Top 5 play-based learning childcare centres in Singapore
Looking for a childcare centre that uses play-based learning? A lot of Singaporean parents are doing that these days. The approach yields so many benefits, including the way it fosters creativity, critical thinking, and a lifelong love of learning.
If you’re looking for a nurturing centre where your child can take advantage of that, below are five of the preschools you may want to start with. These childcare centres in Singapore put play-based education at the very core of their curricula.
1. Lily Valley Preschool
Lily Valley Preschool was inspired by the Reggio Emilia philosophy of education, where children’s natural curiosity is at the core of their learning. In this boutique preschool, learners are given opportunities to exercise that curiosity to explore and discover the world.
Play is central to their approach here, with children regularly engaging in meaningful and hands-on experiences in curated spaces and ateliers. Educators are more facilitators than instructors in their preschool, where child-led inquiry takes centre stage and leads to holistic growth.
The school also employs a community-driven ethos that sees parents as essential partners in their children’s developmental journey. This may appeal to parents who want to ensure they remain involved in their children’s early education.
2. Shaws Preschool
Shaws Preschool integrates play into a bilingual curriculum that has been proven over 30 years of operation. In their centre, they blend purposeful play with skill-building in a safe environment that allows children to develop various competencies even as they have fun.
This preschool also draws from international best practices in order to adapt them for local contexts. Some of the key abilities they try to foster in learners are independence, teamwork, curiosity, and resilience.
3. Learning Jungle
This centre gives learners the freedom to explore and make their own discoveries while still guiding them towards age-appropriate developmental milestones.
At the core of the centre’s philosophy is the belief that play helps children gain knowledge, confidence, and skills. Each day here is filled with purposeful play designed to support abilities like numeracy and literacy.
Teachers set up opportunities to ensure that the children in the centre can indulge in independent learning and indulge their curiosity. Like the other centres on this list, the Learning Jungle also tries to ensure safety in the learning environment at the same time.
4. Kiddiwinkie Schoolhouse
Kiddiwinkie is another centre that champions the play-based learning approach. Specifically, it does so by using a “discover, explore, learn” method that incorporates play across all areas of learning, from experiential learning to thematic inquiry.
In this preschool, children can take part in activities such as drama, storytelling, and hands-on projects that have been set up to support learners’ development in various areas. That can cover everything from language to socio-emotional development.
The school also incorporates STEM and Arts elements in its curriculum to give children a head start on various emerging fields through play.
5. Mulberry Learning
Mulberry Learning is another preschool inspired by the Reggio Emilia approach, although it combines it with Multiple Intelligence theories as well as the Habits of the Mind philosophy.
In their holistic, play-based curriculum, every child is treated as a capable individual who learns best through exploration and play. Classrooms are set up to support children’s inquiry and creativity, with learning corners found in most of the rooms.
The centre pairs this with character education to help children develop both academic competencies and emotional ones.