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November 14, 2024
The importance of building a strong parent-teacher relationship
Child educational support comes from many quarters. The average preschooler doesn’t just get that support from home, for instance. It’s also provided by his/her preschool teachers or caregivers.
This is why parent-teacher relationships are so important for children’s development. Particularly in the formative years of preschool, a good parent-teacher partnership can work wonders.
In our country, increasing attention is being paid to such partnerships in early education. Let’s go over the way these can offer better outcomes for children in preschools in Singapore.
Easy and open communication
Open lines of communication are good for parent-teacher relationships. When the primary caregivers at home and school can collaborate, they can provide better child educational support.
Regularity is the first key here. If you and your child’s teachers have a fixed schedule for updates, you always know what’s going on with your child at preschool and vice versa.
That being said, don’t limit your interactions to formal meetings or update notes. Don’t be afraid to engage with your child’s teachers by chatting with them at drop-off or pick-up.
Doing this can facilitate the camaraderie between you and the teacher. This reduces friction and makes working together easier. At the same time, you may glean even more valuable insights into your child’s behaviour and development.
Enhanced contextual insights
Everything happens within a context, even your child’s growth. When you work with your child’s teachers, you get a better understanding of that context.
For example, you may learn why your child has recently developed an interest in artistic expression. You may see what activities he/she disliked in preschool. You may find whether his/her attention is held better by audio or visual media.
You can discover things like that by exchanging information with your child’s teacher, who may do the same with you. The result can be active collaboration to put that information to good use.
For instance, say your child’s teacher says he/she is struggling to tell left from right. Say the teacher also reveals that he/she loves interactive learning experiences.
Based on that, you may then try playing games or activities with him/her at home that can help with spatial awareness. It’s a great way of using shared information to deliver what your child needs.
Consistent learning environments and practices
Children don’t do too well when they’re given conflicting instructions or input. You can’t blame them – even adults don’t do well in such situations!
That’s why establishing consistency in your learning practices and environments is useful. It avoids confusion for the child and also helps him/her feel secure about expectations or goals.
This is where communicating with your child’s teachers for preschool in Singapore helps. If you can share your approaches to common activities with each other, you can establish consistency between your home and the preschool.
Enhanced emotional development
A good parent-teacher relationship is also a good behaviour model for little ones. Remember, they tend to imitate what they see! So, why not give them a model they can happily emulate?
If your child observes you communicating politely and amiably with his/her teacher, that’s already a model for learning. He/She can pick up essential skills there, especially in terms of communication and socialisation.
These are skills that your child will benefit from even when he/she is grown up. Emotional development is a critical part of growth in our society, so the sooner you support it, the better!
Conflict resolution modelling
This relates to the previous benefit. One thing we can’t evade is occasional conflict when interacting with others. Even the dearest friends don’t always agree on the same things, so the same is true of parents and teachers.
When that happens, treat it as a useful opportunity to teach your child yet another new skill, which is conflict resolution. Again, this is a skill that he/she is likely to use even after he/she is no longer a child. In fact, one might say a great deal of adulthood is about resolving conflict!
So, early development of this ability can be a gift. To contribute to that, try showing your child that your interactions with his/her teachers are open enough to allow you to discuss concerns. At the same time, show that you can air those concerns in a non-confrontational way.
Proactive issue resolution
If your child has an issue in school, a strong parent-teacher relationship can help again. That’s because the issue is more likely to be addressed earlier, before it worsens.
There are so many issues that can crop up too in these early days. From behavioural problems to academic struggles, both parents and teachers will run into their fair share.
But when they notice, discuss, and move to address them early on, they prevent those issues from snowballing. This gives children the prompt and directed attention they need in such situations.
Build supportive parent-teacher relationships with us at MLC
In sum, strong parent-teacher relationships are essential for your child’s development. They enhance child educational support, strengthen understanding of his/her needs, and facilitate collaborative caregiving.
If you want to work with teachers who invest time in building such relationships with parents and students in this way, reach out to us! At My Little Campus, we believe in the long-term benefits of such positive collaborations. Talk to us today to learn more.
