BBIM 2013 Annual Parents' Conference

Frankly speaking, there were times where I kind of doubt my decision in sending Iyaadh to BBIM, because, compared to some other kids of his age, they have already manage to read and write quite well. While Iyaadh, is still kinda...'slow and steady' in terms of counting, reading and writing. But, I keep on reminding myself, the purpose of we (me and my husband) sending him there is not to ... 'get him able to read at early age' etc etc.

The main purpose of us sending him there is to introduce him to school environment and makes him enjoy the learning process (via the montessori method), and cultivates the Islamic  way of thinking, identity and akhlaq in him through the daily routines and activities held at the campus. Readings, counting, writing can be developed simultenously...and slowly. InsyaAllah.

Glad that I've attended the 4 hours briefing session of BBIM (centralized) Annual Parents' Conference at PICC on 19 Jan '13. Alhamdulillah, now I feel quite certain that myself & hubby have made the right choice for Iyaadh (and soon, Aidan...InsyaAllah).

All of the BBIM top management were there, sharing their tips, experiences and information in regards to the organisation direction, program structures and improvement plan, mission, vision, etc. Each and every one of them came from very different background of knowledge, academic and experiences - which I believe, they actually complements each others and form a very strong team in putting up clear directions of BBIM, which able to benefits the children, teachers, parents and the society, InsyaAllah.

Why I fall in love with BBIM? (not in priority sequence)

1. The concept, syllabus & teaching approach : Islamic + Montessori + fully English.

The moment I saw their banners with the 3 key words back in 2011: Islamic + Montessori + English, I know this is the pre-school I wanted for my kids. From there, I started to do researches on this school and finally decided to enroll Iyaadh (and he's now in his 2nd year @ BBIM SA) * and oh! when I say fully English; I mean English-all-the-time, even outside the school gates. Not like some kindie which claim to be English medium, but the teachers communicate in English only in class, not even during break time*

2. The kindie exist because of the strong sense of needs/passion of the founders in giving the best for their own children. Their desire and aim in providing a good Islamic foundation with an international standards of education system for their own children made them decide to set up their very own 'ideal kindie' - to prepare their children for the success of 'dunia & akhirat'. in a summary, BBIM wujud dari perspektif & keinginan sepasang 'ibu & bapa', bukan dari perspektif atau keinginan seorang 'ahli perniagaan' :)

3. The cleanliness of the kindie premise and spacious setting - not like any normal classroom setup in most kindies *to suits its montessori activities & learning method*

4. Halal-healthy foods catered from outside caterer - so, no 'cooking / preparing meals' activities involved in school. Teachers are able to focus more on the children all the time. *meleleh jg air liur when I saw their menu list...looks so yummy :)* and they've recently signed up some sort of business partnership with Asia Food Caterer as their centralized caterer for all BBIM campuses. A good move indeed :) 

5. They have their own Shariah Advisor. I believe they are the 1st and the only kindie which has appointed special dedicated Shariah Advisors to assist and provide guidance on the islamic part of the teaching modules. Even the parents are welcome to seek for advice / guide from these Shariah Advisors :)

6. Every branches / campuses are actually owned, controlled and being monitored by BBIM HQ. They don't simply sell their franchise license to anyone, even the teacher at every campuses are being interviewed by and employed under BBIM HQ. There are also weekly progress meeting involving all campus managers & their management held at BBIM HQ.

7. Investment on teacher's development - which I believe one of the essential part in running a kindie. BBIM is quite generous in giving trainings and education to their teachers, including English & Montessori trainings. *and yes, they use British council's service to train their teachers* oh, and they, InsyaAllah, will soon finalize and announce their very own Islamic-Montessori Diploma programme, partnering with one of the goverment religous body.

8. The children activities at school starts as early as 8:00am - where they usually will learn to take wudhu, and perform their Dhuha prayer together...everyday! Most islamic kindie does not practice solat on daily basis because of time constraint (unless the kids stay at the kindie for a wholeday program/daycare).

9.  There's plenty of parents/family activities & events being organized by the BBIM, free of charge, in helping parents to improve their parenting skills based on Islamic values. This events are also open to public, but of course, the priority is given for the BBIM parents

10. They take part in society/community charity works. One of their latest project is to set-up a charity school in Gaza. This school will be run by BBIM (if i'm not mistaken). They have submitted the proposal to the Gaza's government and authority and pending for them to revert.

10 points are enough I guess, at least for the time being :)

Some people might ask...BBIM have been expanding too fast. Do they really good? Or was it just because of profit and money?

As for me, I believe the fast expension and success of BBIM semuanya hasil pertolongan Allah. Maybe because of the commitments and sincerity of the founder and his team in trying to give and share as much as possible - the islamic values and knowledge, not only to the children & their teachers, but also to the parents and the society as a whole, Lillahi taala. Sincerity is key to redha Allah. Dan redha Allah adalah kunci kejayaan, dunia & akhirat. InsyaAllah :)

How do I know that they are sincere in doing this? Wallahu'alam. I don't know. It's just that my feeling say so, and this is also based on  my own observation and thinking/reasoning...

If they are not sincere - they can just sell their franchise license anywhere and to anyone...and let these franchiser run the kindie on their own...and they make easy money out of it. But they didn't.

If they are not sincere - they might not be sending their own kids to their own kindie-chain. And yes, the founder children, as well as the Shariah Advisor's children are all BBIM students (Pre-school & Elementary)

If they are not sincere - they won't be bothered to invite ustaz/religious experts to do 'family clinics' or workshop or islamic classes (eg: mandi jenazah) for the parents...or if they do, they can just charge each parents for the event...

If they are not sincere - they might not be transparent and will always try to hide any of their weaknesses / unwanted incidents from the parents. *the founder himself told the parents during the recent parents' conference on the unwanted incidents happened at their Kg Tunku campus early this year...which Alhamdulillah, they managed to resolve it already*

If they are not sincere - they might just let their staffs/teachers to do all the works at ath their respective campuses while the management can just sit back & relax at their HQ office. *yes, the top mgmt team actually went down to campuses during the 1st week of school - to help in handling the 'chaos' (new students crying and screaming), this include their newly appointed chairman - Dato Seri Syed Zainal himself, where Dato' Seri share his experience how he have to sit down for 4 hours with a boy who can't stop crying - trying to console him, at one of the BBIM campus.

How parents can contribute and show appreciation?

1. Give continuous support and constructive feedbacks to the schools (teachers & management) for them to improve further

2. Work together with the respective teachers on how we can assist and continue our children education/learning at home...
*but with Iyaadh, whenever I ask him what did he learn/do at school, he will usually answer, " i forgot", or "not sure", or "colour dinosaur pictures" .... a bit challenging for me. Will try to discuss with his teacher if possible for her to give me a simple note every Friday - in regards to what she has teached/syllabus progress for that particular week so that I can continue to guide him and do some light revision over the weekend. InsyaAllah. We'll see...

So yes, this is just my humble point of view. Wallahua'lam.

Whatever it is, I'll pray that BBIM and their team will remain istiqomah in helping to build and strengthen the Muslim identity of the future generation, as what they aim to be. And also make doa that everyone involved - children, BBIM team, parents and the society will get the best benafits out of it, dunia & akhirat. InsyaAllah. Amin.

** maap untuk grammar/spelling yg agak huru-hara, just got too excited to complete this entry a.s.a.p. :p **