Twinkle Starz

King Henry

2012-02-07T11:53:00.012+08:00

Meet King Henry, the full grown rooster. He wasn't this big when we found him. A scrawny little chick came into the kindergarten compound 6 months ago. The teachers and children fed him with rice and gave him water to drink and gave him shelter for about a week before he was adopted by Daniel and Abigail Ariston and family.

Now a full grown rooster he came to visit the children. The children loved to see him again.

Music for the Young

2012-01-25T15:06:00.013+08:00

Chen Li Kindergarten has introduced the learning of music, theory and hands-on, to the children in K1 and K2. The kids know their ABC's in the alphabet. But now they are learning that the music notes only go from A to G. There is no 'H' So the music notes would go like this: ABCDEFG ABCDEFG and so on.

Children being children, they will soon learn their music notes under the guidance of Mrs Chong.

Sharing is Fun

2012-01-19T11:46:00.015+08:00

Sharing is usually not inherent in children. This virtue is taught in homes and in schools.

The K2 children had their lesson on sharing through a story that went like this: "Mimi the kitten is selfish and doesn't like sharing her toys. When her friends run off to play without her, Mimi is left all alone. She soon finds out that being selfish is not much fun ..."

The children were encouraged to display this virtue by bringing either food or toys to school and share them with their friends.

Adieu My Friends!

2011-11-16T16:10:00.013+08:00

Yipeee!! we are done with kindergarten! So says the K2 children on their last day of school. They look forward to a new chapter in their little lives - going on to Primary One. This is a sort of happy-sad occasion for them. Happy to move on but sad to leave their class mates and friends of 3-4 years. That is what moving on means.

We wish every one of them the best in the next phase of their lives. May God keep watch over them.

Our Day

2011-10-10T13:38:00.034+08:00

My Teacher

2011-09-02T13:16:00.014+08:00

They danced, sang and expressed their gratitude to their teachers. But it was all scripted as they are too young to come up with their own. Nonetheless the kids and teachers had a fun time. The most fun thing for them is to "feed" their teachers. They now play the role of a care-giver.

Outdoor Classroom

2011-08-19T15:02:00.023+08:00

Learning is not limited to the four walls of the classroom. Children learn better when they are exposed to live things outside the classroom. What better way to learn about goats and frogs than to go out there to see them and to experience the sights, smell, feel and sound of the creatures. That was exactly what the 3-4 year old's did.

Multi-national National Day

2011-08-10T13:39:00.009+08:00

Faces N Food of Racial Harmony

2011-07-22T11:42:00.010+08:00

Put faces to the concept of racial harmony and you will find that its meaning is as clear as crystal. Children of different races blend easily without any prompting simply because they are friends. They are friends first. Ethnicity later if ever it is a factor in their friendship. So let us learn from the children what racial harmony is.

Greens

2011-05-27T11:37:00.027+08:00

Children usually look at green vegetables as their enemies. There is this in-born aversion to it. But visiting a vegetable farm is not a problem. Children see, touch, smell and taste some of the green vegetables they see at the farm. Perhaps the visit could help the kids change their aversion towards the greens. Who knows??

Fishy Business

2011-05-21T22:03:00.031+08:00

The teacher and the K2 children decided that fish is not only meant for eating. They are also meant for colouring and imprinting. So the day came when the teacher bought a fish from the market, of course. Laid it on paper and got the children to paint their favourite colour on the fish. Then each child took a piece of block paper and imprint the painted fish on it. The imprint does look like the fish.

Pumpkin Dessert

2011-03-26T16:49:00.019+08:00

Teaching children to eat healthy. The K2 class got together to cook up a pumpkin dessert. With the help of the teachers, they cut the pumpkins into small pieces and drop them into the cooking pot. A short while later, voila! pumpkin dessert ready to eat.

True Colours

2011-03-10T14:03:00.052+08:00

What makes children tick? You can't really see their true colours when you put them in a school or in a home or in a shopping centre or in a restaurant. But if you were to release them in a playground of all sorts, their true colours will surface immediately.