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October 14, 2024
10 Games and activities to boost preschoolers’ vocabulary
Your child’s early years are vital for language development. At the ages of 2 to 4, children pick up new words and phrases naturally. In this way, they build the foundations of their communication skills.
But did you know that you can stimulate and even enhance that process at this stage? There are a lot of language development activities that can contribute to your little one’s growth.
Early language learning for kids can be beneficial in so many ways. A rich vocabulary builds the blocks for reading comprehension. It enhances self-expression as well as the ability to digest complex concepts.
These are skills they can use well into the future! That’s why making the most of this golden window of language learning is crucial. At 2 to 4 years, children’s brains are incredibly receptive to new information, so it’s the perfect time to do things like vocab building for children.
Here are some activities that can help you do that with your child.
1. Indulging in interactive storytime
Suitable for ages 2-4
Diving into the world of stories through books introduces children to many new words. Try to pick stories with rich vocabularies and engaging illustrations.
Encourage your child to act out emotion or action words as you read, perhaps by doing it yourself. This is a multi-sensory approach that will help your child remember and grasp new words more quickly.
2. Matching words and pictures
Suitable for ages 2-3
Make some paired flashcards, one with clear pictures and another with the matching words for those pictures. You can also buy these if you like.
Spread out the picture cards and have your child match the word cards with the picture cards. This is a great way to use visuals to reinforce word acquisition.
3. Doing creative arts and crafts
Suitable for ages 3-4
Try different arts and crafts projects with your little one. As you do so, you’ll find yourself introducing new materials and their names to him/her, e.g. “glue”, “crayon”, “paper”, and more.
This is a hands-on approach that not only stimulates vocab learning for children but also lets them have fun and be creative. Make the most of it by encouraging your child to let his/her creativity loose during the projects!
4. Dressing up and role-playing
Suitable for ages 2-4
Set up scenarios where you and your child can do pretend play, e.g. a role-play session about ordering food at a restaurant or seeing the doctor.
This is a very good way for you to help your child build context-specific vocabulary. A trip to a restaurant would help him/her learn words like “waiter”, “order”, and “menu”, for example. It also lets you start showing him/her how to act in such situations.
5. Drawing in pictionary
Suitable for ages 3-4
This is a classic game that you can easily play with your child. Simply take turns drawing simple objects and ask the other person to guess what the object is.
The best way to play this is to focus on words that your child has recently learned. This helps him/her remember those words and also strengthens his/her abilities when it comes to visual communication.
6. Playing “I spy” together
Suitable for ages 2-4
Here’s another classic game that parents and children can play together to support language learning for kids. The way to play it is to use descriptive clues that focus on colours, shapes, sizes, and other descriptive attributes.
As an example, you can start off the game of clues by saying, “I spy something round and red” if you’re talking about an apple on the table. This can help your child start learning about the relationship between words and what they represent, e.g. descriptions.
7. Shopping for groceries
Suitable for ages 3-4
This isn’t just about taking your child with you when you go to the supermarket, mind you. Involve him/her from the moment you start making a shopping list, so that he/she can also see the words being written down!
This real-world activity will introduce your child to a slew of new words related to items he/she can easily find around the home, helping with his/her recollection of them. At the same time, it will help him/her learn about the realities of chores, food, packaging, and shopping.
8. Singing and dancing
Suitable for ages 2-4
This is extremely effective as vocabulary building for children because most of them just love music! The trick here is to choose songs that you can easily pair with dances corresponding to the lyrics.
This gives you an engaging, wonderfully immersive approach to helping children associate words with actions. This can even help them recall the words they’re learning about, as they can link them to gestures they’ve performed.
9. Participating in nature walks and scavenger hunts
Suitable for ages 3-4
These are particularly good for children who love adventure and the great outdoors! Just take your child on a nature walk or scavenger hunt for little treasures in a safe area.
This will be sure to stimulate your child’s senses while also introducing him/her to many new words and objects: leaves, flowers, bushes, insects, etc. Interact with your child throughout the experience so that you can help him/her describe what he/she is finding as you go.
