Vital Years | Early Learning Literacy Centre

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To make every child a literate child,

and to instil in every child the love for reading.

To help children of all backgrounds to learn to read speedily and in a totally stress-free way. To nurture the skills of writing, speaking and listening, and to encourage creativity and critical thinking skills.

"There are many little ways to enlarge your child's world. Love of books is the best of all."

- Jacqueline Kennedy (former first lady of the United States, mother of three)

The Vital Years Early Reading and Writing Program© was born out of a mother's love for her children. By 1974, English Masters graduate Lam Kam Foong had taught every stage from pre-primary to university. A passionate scholar of language and linguistics, she became increasingly concerned about the literacy problems that she confronted on a daily basis. She was convinced that reading was never meant to be hard, that it had to be a natural process in a child's development. A parent already, she promised herself that her children would be bonded to books from an early age.

Over the next fourteen years, Foong perfected an effortless, fail-safe method of teaching children how to read. Using this philosophy, her own son read at the age of four, and her younger daughter at two and a half.

Foong's vision of making every child a literate child drove her to implement her program amongst underprivileged kids in Malaysia, Singapore, Australia and Cambodia. It proved time and time again to be successful with not only the very young, but with Downs Syndrome, dyslexic, autistic and hyperactive learners as well. Now living in Western Australia and fulfilling multiple roles as a teacher, consultant and reading specialist, Foong decided to return to her roots and make the Vital Years Program© accessible to all.

Our first Vital Years© centre was opened on April 1 1996, in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia. From 1996 to 1999, three more were established before we launched our franchise business.

With a network that spans almost eighty branches throughout Malaysia in 2011, Foong's vision is closer to being realised today than ever before. It just goes to show what we already knew - that no feat is too great for a loving mum!

Reading Opens Doors

The Vital Years English Reading & Writing Program© recognises that children are natural readers. From the moment they enter the world, they experience lines, shapes and colours. They develop the ability to differentiate between objects, continuously reading their environment in order to make sense of it.

It is this acknowledgement that gives Vital Years© its unique place among other programs.

We affirm that:

deciphering print is no more difficult for children than reading the world;
we need not teach born readers to read but instead facilitate, or assist, their inherent skill;
children will read print with ease if obstacles are not placed in their way;
rather than “sounding out” or using phonics, children naturally decode print through distinguishing, categorising and generalising - much the same as they decode other things.

Our programmers are committed to staying current and they produce fresh material on a regular basis. So whether it be through our specialised texts or utilising the latest technology, Vital Years© is the standard in stress-free, highly effective education.