That was what we did. We took them out of their classrooms and into a large playground. Not a single child complained that it was boring. They ran, jumped, climbed, rolled, bounced. They stopped only because it was time to go. They could have gone on and on and on ... The expressions on their faces tell you they had a great time!

All Things Chinese

2011-02-07T14:42:00.041+08:00

What sort of lessons do we teach our children about the Lunar New Year? All they know about it is receiving "hong bao," eat pineapple tarts, drink soft drinks, wear new clothes and go visiting people whom they probably see only once a year.

The principal and staff decided to have fun, interactive activities and games for parents and the kindergarten kids as a way to teach the children about the Lunar New Year. Although it is Chinese New Year we had a number of non Chinese families at the celebration.

The K2 children acted out a skit on the story of the Lunar New Year where the villagers got rid of the monster "nian" by using the colour red. Psalms 118:6 from the Bible was brought up as a way to handle fear.

The K1 children came in pairs expressing auspicious well wishes to parents like, "tian tian mi mi," "hua kai fu gui" and many others. The parents then played a mix match game with the auspicious wishes.

Hands on activities were done with parent-child pairs. They had to cut out a paper given to them to make the word, "chun," meaning spring. They also had a hand in caligraphy writing out the word, "fu," meaning blessing. Another hands on activity was making "jiao zhi," a Chinese dumpling.

At the end of it all, both parents and children assembled and ate what they had brought from home.

Pat-a-Cake

2011-01-28T17:30:00.013+08:00

The evergreen nursery rhyme goes like this: Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, bakers man! Bake me a cake as fast as you can. This was exactly what the nursery children did. They, collectively baked a cake. They took turns pouring flour, milk, butter into a bowl. They each had a turn to stir the mixture and whipped the eggs. It goes without saying that when the cake came out of the oven after 40 minutes, each kid got their fair share of the fruit of their labour.

Friday Fitness

2011-01-17T09:52:00.014+08:00

"Hands on your hips, squat and jump!" That is what the children do on Friday mornings. Dressed in their PE attire they gathered at the playground in the morning and for 10 minutes teachers and children together kicked, jumped, twisted and stretched for their morning exercise. This is one of the ways to inculcate, early in life, the need for exercise.

First Day of School

2011-01-04T15:55:00.020+08:00

After a very long break young children aged 3-6 years old started their first day of school this morning (and afternoon). You would expect expressions of separation anxiety - crying and screaming. Well, there were a small handful of the pre-nursery class kids who, true to their nature, cried and stuck close to their caregivers. But the others were happy to be back to see their friends and teachers. We can expect more crying from the younger ones for the next couple weeks.

The K1 and K2 children started their 5 hour session today. No one seemed tired or wanted to go home early. They enjoyed their day at school. It seems like 5 hours of fun learning for them.

Water - the Source of Life

2010-12-12T11:09:00.018+08:00

Marina Barrage is an excellent place to learn about water. We saw models of the flood gates and how they are activated once the water level rises to a certain level. There is even man-made rain. These models gave the young kids a vivid picture on how the Marina Barrage functions. It is actually a water wonderland.

Water Attraction

2010-12-01T15:12:00.014+08:00

What is it about water that children are so much attracted to? When it comes to water play you'll find no children will give excuses not to play. You don't have to bribe or threaten them to play with water. It seems like a natural instinct that young (and even older) children are attracted to water. Someone, in trying to explain the fondness children have towards water, said that in the womb the baby is in water (fluid) for 9 months. Whatever it is, we know that children and water go well together.

The kindergarten children were taken for an extended and extensive water play at Marina Barrage. Boy! did they play! It took a while for the teachers to get them to stop.

Forever Friends

2010-11-21T17:38:00.011+08:00

By the time a child is 6 years old, his memory of his experiences becomes more stable. In other words he would be able to remember his friends and teachers pretty well years later. Teachers and parents and the child himself would testify to that. Ask a 4 year old child if he remembers his kindergarten teachers and friends and you will usually get a blank look and a shrugged shoulder from him.

