Brilliant Kids School the best! My only wish is that Ms. Barbara could teach my kids until they…read morereach college. Haha! Only joking, but one can dream.
When we were first touring preschools, I was looking for a couple things:
- Cantonese immersion
- Assisted with potty training
- Provided meals
- Respectful environment
We toured many places, and knew right away that this would be the one when we met Ms. Barbara, Joe, and Serena. First of all, in setting up the initial meeting, they were very responsive. Second of all, Ms. Barbara was very excited to explain everything about the program, from the daily schedule, to mealtimes, to how she supports the kids' emotional development. She even gave us details like how they chose the flooring and furniture. I could tell right away that she was very invested in the students and the school. Finally, the best part was how well they interacted with my kids. Even from the first meeting, they were very caring and patient.
For their day-to-day curriculum, they have a great schedule with outdoor time, art projects, schoolwork, and exercise. They also garden, go to the playground, and make food. My kids taught me how to make spam musubi and ants on a log after they learned from school! They also do naptime - Ms. Barbara can get my kids to nap regularly, much better than I can.
For mealtimes, I don't have to worry about anything. They provide 3 delicious home-cooked, balanced meals with variety of vegetables, grains, and meat. They also taught my kids how to eat independently.
Ms. Barbara sends us pictures and videos every day, so we get to see what the kids are up to. In the beginning, we were anxious because our kids had never been outside of our care before. But the messages calmed our worries; we could see them having fun doing so many different activities. I just checked my WhatsApp -- Ms. Barbara has sent me 4,293 pictures and videos of my kids over the past 2 years!
Over the past 2 years, my son has flourished at Brilliant Kids.
- On the language learning, he started out knowing almost no Cantonese. Now he holds full conversations in Cantonese, jabbering on with his grandparents and even random people like his haircutter. He even got 95/100 on the SFUSD language test! I attribute that all to Brilliant Kids, because it's truly an immersion school. Even the students speak to each other in Chinese during playtime.
- On the academic side, he started off not knowing how to hold a pencil. Now he can write all his letters and numbers, and he's even starting to read and spell some simple words. They also learn Chinese characters. Brilliant Kids prepared him very well for kindergarten.
- Most importantly, on the social development side, he has matured so much. Of course some of it is developmental, but most of it is due to his teachers. My son has some VERY challenging behaviors with huge outbursts, and we were very worried about him. Ms. Barbara and the teachers were patient yet firm with him and taught him many techniques to calm down. He can recite it now: "breathe deep, count to 10, think about something happy." At home, he is better at sharing, helping out, and letting go of things that used to bother him. One time, he started to get angry, but he paused and started breathing in and out. I was so impressed! We will always be grateful for the teachers who lovingly worked with him even through his crazy explosions.
In addition, Ms. Barbara goes above and beyond to show care for the children and families:
- During Halloween, she organized a family field trip to pumpkin patch, and gave us pumpkin, goodie bags, and yummy food
- During Christmas, the kids performed songs and got visit from Santa. She also sends home gifts for the family (for example, canvas print of our family from the pumpkin patch)
- During birthdays, she makes the kids feel very special. She has them do a birthday project, buys cake for the kids, and has everybody sing a song. She also sends the kids home with a special gift and balloon! One unfortunate thing is that my daughter got sick on the day of her birthday celebration, so she couldn't go to school. Ms. Barbara offered to deliver the cake and gift to us so my daughter wouldn't miss out!
- For graduation, the kids practice for months on their songs and speech. The result was so amazing and adorable. She also gives each graduate a graduation gift, framed picture, graduation certificate, and big photo album filled with their pictures from Brilliant Kids. This preschool photo album is now my son's favorite book to "read" at bedtime.
Another good sign is that I notice many current students are younger siblings of previous students. Families come back and stay at Brilliant Kids for many years. We are lucky to have a younger daughter, so we get to stay at Brilliant Kids for a couple more years too!
My kids love their teachers and friends at Brilliant Kids. I am thankful that they had such a great start to their education.