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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!

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!

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.

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.

May 14, 2024

5 Tips To Build Resilience in Children

Navigating the journey of growth can be both enchanting and daunting for our children. From tentative first steps to embracing new emotions, every milestone is a testament to resilience and growth.

Many of our staff in My Little Campus are parents too. Believe us when we say we understand the worry that probably makes you feel. As parents, most of us would give nearly anything to keep hardship from our little ones!

Alas, that’s impossible. However, it’s perfectly possible to prepare our little ones to face problems. 

Indeed, as early as preschool, one can hone a child’s ability to deal with and even thrive in the face of adversity. This means building resilience in children, endowing them early on with a trait that will serve them well for the rest of their lives. 

How can one do this, you ask? Today, we’ll go over the techniques our educators at My Little Campus practise.

1. Raise them to have a growth mindset

The growth mindset is an attitude that’s always focused on improvement. It believes talents and abilities aren’t determined at birth. Rather, they’re honed and even acquired.

In our childcare in Singapore, it’s long been one of the pillars of our child development approach. This is because it often leads to more resilient children who view even hurdles as opportunities for development.

We’ve already seen this in the studies of Dr Carol Dweck, where she investigated the differences between children who rebound after setbacks and those who don’t. Ultimately, her research suggested that praising persistence and effort (growth mindset) led to better results than praising intelligence (fixed mindset). 

You can apply similar principles with your preschooler. Praise his/her perseverance because that tells him/her it has value and can lead to eventual triumph. If you praise his/her intelligence instead, it seems like he/she has already plateaued and doesn’t need to try to “get smarter”.

2. Encourage them to adopt positive coping mechanisms

One of the best ways of building resilience in children is to show them that how they react to a setback matters in how they feel. 

If they dwell on it and beat themselves up, they only feel worse. But if they approach it as a lesson on what doesn’t work instead and as a fresh opportunity to learn, they can feel better faster.

This means teaching children to accept failure. Help them see it as a temporary stop, not the end of the road. Show them that it can even be a chance to grow!

You can also teach children to accept uncertainty and change this way. Take the first day of preschool, for instance: many children end up anxious or even crying about this big change to their routines. 

But as we said before in our guide to preparing for it, this doesn’t need to be the case. You can even get them excited about it by framing the change as a chance for new adventures and excitement!

3. Provide a supportive environment

Parental and peer support has been shown critical in reducing stress symptoms among children and adolescents facing problems. That’s why we spend so much time creating supportive, engaging environments for all of the children in our care at My Little Campus.

To do the same, try to create an empathetic, nonjudgemental space for your child. Make it clear from the get-go that he/she can always share things with you – even when it’s something that you might disapprove of.

If your child knows that you’re always ready to acknowledge his/her emotions, you create a “fallback” position in his/her mind. This and you will give him/her the sense that even in the bleakest of times, there’s always a sanctuary to turn to when he/she needs respite.

4. Help them put things in perspective

A lot of children tend to find the long-term too abstract to consider, so the disasters of the present feel like forever to them.

You can help by encouraging your child to think about what’s beyond “the now”. Remind him/her about past problems or pains that didn’t last forever or that he/she overcame. 

Talk about how your child might have been worried about meeting new people at preschool, for instance, but now has friends whom he/she met there. Or about how he/she used to find writing his/her own name difficult but can do it handily now. 

Remind children of their accomplishments at times of trouble. This can help them find the strength to keep going, in search of better moments.

5. Sustain a positive view of themselves

Something that can severely hamper a child’s ability to recover from a setback is a negative opinion of the self. That’s why it’s important to ensure that your child maintains his/her self-confidence and opinion of himself/herself in adversity.

There are several ways to do this, including reminding your child that no one is defined by his/her failures. Remind your child too that he/she has overcome challenges before, and has abilities and accomplishments worth celebrating.

The idea is to affirm your child’s self-worth and positive self-image. You want to prevent your child from feeling like whatever he/she is facing is overwhelming by reminding him/her that he/she has the power and ability to forge on!

Let us help you build your child’s resilience

While it may be tempting to put off some of the steps we outlined for a later age, it’s actually best to start as soon as possible. That’s because resilience is something that children build on over the years. 

