I was confused. There were so many systems of education and methods available in the market for pre-schoolers. Every school I visited assured me their school, their method, and their teachers were excellent, perfect, they would say. It was the place for my child, they assured me. Many claimed that they had the lowest ratio of teacher to student, or had state of the art facilities that no one else had, some even could show historic and research evidence of their effectiveness. While all these attracted my attention, I was concern about my son’s character more than anything else.

I chanced upon FunGates quite by accident and while I initially had concerns about their location, I was quickly won over.

Before Eliott enrolled at FunGates, some might describe him as being a hyper active child – not in the medical sense of the word – but in every possible way. He couldn’t sit still for very long, and required constant supervision. He wasn’t very sociable and had not mastered the art of sharing or even that of making friends. In fact, after I enrolled him, having just heard about all the methods utilized by the teachers to train their students, I remember telling the teacher, how Eliott was going to be her “test case”.

Amazingly, within the first few months, the improvements were obvious. He was more controlled, was able to concentrate and even began to make friends. While I appreciate their system of education, being someone who has almost 10 years experience in the education field, I must credit most of his change to their wonderful teachers and helpers. The way their teachers encouraged him, patiently correcting him and showering him with love made all the difference.

That was a year ago.

Today, Eliott has no problem concentrating and completing work assigned, his vocabulary has improved; he has some self-control and has made many friends. He is more sociable and more importantly he is confident and happy. He tells me every day after school, how fun it was and talks non-stop about his classmates and teachers.

To Ms. Angeline and Ms. Kumari who were Eliott’s first teachers, thank you for your patience and love. To Ms. Teresa and Ms Pei Yee, thank you for making his first year of school both memorable and wonderful. To Ms. Pam, thank you for taking care of Eliott. To Ms Hooi Kean, you remain his favorite teacher always. To Mr. Jack, thank you for being his friend when he most needed one and to Ms. Bernice and Ms. Joy to whom he talks about consistently, thank you for making time for my little one. Thank you all for being a blessing.

Sarah Tan Liau