At the year end class party for the K2 children it was their last time that they had a ball of a time with each other. Come the new school year in 2011, they will be going to different primary schools. A handful will go to the same primary school but they may not be in the same class. So good friends got together to immortalise their friendship in pictures so that years later they could look back and remember their kindergarten friends with fond memories.

Getting Ready for the Big Day

2010-11-11T13:57:00.012+08:00

The highlight of each and every year is the concert. For more than a couple of months teachers have been practising and practising with the children so they could perform reasonably well during the concert.

The full dress rehearsal is the final step to the concert proper. Children are subject to having their faces painted and hair clipped,tied and even gelled. They are adorned with clothes that they normally would not put on. All done so they could go on stage.

In spite of it, children love to sing and dance and act on stage, if they don't get the jitters on the concert day.

Our Own Little Green House

2010-10-22T14:25:00.019+08:00

What better way of learning about the environment than being involved in it - getting your hands dirty. That was what the K1 pupils did.

A group of NUS students fulfilled their CIP requirements by building a little green house. They then got the K1 pupils to get their hands dirty by filling little pots with soil and each planted a seed or two in the pot. The little pots are then put in the green house awaiting germination. In a week or so we can expect to see tiny leaves sprouting.

Revisiting the Sounds

2010-10-15T11:20:00.014+08:00

The K1 class learned the 'er' sound which can be found at the end of words like, mixer, sister, brother, teacher, etc ... They sang and did action of a mixer in order to get the 'er' sound firmly in their minds.

They also reviewed the other sounds they have learned in the recent past. The K1 teacher used a very child friendly way to teaching phonics and engaging the child .

Fun, Food, Friends

2010-09-30T12:26:00.005+08:00

Are you able to remember what you did when you were 5 years old? Most of us can hardly go back that far in years. But that does not mean that the early years of our lives are irrelevant to us as adults now. I'm sure it has significantly contributed to both our positive and negative views of the world around us today.

Today the children celebrated Children's Day in the kindergarten with their friends and teachers. They had fun watching and participating in a short skit. They played games with their friends and they ate a variety of food with their class mates. How would these activities contribute to their character in their grown up years? None of us know for sure. But we hope such fun things would be imbedded in them that they would grow up to be fun-loving but responsible individuals.

Are Mooncakes Made of Moon?

2010-09-18T13:51:00.029+08:00

When I asked the children, "What are moon cakes made of?" One six year old confidently answered, "moon!" Strawberry cakes are made of strawberries. Cheese cakes are made of cheese. So why not moon cakes are made of moon? To the young children it is just logical that moon cakes are made of moon. Well, they will learn in due time that moon cakes are made of all sorts of ingredients except the moon.

The K2 children had a traditional moon cake snack. They drank chinese tea, had a slice of yam, some pomelo and of course a slice or two of moon cake. Then the finale was where each child carried a lantern each.

Celebrating Teachers

2010-08-31T22:35:00.027+08:00

What can young children do to make Teachers' Day fun for their teachers? It is impossible for 3-6 year olds to organise and execute a Teachers' Day party. So with a little help from the adults, namely a parent (and the teachers too) we had a unique Teachers' Day party.

We had 3 different recipes for a great party. The pre-nursery and nursery kids decorated (and ate) cookies sprinkled with colourful sugary stars and chocolates. The K1 kids popped some corns and mixed them up with marshmellows that were cooked in butter and pink colouring. The K2 kids made cocoa and dipped Mamee into them and decorated them so they looked like wiggley monsters.

Everyone had great fun. The children got to eat what they love and the teachers learned new recipes. It was a great Teachers' Day celebration at Chen Li Kindergarten.

The finale of the day was the Teachers' Day lunch. We ate exquisite, aromatic European food.