10. Sorting and categorising games
Suitable for ages 2-4
You can do this by using everyday objects or picture cards. Just invite your child to sort them based on various categories, based on which words you want to focus on at the time: colours, shapes, etc.
As you sort the objects with your child, tell him/her about new words for each category. This is another of the activities you can use to help children understand the meanings of words and how they help us distinguish objects from others.
Let us further boost your preschooler’s vocabulary
The fun and engaging activities we listed above should do a lot to support your child’s language learning. The key is to make these language development activities enjoyable ones.
That helps your child look forward to them and encourages retention of learning. At the same time, it enriches the time you spend with your little one.
Of course, consistency is key when it comes to learning – that’s where we can help. At My Little Campus, we can provide the child care and preschool experience children need to properly sustain their growth.
Our comprehensive and academically focused programmes are designed to support a child’s language development, among other things. Enquire now to learn more about them and how we can help your child develop key skills early on.
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September 5, 2024
Building Early Literacy Skills for Preschoolers
Early literacy is important for preschoolers. Literacy is a key skill needed for the next step in education as it sets the foundation for good writing, reading, and speaking skills in the future.
Fortunately for parents, they can do things to develop this for their children. Phonemic awareness, vocabulary, comprehension – all of these can be introduced to a child.
The goal is to build a child’s recognition of words as well as his/her comprehension of them. To do that, we’ll provide some early childhood literacy tips for you below. These are the same methods we use at our own preschool in Singapore to build children’s language skills.
1. Read aloud
Reading aloud to children is one of the best early literacy practices parents can take. It engages your child in storytelling, gets him/her to participate through active listening, and more.
At My Little Campus, we even take it to the next level. This is by getting children to participate through encouraging them to ask questions.
Our teachers also bring the books to life through interactive story-telling. We choose age-appropriate books depending on children’s ages and turn each one into an experience.
This gets children started on learning words and the way they come together for meaning. It’s also one of the best ways to show a child that language can be interesting and exciting.
2. Create a literacy-rich environment
A big part of supporting early childhood literacy is just to make it more accessible. Go over your home to ensure that children can easily grab books and other reading materials.
Check bookshelves’ heights and place books for kids in areas where they can get them. Put age-appropriate books on your child’s nightstand and in his/her play areas.
You can even create a reading area or home library to encourage reading. The goal is to make sure your child never lacks opportunities to read and discover the magic of books.
3. Incorporate literacy in interactive play
Show your child that literacy doesn’t need to be restricted to moments of quiet or study. It can also be exciting, unlocking doors to new realms of play.
Try doing things like puppet shows based on your child’s favourite books. For younger children, you can even get magnetic letter blocks that spell out words.
Alternatively, find alphabet or word puzzles that your child can get into. You can even try introducing your little one to Scrabble!
4. Encourage writing
Writing is one of the early literacy practices no parent should skip! As soon as your child can hold a pen or pencil with some control, you want him/her to start practising this. It teaches your child spelling, word recognition, and the basics of diction.
It helps if you give him/her as many opportunities for scribbling and even drawing. You can easily incorporate literacy training into drawing projects.
For instance, ask your child to make greeting cards for friends and family. He’ll get some doodling down while also practising words!
You can also try doing what we do at My Little Campus. We guide children from the playgroup age through simple writing activities. These include tracing, writing letters of appreciation for Mother’s Day or Father’s Day, etc.
Let us help you build your child’s literacy
Ultimately, literacy is one of the very first skills your child should acquire for growth. It ties into so many things they have to do later, from formal schooling to everyday communication.
The sooner you get your child started on building this skill, the better. And you don’t have to do it alone! You can also put your child in a preschool that focuses on skills like these.
At My Little Campus, for example, we prepare children for primary school learning ASAP. One of the ways we do this is through the development of academic and literacy skills early on.
If you want to learn more about our programmes, enquire with us today. You may just find what your child needs!
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September 2, 2024
6 tips for creating a home learning environment for preschoolers
Early learning is important for a child’s development. Particularly in their preschool years, children pick up so many skills that become key to further growth.
