I wrote this article because last week I met a nice lady, who has three children and is very interested in our school and she would like to know what is so special about Tunas Muda. It is an interesting and challenging question to answer.

There are so many schools in this area and all offer good programmes, nice facilities, appropriate resources and competitive school fees. Parents have many choices and sometimes too many choices are confusing. So visiting schools is the best way to find what they are looking for. Seeing the environment and talking to the children in the school will help the parents to gather the information needed to make their decision about a school for their child.

I remember a few years back some parents came to me and they said that they chose Tunas Muda because when they came to our school they could see happy faces in each class and see children learn by osmosis by working together, giving them the opportunity to be taught by peers as well as to take on the role of teacher. They build close relationships and self-confidence. They also saw how the children play together in the playground with respect and care. The children treat everybody equally. This is also what the nice lady saw in our school. She was also so surprised to see her 4 year old son, who was labelled in his previous school as shy, unconfident and without eye contact, could play and have a chat with me confidently and happily. Then I explained, this is why our school is special. We see the children without judgment or labels. Children are just children. They are still in the learning process of understanding the world.

The learning process in our school allows children to develop naturally at their own pace and they can explore activities that interest them so they become independent learners. We see all the children as unique human beings who are all smart in different way. For us all the children are shining stars. We emphasize cognitive and social development rather than rote learning. The wonder of learning in our world is changing so quickly that memorization is of little use. We focus on children’s ability by teaching them how to learn. Each child is encouraged to teach, work with and help others on a regular basis. In life the most successful people are usually those who work well with others. The child is not interrupted during a learning moment, but allowed enough time to finish the task at hand at his/her own speed. The fast finishers can enrich their knowledge by doing the extension activities provided for them. The children are motivated by the joy of knowledge and this extends far beyond punishment or rewards.

Mr. Lee Havis from International Montessori Society compares the learning process to a butterfly that is struggling to come out off its cocoon. If we are involved too much and help a lot the butterfly can easily go out to see the world but it is not strong enough to fly far as it hasn’t practiced strengthening its wings. Actually when the butterfly is trying to break the cocoon, it is strengthening its wings. It is the same with our children at Tunas Muda. We give them space to develop themselves because actually God give the children all the tools they need to learn about this world. Mr. Lee said that there is a teacher in each the child.

We also have a nice and clean environment. Once there were parents who moved their children to our school because of our cleanliness. The adults in our school are also very caring so the children just feel like they are at home. A lot of children love to stay at school after home time because they feel comfortable in our school!

In the end our school prepares our children to be themselves. We don’t want them all to be scientists, singers, dancers or presidents because there needs to be a mixture of people with different talents and skills to make this world go round.

I like what Mahatma Gandhi said about education. He said that “The world is a confusing place. We can’t fix it. We need to educate the children to live in this confusing world”. This means that children need to have the skills, attitudes and knowledge to be able to survive in the world that is changing very fast. We are sure that Tunas Muda can accommodate the children’s needs for their future That is why our school is very special.

(Ratna Ekawati)