Have Teeth Will Eat

2010-08-24T15:55:00.016+08:00

Teeth is a very vital part of our make-up. We need teeth to be able to speak well, chew well and to have a pleasant smile. This is what the K1 class was told by the representative from the Ministry of Health. For half an hour the boys and girls learned what food would be bad for their teeth and what food would help them have healthy teeth and gums. They were also taught the correct way to brush their teeth.

Now it is up to the children to choose to eat vegetables or sweets and cakes. Which do you think the kids would choose?

My Singapore

2010-08-06T20:45:00.023+08:00

Faces of young Singaporeans who could barely spell "Singapore" except in the song were the main feature at our National Day celebration. They came in red and white, of course, in the early morning all ready to say their pledge in front of the national flag.

This year we included the sports element in our National Day party - in line with the YOG. The children did their Singapore workout indoors and then out they went to run one lap around the kindergarten premises. They came back indoors in time to sing "Happy Birthday Singapore!" in front of a cake with birthday greetings for our nation. A party is not a party if food is not in the programme. From then on it was eat, eat, eat and eat! There was an array of colourful and delicious finger food provided by generous parents.

At the end of it all what remains would be pictures of brown, yellow, white faces of multi racial Singaporeans having a great time together under one roof.

Sweet and Savory

2010-07-17T17:23:00.024+08:00

Food is a common sight in Singapore. Our children are exposed to all sorts of food. But do they know how to identify the different tastes? The very young children may not know what sour or salty tastes are unless they are told and given to taste them at the same time.

That was what happened to the 3-4 year olds. Their teachers prepared savory ham and cheese on toast and also sweet and sour varieties of fruits. They learned about seeds in the fruits. Which seeds could be eaten and which ones to be thrown out. It was a tasteful day for them.

Birthdays!

2010-07-12T08:02:00.017+08:00

Birthdays are special in a way because they are indicators of time in our lives. When we come to our 30th birthday, we may not be so keen about birthdays because it means we are getting on in years. But to most young children birthdays are wonderful because they get presents and the attention from loved ones. The number of candles on their birthday cake could easily match the number of fingers on their hand. It is always a joy to see happiness written on the faces of young children when it comes to celebrating their birthdays!

Family Outing

2010-07-04T19:27:00.027+08:00

Parents and their preschool kids went on an interesting learning journey to a hydroponic farm. They got to see, smell, touch and taste vegetables and herbs grown on the farm. The kids got to touch real live caterpillars (for those who dare). They got to see different species of butterflies. Best of all they planted a plant with the soil provided by the farm. That was their first hand experience in farming.
Who knows the kids may one day grow up to be a naturalist after being inspired by the visit to the farm.

Holiday Fun

2010-06-03T18:10:00.014+08:00

World of Animals

2010-05-24T15:09:00.028+08:00

Fishy Tale

2010-04-26T11:13:00.014+08:00

International Friendship Day

2010-04-20T12:36:00.030+08:00

Are Carrots for Rabbits?

2010-04-09T21:51:00.021+08:00

The image of Bugs Bunny with his carrot stick stays in most of our minds. So when we see carrots, we immediately think of rabbits. Our children learned that rabbits eat carrots. But carrots are also good for boys and girls to eat because it contains lots of vitamins. This was a time where children get to taste raw carrots, cooked carrots and carrot juice. They love the carrot juice, of course because it tastes sweet. But they did not object to putting some pieces of carrots into their mouths. Now they know what carrots taste like. Bugs Bunny would be happy to see that his carrots are popular among the children.

Fun Aerobics

2010-03-07T16:51:00.018+08:00

Do children need to exercise? After all they are so active. Yes, they need to in order to build in them the attitude of living healthily. It is notewhorthy to inculcate good habits in children. Getting them into the routine of exercising is one of the good habits. If from young they are encouraged to exercise, it would give them the message that exercising is just as important as studying, respecting their elders, being considerate and kind to others, etc ..

Our children had a taste of aerobics exercise at the Health Zone. It was done in a fun way. They all loved it.

