Will my child be sufficiently prepared for school? Will they have enough time to play each day? Will their interests be encouraged? These are just some of the many questions that may pop into your head when choosing a preschool for your little one. Each school will have a different preschool curriculum, whether they’re play-based or more academic in nature. Here, we speak to some popular preschools in Singapore about their philosophies and programmes, and we ask them to rate themselves on how structured they are on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being entirely unstructured and 10 being heavily structured.
White Lodge
Structure rating: 6
Raihanah Raimi, Curriculum Manager
“White Lodge offers a balance of structured and unstructured activities as part of the daily programme. The curriculum is based on theories of High Scope, Reggio Emilia and Howard Gardner. Play, music and movement and art are unstructured activities, while other classes such as phonics, Mandarin, mathematics and science take a more structured approach. There’s indoor and outdoor play every day. White Lodge acknowledges the importance of preparing children for life after kindergarten too, so the school goes back to basics, focusing on reading, writing, arithmetic and real-world understanding.
We adopt a thematic approach and children learn through exploration and discovery. Teachers tune in to choices children make, listen to their comments and watch their interactions. We recently completed a theme on farming where a child became keen to grow his own garden. Taking his lead, we started our own hydroponics gardening project at school. We were pleasantly surprised when his mother shared a picture of his own vegetable garden that he made at home!”
Prepares children for:
“The future, by nurturing them with confidence and creativity, and integrating experiences in the real world.”
What a preschool should do:
“Have an environment that stimulates, inspires and enlightens children, harnessing their imaginations.”
8 locations islandwide
6255 4230 | whitelodge.edu.sg
Kinderland
Structure rating: 6
Cindy Thomas, Curriculum Specialist
“Kinderland’s integrated curriculum caters to the holistic development of children. As we strive to nurture good work attitudes, large group activities are organised daily. However, hands-on activities and free play in learning corners are also seen as important for a good balance. We combine a structured framework that allows for learning through play at learning corners, along with activities and small group learning where children take charge of their learning through projects. Aside from play activities at the learning corners, follow-up of structured work is carried through in small groups – for example, with worksheets. Assigned work needs to be completed before children move on to free play.
Children are unique individuals, with different learning abilities, needs and preferences. In termly projects, children expand their learning of the theme they have been exploring. Over anywhere from two to four weeks, they plan and execute their ideas. For example, our five-year-olds recently designed and constructed miniature models of their dream playground based on their understanding of the mechanics of simple machines they had learnt about.”
Prepares children for:
“Enjoyment of learning, and to become lifelong learners.”
What a preschool should do:
“Make learning fun and interesting in a safe environment.”
19 locations islandwide
kinderland.com.sg
Learning Vision
Structure rating: 5
Mariati Shariff, Principal of Learning Vision Biopolis
“At Learning Vision, the child is the protagonist and the teacher is the facilitator, encouraging development of ideas and reasoning. Educators plan and facilitate children’s learning activities with learning goals as the focus while placing the interest and needs of the children first, respecting each child’s individuality. The school offers a good balance of child-directed, exploratory and hands-on learning as well as teacher-directed instructions and guided learning. Traditional forms of work helps the children understand their syllabus better and prepares them for transitioning to formal schooling. The children are encouraged to play, and not be rushed or pushed to acquire knowledge and skills in academic areas or produce work that is beyond their age or abilities.
During one of our Learning Quest sessions, a four-year-old child asked, ‘Why must we help those in need?’ This sparked an eight-week Community Action Project with Lee Ah Mooi Old Age Home for Nursery 2 children and parents.”
Prepares children for:
“The future, to become independent lifelong learners.”
What a preschool should do:
“Have concrete materials that are child-friendly to help children learn better – for example, kid-sized measuring tape so children can learn to measure during a math lesson, or a small jug to learn to pour water during practical life skills-lessons.”
25 locations island-wide
learningvision.com
Odyssey – The Global Preschool
Structure rating: 2 or 3
Kelly Hor, Director of Schools
“At Odyssey, there are no prescribed activities or lessons, but rather guidelines for teaching and learning. These are driven by a set of learning goals to address preparation for school. Teachers use these to plan outcome-based experiences that are based on children’s interests, questions and curiosity. Learning is not limited by the syllabus prepared by the teachers. We believe that learning must occur in meaningful contexts that allow children to construct their own understanding and knowledge. For example, when learning about bubbles, the expectations for a group of five-year-olds may be to acquire understanding of the processes of science such as measuring, recording and organising information. Teachers will facilitate the observation, explain the phenomenon and answer their questions.
