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Philosophy
Preschool children are creative, resourceful and imaginative. We can
easily see that they are fascinated with objects all around them. They
squeeze, roll, scratch, pinch, taste, throw, 
pound
and chew these objects during play to learn as much as they can about
them.
Life is a fascinating world of activity to a young child - a place for doing and discovering and trying out ideas. Too often, however, school environments don't encourage children's natural sense of discovery. Instead of learning through this most appropriate method - play experience and discovery - school all too often turns out to be a place where children just sit and listen to the teacher talk most of the time; where children watch the teacher demonstrate things on the blackboard; where the teacher thinks that there is only one correct answer. In this type of school, for the first time in their lives, children may stop learning or find their natural learning processes thwarted.
At Discovery Center, children are actively involved in their learning
experience; they learn in a natural and enjoyable way. Children learn
concepts and ideas by handling 
familiar
objects and manipulating them, not by just dealing abstractly with the
concepts on paper. Children are free to make mistakes and to learn directly
from these mistakes. In Discovery Center, children learn to trust their
own judgment and thoughts. They are free to try to do things their own
way as an expression of their creativity and individuality. Discover Center
children learn to work independently and to take responsibility and initiative
for learning.
Discovery Center is a place where children move about freely through a variety of learning activities. Sitting still in a chair isn't necessarily thought of as good, nor are movement and noise discouraged.
Staff
The principal is a native English speaker and a teaching professional
who has a degree in early childhood education from the University of Michigan.
She taught at Montessori schools in the 
states,
for 5 years in Michigan and in California, and for 13 years in Indonesia.
The Indonesian teachers and assistant teachers all speak English well. Teachers either have a university degree in education or a related field, or many years teaching experience or both. The teachers must have taught in an English-speaking school, either at Discovery Center or elsewhere, for more than 2 years before leading a class. Most assistant teachers have attended/or are attending a foreign language academy where they have earned/will earn a 4-year undergraduate degree in English (beyond their high school diplomas).
Facilities
The school has two convenient locations:
Our south Jakarta campus is located in Cipete, a residential area just west of Kemang, north of Cilandak, east of Pondok Indah and south of Kebayoran Baru. The center is situated between Jl. Fatmawati and Jl. Antasari.
Our
central Jakarta campus is located in Menteng near the intersection of
Jalan Diponegoro and Jalan Teuku Cik Ditiro. It is only 15 minutes from
Ambassador Mall in Kuningan and 8 minutes from the Regent Hotel.
The schools in both locations are housed in residential facilities which are devoted entirely to the school. The gardens contains a climbing frame and slide, bicycle/car area, dish washing area, water table, sand table, animal feeding area and rocking toys.
Learning centers are set up inside the schools: puzzle/manipulative, trucks, sports room, sensorial room, art center, practical life area, computer center, language center and math center. Discovery Center also has a lending library with a wide variety of books to encourage early love of reading.
Language of instruction
All programs are taught in English. For a child who speaks only Indonesian, instructors will repeat the question or instruction in Indonesian but will gradually phase out the usage of Indonesian as the child understands more English.
The number of children who do not speak English is limited in order to preserve the English-speaking environment.
For more information on Discovery Center or for registration,
contact us via e-mail bshang@gmail.com
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