The Taste is in the Pudding

2010-03-04T15:57:00.010+08:00

The Nursery and K2 children had an exercise in tasting several food items blind folded so that they use their sense of taste to identify the items. It is interesting to note that even though some of them may not be able to label the tastes: sweet, sour, bitter, hot, etc .. their faces tell a great deal. They stick out their tongues when the item is hot or bitter. They cringe their faces when the item is sour.

Chasing Away the Monster!

2010-02-05T11:29:00.020+08:00

Did you know that according to Chinese mythology, all the banging of cymbals and drums and the fire crackers are meant to scare away the monster on the Lunar New Year? The children had fun re-enacting it during class.

The usual way of celebrating the Lunar New Year is to bring on the food. Food that are palatable to the taste buds of the young and old. But consumed too much of it will lead to a visit to the doctor.

Catch Me If You Can

2010-02-03T10:32:00.011+08:00

Be it catching a small ping pong ball or throwing a ball to knock the pins down or kicking a ball into a goal, children learn to coordinate their eyes and movement of their big and small muscles in order to achieve their goal. We adults hardly think about it when we throw or catch a ball. Adults are well developed in their hand and eye coordination.

Children develop this skill by playing ball games. The more opportunities they are given to play such games, the quicker this skill will develop. The important thing is not whether the child is able to put the ball in the goal or get the ball to knock all the pins down. The mere movement of his hand or foot to throw or kick the ball helps his brain to coordinate his vision, mental planning and hand or foot action. All combined to give him the ability to put the ball in its right place in the game. So let your child play ball games.

Fun with Food

2010-01-20T14:06:00.015+08:00

Children, because of their immature taste buds they can only tolerate sweet tasting food. What child would refuse ice-cream, chocolate or candy when it is offered to them? Sweets are pleasant to the taste buds. Because of their immaturity, they only choose pleasurable things. Doesn't matter if it is bad for their oral or physical health.

Vegetables, although excellent for one's health, are most children's greatest enemy. Why? It is not pleasurable to their taste buds. I remembered when I was a child, my mum could never hide the veges in my rice or porridge. I was able to seek them out! So parents, you may have to wait for when your child is matured enough to understand that veges are good for them and sweets are bad. Meanwhile keep educating and encouraging them to go for the greens. Who knows? They may switch to veges sooner than expected.

A Balancing Act

2010-01-12T13:56:00.004+08:00

When it comes to educating or schooling the very young children, parents are usually at a dilemma on whether to enrol them in a pre-school that leans on academic skill or one that is play-based. Often times parents still have the misconception that they need to start their young children as soon as possible to read, write and be able to count. They then neglect the young child's need to develop relationally, emotionally, conceptually, etc... when all these are just as necessary as reading, writing and counting.

In Singapore pre-schools that emphasise on academics seem to be popular with parents. They usually have a long waiting line of children at their doorstep. It is indeed a balancing act that parents play each time they have a pre-school child in the family.

Today, the Education Minister announced that the Ministry of Education will not nationalise the pre-school education simply because they want to allow many different ways to educating the pre-school child. There certainly are varied ways to develop the young child. So let us not get stuck on the academics only when deciding on which pre-school the young child should be enrolled in.

All Things New

2010-01-04T12:02:00.016+08:00

A new year and a new beginning for these tiny tots. For the nursery kids it is a return to school time. But for the pre-nursery kids it is their first ever school experience. We usually expect tears and screams from these young school going kids. So far so good. No tears yet. Actually it looks like they are having fun at school. It is also a new experience for some mums and dads as they accompany their kids to school for the next few days.

Today they put on the kindergarten's new uniform.

Fun Learning

2009-11-30T15:58:00.008+08:00

During holidays children would expect to put their school books aside and to go and have fun. They would want to go on trips with their families or go shopping with them or just play with their friends. For this group of K2 children, some of that fun was and will be spent in a weekly phonics/grammar class. Today they put together an "adjective" snake. They learned about adjectives in a fun way.

