It’s time for your child’s first year of school! Every parent is curious to know what their child will learn and what they should expect from the best kindergarten in Singapore.
The curriculum in KG focuses largely on mastering letters, sounds, and words.
Watching your child taking their first steps toward the school where they will read, expand their vocabulary, and write the letters of the alphabet.
They will also learn key fundamentals of math and the basic concept of shapes and time.
Let us understand the kindergarten curriculum in Singapore schools and what kindergarten learning milestones they will achieve before the year-end.
What Do Kindergarteners Learn?
1. Read and Write
In kindergarten, your child will recognize the names and write all 26 letters of the alphabet (both uppercase and lowercase).
They’ll know the correct sound of each letter and will be able to read about 30 high-frequency words also known as sight words such as and, the, in, etc.
How to Help Them at Home
● Read to your child at home so that they get the habit of listening and enjoying reading.
Read age-appropriate books to which they can relate and build companionship. Reading will build concentration, focus, and vocabulary.
● Buy interesting attractive graphic books which have cartoons and characters so that it curates interest in them.
● Keep crayons, pencils, markers, paper etc near to them so that they could practice writing simple sentences. Make sure to ask them in order to help them read it.
● Post their writing material anywhere in your home so they see it and get motivated.
● Help your child practice writing by asking them to write letters of their name.
● Teach them how to write letters in uppercase and lowercase.
● You can make it fun for them, give them powdered colour or sketch, colour to write a letter.
● Give them an alphabet puzzle and ask them to identify letters.
● Run your finger under the words as you read.
● Play rhyming words in audio or songs so that they learn through regular listening.
2. Numbers and Counting
Kindergartners in the best kindergarten in Singapore will learn to count 1 to 30 numbers. They’ll learn to add and less small numbers.
How to Help Them at Home
● Give your child a number puzzle and let them put it in numerical order.
● Give your child a number and ask them to identify the following number.
● Ask them to count items in the room.
Also Read: How To Identify Children’s Learning Styles?
3. Shapes
Your child will learn how to name and recognise common shapes (circle, square, triangle, rectangle). They will learn to identify, sort objects by colour, shape and size.
How to Help Them at Home
● Ask them to describe a particular shape? How is it different from other shapes? You can ask them to draw a shape.
● You can ask them to sort things according to shapes or colours.
4. Time and Seasons
It would be not easy for them to grasp the concept of time as time keeps varying and is not constant.
They will also learn four seasons. They will certainly learn it through regular practice as they grow.
How to Help Them at Home
● To help them learn the concept of time, read the clock frequently during their daily activities. Help them understand the meaning of morning, noon, and night with examples.
● Help them understand the timetables like for eg:- Time to wake up (8 am), Time for school (10 am), Time for lunch (1 pm), Time for tea-break (4 pm), Time for dinner (8 pm) etc so they learn to understand the concept of time.
● Take the help of pictures to help them learn 4 seasons and make them understand what type of clothes people wear in those seasons. Examples would be great to help them relate.
How to Make Your Child Ready for Kindergarten?
Feeling anxious as a parent about what things you should do to make your child ready for Kindergarten?
Fret not, you need to do the above things to make them kindergarten ready and the rest of the skills they already possess in order to be successful as they begin school.
Don’t be concerned if your child does not have some skill right now, they will certainly possess it by the end of the KG Singapore Schools.
You can do the following things to prepare them.
1. Strengthen Fine Motor Skills
● Give your child several different things (colored pencils, crayons or markers) to scribble, draw or write.
● Give them slime or playdough to make anything from it
● All these things are a fun way to strengthen their hand muscles and motor skill needed for writing.
● Give your child a safe scissors/knife and let them practice crafts or cut vegetables.
2. Attention and Following Directions
Read stories, books to them in an interesting way in order to make them concentrate on listening and build focus and attention.
Give them simple tasks and let them do them by themselves.
For eg:- Bring that thing from that corner, etc, in order to understand if they follow directions and in case, they fail to, help them understand.
3. Social Skills
● Take your child out to game parks, playgrounds, birthday parties so that they learn to interact with other children.
● Keep interacting with them to understand their needs. Ask them to express things if they like or don’t like something.
4. Self Care/Hygiene
Teach them simple tasks such as washing hands, brushing teeth, and using the bathroom.
What is the Development of Your Children in Kindergarten?
Singapore Schools help your child in building blocks of social, emotional, and physical development, along with the basics of language, literacy, thinking and cognitive skills, etc which are needed so that they become successful in future academics.
1. Physical Development
Kids are given activities where their large motor skills and fine motor skills are developed.
For eg:- activities that involve movement of arms and legs, use of hands and fingers, physical activities, solving puzzles, drawing etc.
2. Social Development
Kids interact with other children, learn to share, play and do things in collaboration.
They learn to work cooperatively, make friends etc.
3. Emotional Development
Teachers help them to express their feelings by constantly interacting with them, showing them how to care, share etc.
4. Language and Literacy
The teacher builds the language and literacy of children through reading, writing, talking, and listening. All these literacy skills help children in later grades.
5. Thinking and Cognitive Skills
Children are given activities where they are encouraged to investigate, make observations, ask questions and solve problems.
Conclusion
Best Kindergarten Singapore is necessary as foundational concepts are taught so that your child is able to move on to the next level.
It’s important to realize educational standards, curriculum varies depending on the schools, states and countries. No two children will learn at the same pace. As their abilities to grasp may differ.
The thing we as parents should make sure of is that we should help them succeed in kindergarten by building self-confidence, which will instil a love of learning in them that could last throughout life.
Chances are you must be already doing some of the things but remember to keep it fun and don’t make it stressful for your child.
With fun practice, your child will be prepared for Kindergarten.
