Parents: Here's how to select the best preschool in Singapore for your kids
No longer practice preschools have teacher-led, cookie-cutter curriculums. Instead, there is a wide array of different honour-winning pedagogies, language immersion programmes, beautifully-designed campuses, first-course amenities... the listing goes on. With then many options – and with each institution offering varying and unique features – how do you pick the one?
How do yous fifty-fifty begin to cull? To help us, we asked 2 experts for advice.
Dr Elaine Kim is the co-founder of Trehaus School – a Silicon Valley-inspired preschool in the heart of the CBD – which launched in August, revolutionising how parents and children tin can seamlessly piece of work and play nether one roof. With this modern approach to school-work-life balance, Trehaus School is prepare to pave the style for a new generation of height preschools in Singapore.
According to Dr Kim, the top priority when choosing a preschool would exist picking a identify where your child will exist the happiest. "Academics are of import, only your kid has a lifetime of formal learning ahead of them. Preschool should be a joyous place where he or she learns to love schoolhouse and makes happy memories with yous," she affirmed.
Kelly Hor is the director of schools for Odyssey The Global Preschool, a prestigious IB-certified institution backed by Reggio Emilia practices. In her opinion, having a melting pot of cultures is the most ideal situation as it "helps children develop an in-depth understanding of intercultural differences and international mindedness – essential skills for little ones to thrive as learners not only in the local learning environs, but globally also."
Although in that location are many factors to note when information technology comes to narrowing your choices, in that location are six key essentials in determining the best preschool for your child. And, it starts with you, the parent.
"Academics are of import, but your child has a lifetime of formal learning ahead of them. Preschool should be a joyous place where he or she learns to love school and makes happy memories with y'all." – Dr Elaine Kim
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KNOW YOUR CHILD, KNOW YOURSELF
Before researching schools, spend some time thinking most your child. What kind of environment does he or she thrive in? Does your child need more structure or more freedom? In what areas would you similar to see the virtually growth? Thinking near your child's personality will help you recognise that the schoolhouse which anybody else is raving about might not actually serve the needs of your trivial one.
As a parent, you may also take opinions about the way you want your child to be educated. For instance, is the centre more focused on play or academics? If you lot're academic-oriented, a school that doesn't requite homework isn't the correct i. Then do make sure the school's philosophy, behavior and values are aligned with yours.
FIND THE CURRICULUM THAT WORKS FOR YOUR Child
At that place's no such thing equally a one-size-fits-all curriculum, even in early learning. For you to decide which curriculum works best for your child, pay a visit to the centre with Junior and see for yourself if he or she feels comfy in course.
While established institutions such as Odyssey The Global Preschool bank on proven pedagogies like the Reggio Emilia method, where children are empowered through a kid-directed learning approach, Trehaus Schoolhouse draws inspiration from a gamut of methodologies that include Montessori, Reggio Emilia, Ecological Systems, RIE, and Somatics.
"In this changing world, parents increasingly recognise that instruction also needs to change appropriately to meet a futurity where more than 50 per cent of the jobs that exist tomorrow don't be today," said Dr Kim. "The contend of each pedagogy holds its pros and cons, and that is why we have extracted the best elements of each to assistance us curate our very ain projection-based curriculum and framework. Our curriculum writers are non only from the pedagogy field, they are from all walks of life and backgrounds – tech engineers, psychologists, doctors, artists, music producers and entrepreneurs – providing a various perspective that lends a latitude of skillset teaching to the curriculum."
GREAT TEACHERS ARE HALF THE Boxing WON
It goes without proverb that teachers make up the heart of the school, and then it'southward important that you observe a caring and defended educator who is qualified and well-trained. "In Singapore, parents are quite fortunate in that the Early on Childhood Evolution Agency (ECDA) regulates the industry quite stringently; all teachers must possess relevant qualifications, centres must satisfy guidelines on matters such as staff-child ratios, and there is the accreditation organisation, SPARK (Singapore Pre-school Accreditation Framework), for preschools," explained Hor.
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A LOW Instructor-STUDENT RATIO FOR THE WIN
Children are individuals with different learning preferences, talents and characters. To encounter your little one's needs, it is crucial to find a schoolhouse that offers small-scale form sizes and low instructor-student ratios. At Trehaus Schoolhouse, the ratio is at a very depression 1:5.
This enables the instructor to foster the child'due south individuality and potential rather than just a cookie-cutter, top-down fashion of form management," explained Dr Kim.
AN Effective CLASSROOM Set up-Upward
With both Trehaus School and Odyssey The Global Preschool, the bar is set very high in terms of classroom infrastructure. Hor believes in the principle of the environment every bit the "3rd teacher" in finer supporting children'southward learning and growth. "Classrooms for toddlers should not be overly cluttered with furniture and materials. There should be clearly defined pathways and ample floor space for play, interaction and motility, which would encourage them to explore and investigate their surround," she added.
Trehaus School at Funan takes a different approach with open up-plan classrooms designed like little villages consummate with supply stores and a bank to draw Trehaus currency. The kids also have access to an indoor playground sandpit, embankment house and rock wall, also as an outdoor edible garden and futsal court. More importantly, there'due south a business centre and cafe within the Trehaus space for parents to co-work at while their lilliputian ones are in school.
The biggest thing to remember is that it's more of import to follow your child'south pb than to follow the crowd. Ask yourself: Does your child look happy beingness in that location? Do you hear laughter from the other children? Can y'all feel the warmth of the staff and a sense of community? Does the school view parents as partners in raising the kid together or are parents merely customers and their kids an enrolment number? Ultimately, it's not about existence in the most prestigious school or one with 5-star amenities, just what suits your child best.
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Source: https://cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/access/best-preschool-singapore-230076
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