We believe that play is an avenue that effectively promotes holistic development while allowing children to learn meaningfully and actively. The timetable provides time for both integrated play with learning as well as free play.”
Prepares children for:
“For learning and living as global citizens of the world.”
What a preschool should do:
“Nurture children’s dispositions and desires to learn to set the foundation for future learning. These include nurturing their natural sense of curiosity and self-management skills.”
5 locations island-wide
6781 8800 | theodyssey.sg
Brighton Montessori
Structure rating: 7
Nurul Majid Fitton, Senior Programme Specialist
“The approach at Brighton Montessori allows children to act and choose freely within the school environment. We make room for choice within the prepared classroom and allow each child to develop at their own pace. If a child is faced with a challenging task, we encourage them to try until they reach the ultimate goal. Brighton’s daily activities are carefully planned in segregation so that the child benefits fully from the different subject areas. Traditional work comes in the form of academic excellence (language and mathematics) where children’s progress is being monitored. For play, children experience a wide variety of content such as art, music, science, physical and moral education.
The Early Years programme (18 months to three years) observes a less structured curriculum, with the children taking part in activities that aid in the development of their intellectual sense, and their ability to observe and compare with precision. Play and physical activities are conducted with a purpose, combining enjoyable games and engaging activities. On the other hand, the pre-school years (four to six years) is more structured and prepare them for their next step in schooling. Lessons are based on curriculum frameworks that have specific learning outcomes.”
Prepares children for:
“Formal education and beyond.”
What a preschool should do:
“Have a curriculum that focuses on key developmental milestones in children of different ages and levels.”
7 locations island-wide
brightonmontessori.com.sg
Little Tykes
Structure rating: 5
Dr Vanessa von Auer, Founding Principal
“The Little Tykes programme is Reggio Emilia-inspired, where our motto is ‘Play Matters!’ Kids’ curiosities, individual learning styles and personalities drive the programme. We want to ensure each child is a pioneer in their own learning journey. Through a thematic, multi-sensorial approach using art, play, music, dance, drama and environmental exploration, we let kids be kids! We believe in a child-teacher partnership and encourage our kids to break the mould, follow their interests and passions. We trigger their curiosity through inquiry-based learning. For example, when children learn about colours, we explore further with paint to create new colours – asking them questions like how they see the sunset or the colours of their house.
We have lesson plans but are flexible in the approach. If a child isn’t comfortable in participating in a planned activity, we allow them to take their time until they’re ready to join in or offer a fun alternative. The programme doesn’t focus on assessing or grading work, however there are separate times for specific activities.”
Prepares children for:
“A world with endless possibilities.”
What a preschool should do:
“Give children the freedom to explore, inquire and problem-solve through play in order to stimulate natural wonder and curiosity and develop confidence.”
#01-01 Clementi Arcade, 41 Sunset Way (Integrated International School)
6466 4475 | facebook.com/IISLittleTykes
Swallows and Amazons
Structure rating: 8
Jackie Barkham, Director
“At Swallows and Amazons, we have a play-based curriculum. We believe that children learn best through direct sensory encounters rather than a lecture-based formal academic process. Learning should be the outcome of hands-on experience in a relevant play-based early learning environment. We focus on the emotional development of children (their EQ) as a child’s success depends heavily on it. Our aim in the curriculum is to provide each child with at least one achievable outcome every day. These goals are child-led and teachers are responsive to children’s interests. For example, we use cookery teach numeracy, motor skills, science, creativity, social and emotional skills and language and literacy. So, the teacher can determine which of the curriculum areas to focus on when say the children are making say, sushi or pizza.
Children learn through purposeful play. The traditional concept of ‘work’ doesn’t apply as even if the children are learning to read or write, they are doing so in a relevant way. For example, the older children will ‘sign in’ in the mornings when they arrive.”
Prepares children for:
“Learning that is to come.”
What a preschool should do:
“Cultivate an EQ learning environment, one that is focused on the children’s emotional well-being.”
200 Turf Club Road
6762 8158 | swallowsandamazons.com.sg
Read more about living in Singapore:
The expat’s guide to where to live in Singapore
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