Focus, problem-solving, communication – these are just a few of the key parts of early child development. These are also skills that many preschools help to build. We certainly do at My Little Campus!
That being said, you can actually do your fair share to support acquisition of these skills too. The trick is to provide a learning-friendly environment, one that encourages your child’s continued learning at home.
If you want to learn how to put together an environment that supports child development, read on. We’ll provide you tips that we’ve found to encourage child education in Singapore.
1. Create a child-friendly learning environment
Create a child-friendly environment that is welcoming and empowering for a little learner. Some parts of this may be more obvious than you expect.
For example, make sure it has child-sized furniture and learning materials always placed within reach of your child. It should be well-lit to encourage visual stimulation, reading, and writing.
Ensure that it’s spacious enough for movement and exploration. Stock it with ample learning materials like books, toys, and art supplies.
As much as possible, establish a routine where your child is in this dedicated learning space regularly. This exposes your child to the stimuli he/she needs to thrive and grow, which is something we do at My Little Campus.
2. Take on activities that build literacy
Literacy is such a key part of every child’s development. Without it, children will struggle to move on to primary school and further formal education. That’s why we recommend working on it as soon as possible at My Little Campus.
At our preschool, we do this in many ways, including by providing a corner for reading and storytelling. This cosy and inviting corner nurtures our children’s love for reading from an early age.
At home, you can do something similar like creating a mini home library! You can even try daily reading sessions with your child and start letting him/her pick out his/her favourite books for that.
As much as possible, focus on titles that you know will interest your child. If he/she likes cars, get books about them. If he/she likes animals, focus on those. Don’t forget to look for books that are age-appropriate and illustrated too!
3. Encourage creativity wherever possible
Creativity is another skill worth learning for little ones. It encourages lateral thinking, deeper problem-solving, and even artistic pursuits. And it’s fun to develop!
At My Little Campus, we often use art to bring out children’s creativity. We provide a bevy of art supplies, prompts, and areas where those in our care can flex their imaginations.
It’s pretty easy to do the same thing at home. All you have to do is put together a nice arts and crafts desk with handy supplies.
To make it more fun, you can collaborate on pieces with your child – try colouring the same page with him/her or creating animal statues out of clay together!
4. Invite exploration and discovery
Exploration is actually one of the main ways children discover things about the world. That’s why it’s so important to ensure your child knows the value of exploratory pursuits early on.
To do this, consider introducing puzzles and hands-on activities to your child. Many of them benefit from others interacting with them during such activities, so you can even join your little one!
Take on the puzzles together. You can even ask questions to help and lead your child down the path to the answer.
We do something similar at My Little Campus and even enter discussions with children about things that interest them. It lets them work their minds as they explore topics and ideas with others. This can lead to fresh discoveries for them!
5. Introduce your child to routines
Making peace with routines is another valuable thing for a child to learn. Life is about routines, from the routine of preparing for school in the morning to that of preparing for bed at night.
At My Little Campus, we introduce children to routines in different ways. We teach them the routine of cleaning up after meals, for example. Or we teach them how to tidy up toys after exploratory play.
As you can see, these are things you can do at home as well. Showing your child basic routines like these can help him/her get better at taking on new ones later on.
6. Support the growth of independence
Independence is another skill we can’t forget when it comes to child development. The sooner children learn how to care for themselves, the better. It means more free time for you and caregivers while also empowering the little ones.
Our previous tip about building routines can actually help here. Teaching a child how to go through routines himself/herself can lay the foundations for his/her independence.
We also recommend gradually showing children chores. Let your child help with washing up once you think he/she can, for instance. It can be something as simple as helping to dry plates. It can even be just setting the table for meals.
This promotes independence and the beginnings of responsibility in your little one. Both will come in very handy once he/she gets older and has to do more things for himself/herself.
Make sure your child’s preschool environment is also a nurturing one
These are just a few of the ways you can tailor your child’s home environment to boost his/her development. If you want to learn more, you can follow our blog, where we often provide tips of this sort.