What’s more, what works for one child doesn’t always work for another. Even at My Little Campus, we’ve found it necessary to tailor our approaches according to each child’s personality and preferences – so you too may have to be flexible in how you approach this.

If you want more help with building your child’s resilience, reach out to us. You can enrol your child in our preschool programmes, where our approach to holistic development strengthens children’s resilience. 

To learn more about how we do it, contact us today. You can even enquire about which My Little Campus programmes would best serve your child!

April 16, 2024

The Checklist: What every child needs in preparation for Primary 1

Is your child about to enter primary school? Congratulations, that’s quite a milestone! 

As with all milestones, you’re probably feeling some nerves about it, though – and that’s all right. The first step into formal education is a big one for your child. You would be remiss not to have some worries about it!

Fortunately, preparing for Primary 1 or P1 isn’t that difficult. To prove it, we’ll show you how to prepare your child for Primary 1 using a checklist prepared by our own early childhood educators at My Little Campus.

1. The fundamentals of literacy and numeracy

In Primary 1, children will start taking on specific subjects like English, Maths, and Chinese or Mother Tongue. To do that, they need a good base from which to work – one that’s founded on their ability to read, write, and do numbers. 

That’s why our academically based curriculum at My Little Campus is so effective at preparing children for Primary 1, in fact. We lay solid foundations for children’s literacy and numeracy so they can move on to P1 with confidence.

2. The ability to focus 

The primary classroom setting is different from the preschool one. In most cases, student-teacher ratios will be much higher, which means teachers will be able to provide less individualised attention.

As such, your child needs the ability to understand and follow instructions independently, as teachers will do less hand-holding at this stage. With longer classes, your child will also need to sustain his focus for longer periods of time than before. 

A good way to build this ability at home is to give your child small tasks with detailed instructions. Give him/her a puzzle toy to solve, perhaps, or a simple chore like organising his toys. Start off by guiding him/her through each task until he/she follows through, then start letting him/her complete the tasks on his/her own over time. 

This trains children to work independently as well as keep their attention on a task until it’s done, which will serve them well in Primary 1. 

3. Training and readiness for new routines

Your child will have a lot of new routines in primary school. From packing his/her own belongings to buying his/her own food, this represents a lot of changes – and children don’t always do well with those.

There are ways to prepare your child, though. First, try to get him/her mentally ready for it. Talk to him/her about what the school day will be like, to start familiarising him/her with what will happen.

Most schools will actually help by assigning a buddy to your child. However, some children may still feel overwhelmed and lost, so it’s best to prepare them for the new routines as much as possible.

You can even try simulating the routines at home. Let your child pack his/her own bags several weeks before the first day of P1, for example. You can also try letting him/her buy food at a food court the next time you go out to eat, which is similar to what he/she will do in school.

4. Social and emotional preparedness

You should also make sure that your child is socially and emotionally equipped for primary school. This change will bring new social opportunities as well as challenges. 

To that end, try talking to your child early on about the possibilities. Explain that he/she will meet new people, make new friends, and even discover people who disagree with him/her on many things. Talk about how to handle each of these in a healthy way.

Above all, impress on him/her that you’ll always be there for support. Let him/her know that if he/she experiences big feelings due to the transition, you’ll be happy to listen or help him/her deal with those too.

5. The actual school paraphernalia

And of course, we can’t forget this. Your child needs gear! 

Your primary school will usually help with this by giving you a book list and checklist of requirements. You can use those to guide your shopping, which should generally include these:

• Notebooks
• A pencil case with stationery such as pencils, eraser, ruler, etc
• A school bag
• A labeller (to make labelling your child’s items easier)
• A lunchbox for snacks 
• Emergency contact cards with protective sleeves (for safety)

Take your child with you to shop for these items too! It’s a good way to get him/her excited about this next stage in his/her educational journey.

We can help you prepare your child for P1 early on

On the whole, holistic preparation is important for the transition to primary school. That means you shouldn’t just think about the material items but also your child’s emotional, psychological, and social readiness for what’s next. 

If you want more help preparing your child for the change, it’s best to start as early as possible. Enrol your child in our programmes at My Little Campus and we can work on all of the fundamentals he/she needs early on – from his/her academic readiness to his/her independence.

Learn more about our curriculum and how we get children ready for their P1 journeys. Enquire about My Little Campus’s programmes today!