Khoo teaches much more than Mandarin

For the past 15 years, Karen Khoo has built a strong reputation through the results of her students and relationships with parents. Whether it has been running pre-schools in Malaysia, or opening Sylvan centers in British Columbia, Canada, learning has always excited Khoo and her husband Jimmy Tham. Reflecting on her business experience, Khoo noted that Sylvan tutoring centers share the same objective as pre-schools: creating the right environment for learning. “As long as we understand the industry is education-based, we will begin to understand the needs of every mom,” said Khoo. “I’m a mom of two teenage boys, and I know the priority of each mom is always to see their kids excel. We are only lending the extra hands to help them reach their goals.” “There is no miracle formula, because education is like a jig-saw puzzle,” she said. “There are many factors in place and every part of that puzzle has to play its part.” Starting young as an office administrator, Khoo took on the challenge to learn every aspect of the pre-school business and operations that she could. She continued her career and became a full-time Mandarin teacher in the classroom. “In Malaysian pre-schools, we incorporated reading, phonics, math, writing, spelling and sciences as part of the main syllabus,” said Khoo. “The challenge is that in Malaysia, kids have the opportunities to learn the program in the languages of Malay, English and Mandarin, whereas at Sylvan, it is pretty much English. Still, Khoo noted that her previous experience has come in handy in her new role. “In Richmond, Canada there is a major Chinese immigrant presence, so we use Mandarin, more as a communication language with the parents,” she said. It is easy to see that Khoo truly has a passion for making sure that her students are learning—not only in the classroom, but learning by seeing. “We have fun on our school excursions. Besides the normal zoo visits, aquariums, agricultural, animal and butterfly farms, we have kids learning how to make pizzas when they attend Pizza Hut tours and play with actual working conditions,” she said. Without a doubt, Khoo is providing a learning environment that stretches across the world. Her experience in Malaysia has helped her build trust among the parents in British Columbia, and as a result, her students thrive. Khoo’s story proves that if you have a passion for something, your best results will follow.