You should also reach out to us if you want to make sure your child’s preschool is as developmentally encouraging as his/her home space. Our facilities and programmes at My Little Campus have been tailored for that, covering all crucial aspects of children’s growth.
Enquire now to learn more about what we can do for you and your little one!
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July 15, 2024
The 4 Things You Should Know Before Your Child Starts Playgroup
Most Singaporeans start preschool at an age anywhere from 2 to 18 months. Whether your child starts at 2 months or 18 months old, though, it’s a milestone either way!
Preschool is a big change. It offers a new environment with new people and that may intimidate children at first. Luckily for your child and you, there are ways to make this transition easier.
Today, we’ll show you all you need to know about preparing a child for playgroup. With the tips below, you should be able to help your child acclimate to it as soon as possible.
1. Assess your child’s readiness to start playgroup
This tells you how best to prepare your child for this milestone. For example, based on what you learn here, you can figure out if your child will need help building self-care habits. Or you might find that his/her area of weakness is socialisation.
To identify what to focus on, try answering these questions:
- How does your child behave with others, whether peers or authority figures?
- Can your child follow routines properly yet?
- Can your child complete tasks independently?
- How does your child behave when separated from you temporarily?
All of these are things that will get developed in any quality playgroup in Singapore, of course. Still, it doesn’t hurt to give your child a good start on them!
Based on your findings, match your efforts to the areas where your child needs the most help, as in these examples:
For children who struggle with socialisation, schedule more play dates to get them used to interaction, sharing, and collaboration.
For children who struggle with routines, teach them simple ones like packing up after playtime or washing their hands before and after meals.
For children who struggle with independence, gradually give them less direct oversight during simple chores.2. Gird your child for the effects of separation anxiety
Separation anxiety is fairly normal on the first day of preschool, especially if your child’s never been away from you or his/her guardians before. That’s why we’ve provided a guide to overcoming it.
While you can consult that guide for in-depth tips, here are some basic ones to start with:
Figure out a drop-off and pick-up routine ahead of time that neither makes your child feel abandoned with its coldness nor works up his/her emotions by drawing out the parting too much. Go for the Goldilocks option!
Introduce your child to the idea of preschool as soon as possible and make sure he/she understands that going to a playgroup in Singapore can be super-fun!
Try getting your child accustomed to the idea of being away from you for short periods of time. Ask someone you trust to look after him/her for a day, then make sure you come back at the time you told your child you’d come back. This builds trust in your return after each separation.
3. Expect an adjustment period in the first 1-2 months
People, even adults, need time to settle into new environments. That’s why we need to give children the same consideration when they first enter playgroup.
Let your little one get used to his/her new daily routine and the people around him/her. If he/she is more clingy or fussy at this time, that’s normal – so be understanding and don’t be too harsh over it!
You can also try to help your child with the adjustments in various ways. On the social side, you can try inviting some of the other children at the preschool to playdates.
That may help them build friendships faster with each other. Once they do, your child will have added reason to look forward to playgroup as well as an expanded support system even in your absence.
4. Look for ways to get updates from the preschool teachers
You should align your efforts at helping your child with what’s actually happening in the preschool. This keeps child development continuous and consistent, and gives your child the best support possible for the experience.
To do this, make sure there’s a way for your child’s preschool teachers to keep you updated. Luckily, most preschools now will have an existing system or even an app for that. Here at My Little Campus, it’s even part of the protocol for our teachers!
By staying in close contact with your child’s other guardians, you can keep an eye on his/her progress and tailor your supportive efforts to suit his/her needs.
Ensure the smoothest playgroup transition for your child with us
Sometimes, the new environment itself makes all the difference in how quickly a child can settle in. That’s where My Little Campus shines. We’ve designed a playgroup and preschool experience where children can feel comfortable as soon as possible.
Our learning environments are curated so that children can find fun, learning, and support within them. Our teachers have also been trained to help children acclimate to the new setting outside of their homes. Plus, we provide parents with regular updates on progress.
If you’d like to enrol your child in a playgroup that makes the transition easier for him/her, enquire with us today.
