The ‘Little Wonders’ that Make an Outstanding Preschool
Coming across so many raving reviews of Little Wonders Preschool, Gulf Insider met with the Founders, Ali Khan, Shazray Khan, and Rabiya Essa to learn more about this outstanding Preschool and what sets it apart.
Established in 2017, in just a short period Little Wonders Preschool has developed a reputation as a Premier option for children across Bahrain. Located in Saar, parents bring their children from as far as Amwaj, whilst most live in Saar, Riffa, and Hamala. Little Wonders Preschool provides a friendly, nurturing, child-centered environment for children aged one to four years of age. With a bright and welcoming ambiance, super clean and state of the art facilities, one can easily determine no expense has been spared by the owners. The preschool fosters curiosity, creativity, and critical thinking for children, with a bilingual option of teaching in both English and Arabic.
Little Wonders Preschool follows the British Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) curriculum while bringing in a Montessori teaching approach, which according to Ali Khan, Cofounder, “Provides a happy and fun learning experience for the children both academically and holistically, and the children receive a strong foundation and develop confidence to be well prepared for their future schools”. He added “The ethos of the school is to provide a loving and caring environment where children can learn and develop as individuals, with highly qualified teachers and the latest resources and teaching equipment”.
Setting Standards
The learning environment is seen as key for the children’s development and a homely and loving atmosphere is a must to enable children to feel safe and secure. Here, a great degree of emphasis is placed on one-to-one attention and the individual learning needs of each child.
Little Wonders has a low student faculty ratio; with two qualified teachers (English and Arabic), one teacher’s assistant and a class nanny in each room. A minimum of two staff are assigned to any small group activity, ensuring that each child gets personalized attention. The preschool also has a full-time certified British nurse onsite.
All teaching resources, including the toys, activities, playground equipment and even the furniture was imported from the United States and England. The campus has a large indoor play area with special flooring and many activities, multiple outdoor playgrounds and sensory developing spaces, such as a large sand play area and planting garden.
“Small class sizes and low student to teacher ratios ensure personalized attention”, Rabiya Essa, Cofounder and the preschool Principal said. “We want to give each child opportunities to discover, question and develop skills at their own pace through our range of activities. Our learning materials and campus are especially designed to help each child creatively explore the world around them”, Rabiya added.
When asked about what makes Little Wonders stand out, Cofounder and Vice Principal Shazray Khan said “What our parents appreciate is the love, passion and care we provide to each child and family. This, along with the individualized learning experience, each child receives the full support to learn and develop, becoming confident with hands on activities and challenged at an appropriate, individualized pace”, Shazray happily said.
Passionate and qualified staff and educators
All teachers and staff at Little Wonders are passionate about children and are exceptionally well qualified. The teachers fully engage with their students, promote personal growth, and enrich lives without the overbearing setting traditional classrooms present. The classrooms have multiple activity areas, where you will see children involved with true to life Montessori activities, which encourage children to be independent, resourceful, and pragmatic explorers in the world around them. Montessori materials made from a variety of mediums introduce each child to interesting concepts furthering development by touch and play.
“Our English-speaking teachers are primarily from the United Kingdom while most of our Arabic teachers are Bahraini”, Ali said. He added that their teachers complete training on their curriculum and the preschool provides training courses for the teacher’s assistants.
Satisfied Parents
Little Wonders has their own dedicated app for communication with parents. Offering an array of information, the app also allows parents to monitor the development and progress of their child based on EYFS learning objectives. Having a complete picture of the students development from all angles helps identify their strengths, overcome difficulties, and provide guidance and additional focus where needed, all in a healthy environment – something that Ali, Shazray and Rabiya agreed on.
Parents are always welcomed as Little Wonders has an open door policy for any of their queries and concerns. The preschool also provides many after-school activities, such as dance, ballet, gymnastics and even daycare for working parents. Little Wonders clearly goes out of the way to make sure that the needs of each and every child and parent are catered to. In many ways, Little Wonders has no doubt achieved great advances in the quality of early years education being offered in Bahrain.
Jillian, a parent whose child is enrolled in Little Wonders said, “I heavily researched and visited many schools before enrolling my daughter. Some were merely daycares, some made me feel as though my expectations were too high. Then I found Little Wonders; Godsend. My child is thriving. She’s challenged, stimulated, educated and safe. The Montessori curriculum is immersive and encourages learning by doing. They have a separate art room, playroom and cooking lab outside of the classroom. The teachers and administrators are excellent communicators who keep me up- to- speed with my child’s progress. If you’ve selected Little Wonders, be proud”
Feryal, another parent, stated “Little Wonders is an amazing preschool with a super wonderful team…. Overall my experience with the school was simply amazing. I rate the school as one of the best in the kingdom and I give it 10 out of 10.”
Meanwhile, Anna, voiced out her appreciation “As a parent, there is nothing better than knowing your child is safe and in good hands… The teachers and the administrators at Little Wonders are very caring and flexible to us as parents as well… We feel fortunate to have a preschool like this for our son.”
Contact details:
Website: www.littlewondersbh.com
Email: info@littlewondersbh.com
Tel: 3644-7000 / 3655-4000