Children Across Cultures

2009-11-16T11:33:00.008+08:00

Children are children no matter which culture they are from. They love to eat. They love to play. They are curious. They are energetic. I was visiting a school in a small rural town in Indonesia. I find that the kids here are no different from the kids in Singapore in terms of their childhood characteristics. Teachers here and the teachers in Singapore have the same task of teaching and nurturing them. The teaching methods may not be the same but the task is - to get them going with their 3 R's, reading, writing, arithmetic.

Shopping Spree

2009-11-11T16:30:00.013+08:00

Do young children know how to shop? Are they given a chance to do so? It is not a common sight to see children choosing their items of purchase and going to the check-out counter to pay for them. Well, a group of K2 children, together with their teachers went on a shopping spree. They get to choose what they want, look at the price, take the money out of their wallet and pay the cashier. This is an exercise that adults can do with their eyes closed. But not so for the children. They had to put in quite a bit of effort to do so. Nonetheless, it was fun and adventurous for them. Parents should try to let them do their own shopping (supervised, of course).

Unity in Diversity

2009-11-06T13:45:00.007+08:00

We are very much encouraged in this pluralistic society to be united in the midst of diversity. Adults need to be coaxed, pushed and given incentives to work at it. But it is different with children. Children are naturals at making friends of different colours, language and culture. In fact, as long as that boy or girl is a human being, he or she is a friend.

There are Indians, Filipinos, Caucasian and Chinese in the kindergarten and they are all buddies to each other. Kindergarten is a place to nurture the virtue of accepting folks who are different from you.

The Next Phase

2009-10-28T14:15:00.001+08:00

We all go through phases in our lives and so do the children. The next phase for the 6 year olds would be to go to primary school. This is a big leap for all of them. They go to a much bigger school. Getting from one part of the school to another can be rather daunting. They have 30 or more classmates in their class. They have to use money to get their food during recess. They stay in school for a much longer time. They have to carry a heavy bag to school each day. The adjustments can be overwhelming. But they will adjust and it will not take long for them to do so.

Primary school orientation is a big help. It would be wise for parents to take their K2 children to the respective orientation sessions as these could help start bridging the gap between kindergarten and primary school. So do not miss it.

Play-Acting

2009-10-07T14:11:00.013+08:00

This is the time of year that the children put their act together. They sing, dance, act at the direction of their teachers. Some children are just natural in acting while others need to put in a little more imagination to their acts. Whatever it is, these little ones are all set for their upcoming concert.

Happy Faces

2009-09-30T10:53:00.025+08:00

What sort of things put a smile on children's faces? Food, fun and presents, of course. Today the children celebrated Children's Day with food, fun games and they were given presents. Since it was a special day for them, they all came in their fancy dresses. Their attire matched the mood they were in. They dressed up in bright colours that came along with bright smiles. They had a fantastic time!

Picture Perfect

2009-09-23T13:38:00.009+08:00

This is the time of year in the kindergarten that children get their pictures taken for the family and school album. The task on the part of the adults in getting these children ready for a perfect shot is remarkable. The children’s task on the other hand of following a string of instructions to keep still, smile, cross legs, stand up, sit down, look up, look down, is even more remarkable. I wonder if they are able to remember the repertoire of movements they had to make when they finally get to look at the photos. And then years down the track when they are all grown up, what sort of memories would they have about picture taking? Well, I suppose there is a price to pay for looking good in photos.

Back to School

2009-09-16T11:23:00.013+08:00

A Trip to the Zoo

2009-09-04T13:58:00.003+08:00

There’s never been a time when children refused to go to the zoo. Mention the word, “zoo” and you’ll see the children’s faces light up. Somehow children are attracted to animals. Animals are intriguing to children.

Our recent trip to the zoo was nothing but fun for the children. They were thrilled to pieces when they saw the polar bears, rhinoceros, zebras, giraffes, chimps and many more four-legged creatures. The heat and the rain did not dampen their enthusiasm. They walked without complaining of tiredness. The zoo had that special attraction for these kids that they forgot about the inconveniences they had to put up during the trip. They would have gone on and on, if not for the arrival of the bus to take them back. Children can never get tired of going to the zoo.