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June 10, 2024
4 Ways to Raise a Bilingual Child
Bilingualism is an invaluable skill that offers a wide range of benefits. From enhancing cognitive abilities to expanding communication avenues and professional opportunities, the advantages of being bilingual are substantial.
In Singapore, children are expected to learn their Mother Tongue from Primary 1 onwards. This early introduction to a second language is designed to harness the many advantages of bilingualism from a young age. The ability to communicate in multiple languages can significantly enrich a child’s life and future prospects.
At My Little Campus, we recognise the importance of laying a strong foundation for bilingualism early on, which is why we offer a bilingual preschool curriculum. However, if your child’s current preschool doesn’t provide this, there are still effective ways to cultivate bilingualism.
Today, we’ll share some practical tips to help you build a solid foundation for your child’s bilingualism, ensuring he/she not only excels in Mother Tongue but also develops a genuine interest in it for future success.
1. Expose the child to the second language early
A fair bit of research suggests that it’s better for children to learn languages at preschool. Some even recommend starting before age 3!
The idea is to introduce your child to the second language while he/she is at the best age for absorbing new information. To do that, try working the second language into daily routines and dialogues.
Start referring to things your child interacts with daily in the second language, for example. You can even try having conversations with him/her in that second language and teach him/her the responses at first.
Eventually, you should find your child no longer needing prompting to use the language. At some point, he/she may even be first to initiate it!
2. Build a language-rich environment
Once you’ve already introduced your child to the second language, you want to make it a constantly accessible thing to him/her. It shouldn’t be something restricted to just one specific time of day or class. Rather, it should become a natural part of his/her world.
This makes learning the language less of a slog or challenge. To that end, put together an immersive learning environment that supports its pickup.
For example, try putting labels on items that give them the names in both languages you use at home. Buy and read Mandarin books to him/her, and discuss them with him/her afterwards. Or incorporate the second language into hobbies like songs and games!
This builds a bilingual foundation steadily while also doing it in a fun or inoffensive way. We ourselves do this in our bilingual preschool in Singapore through things like Chinese Speech and Drama and Chinese Abacus classes (that also strengthen arithmetic!).
3. Engage with the culture
You can’t separate a language from its culture. In fact, when it comes to language learning, it’s much better to embrace the latter as a way of contextualising the language itself!
Try doing this with your child by recognising or celebrating Chinese events with him/her. You can take part in popular Chinese festivals, for example, or try the food associated with the culture. You can even go on trips to areas where it’s widely spoken, like making a morning breakfast run to Chinatown.
It’s a great way to get immersive and practical in language learning. Your kid can expand his/her vocabulary and understanding of the language while having fun.
4. Get help from experts
Thus far, we’ve been talking about tips for bilingual-skill-building that rely on parental guidance. But what do you do if the second language you’re trying to teach isn’t your strong point either?
When that happens, you can turn to the pros. Look for early-education professionals who have experience with bilingual education, like ours.
For instance, our own curriculum is explicitly designed to promote bilingualism in preparation for primary school. That’s why we’ve come up with programmes specifically for preschoolers that can help them acquire Mandarin more easily.
We reinforce Mandarin skill development with programmes in Han Yu Pin Yin and Chinese character writing. We also have sessions to cover listening, comprehension, and recitals.
And through all of that, we work in fun elements like the drama sessions and plays we mentioned before. This keeps children from tiring of the language and gives them added incentive to pay attention.
Bilingualism starts slow but goes steady when you start early
In many cases, it takes sustained exposure and immersion to get a child to develop bilingualism. That’s why you need to stay the course once you’ve started with the tips above.
If you find them a little hard to achieve by yourself, though, don’t despair. As we mentioned earlier, our own preschool teachers can help.
At My Little Campus, our teachers have been trained to foster comprehensive development as well as continuous language-skill growth in our little ones. Our long-running focus on bilingual skill development has also been proven effective time and again.
If you want to learn more about our bilingual-learning expertise and the programmes we offer, please enquire. We’ll be happy to explain how we can help your child acquire a second language while seeing to his/her overall growth at the same time.