci in Tangerang, SPH Menara Sudirman in Central Jakarta and SPH Pluit in North Jakarta.
About 15 percent of the students are of different nationalities, such as Australian, Singaporean, American, British, Dutch, Indian, Italian, German, Korean, Taiwanese and Chinese.
With English-speaking classes, qualified university-graduate teachers, international programs and superb facilities, the SPH kindergarten offers a perfect environment for children to maximize their education through first class programs, blending knowledge and character development within a spiritual dimension.
Donna Marriott, an Australian, shares her experience about her child who has been with SPH kindergarten for four years.
"Learning is fun and it's evident at SPH. Small class numbers are extremely beneficial and makes for a good learning environment."
A Dutch parent, Bianca Kootte Dizy, says: "The warm, friendly and well-equipped environment with the combination of expatriate and Indonesian teachers and small classes has encouraged our daughter to mature, and what is even more important for a three- year old: to develop her social skills. But the best part of it is that she is a very happy girl and has a lot of fun at school."
Ros S. Tjandrawinata, an Indonesian, comments: "School is not only where children learn math, reading, drawing and other academic subjects, but also where they learn and try out a whole new set of social skills with their teachers and classmates. My four-year-old son also learned the joy of loving, giving and helping others from his first field trip to a home for the elderly and an orphanage, learning to accept others regardless of race or ethnic origins.
Most importantly, they have the ability to inspire and motivate my son to become a confident, self-assured, happy and loving young boy ready to talk about the new challenges he will face in primary school."
Henny Sudarpo, another Indonesian, recalls: "Every day my children come home from Pelita Harapan kindergarten with a con tented smile, having had a fulfilling day. SPH provided my children with a touch of international school experience without leaving eastern values behind."
SPH has been appointed as a member of the European Council of International Schools, or ECS, which provides accreditation to high-quality schools around the globe.
In essence, the SPH kindergarten is carefully designed to ensure that all its students are well-grounded and given the necessary learning tools to develop.