Sports is essential for the growth of children – it helps their self-esteem, confidence and improves their physical health.
As such, MindChamps Preschool @ Yio Chu Kang infuses sports and play in their curriculum to enhance the children’s learning. This is carried out via various methods that promote learning through play rather than the usual text-based methods.
Here are some ways in which lessons are designed to keep things fun and enriching for children at MindChamps Yio Chu Kang.
Making sports a way of life
The centre, located in the Yio Chu Kang swimming complex, has access to various facilities that are utilised for their daily lessons. For example, teachers will organise activities at the open field and running track, which is located near the preschool.
Other than these morning “exercises”, the school has liaised with external vendors such as ActiveSG to conduct some in-house sports events. Some past activities include tennis, kayaking in the swimming pool and football in the field. The school also makes an effort to include parents in such activities, like organising an obstacle course in the gym for Father’s Day.
Teaching children about culture through fun activities
The school has also planned various cultural activities to teach children about the diverse environment they live in. Some examples include belly dancing lessons during the Deepavali celebration and interacting with a ‘changing face’ master (Bian Nian Xi) during the Mid-Autumn celebration. Through these specialised activities, children have a deeper appreciation for their own culture and that of others.
Themed excursions to supplement the curriculum at MindChamps Yio Chu Kang
The school also plans excursions to help children recap their classroom lessons. For example, they went to River Safari as part of their learning journey about animals and geography. Activities are also tailored according to age groups – the Kindergarten One class were tasked to identify the various fishes and rivers that they had learnt during that term, while the younger children from Playgroup and Nursery One made use of the excursions to reinforce information garnered in class.
The last excursion the children went on was at KidsStop, where they were refreshed on the lessons related to sounds and colours during the term. The kids had a lot of fun pointing out and identifying familiar things at the KidsStop play area.
Camps to build character and independence
The children also had the opportunity to go through a KidZania overnight camp, where they learnt to work as a team and increase their confidence. They were taught to persevere through challenges and activities such as fencing, volleyball and inline skating. The sports activities were conducted according to the children’s age and were supervised by licensed professionals. Through the camp, kids were taught various social skills like working as a team and sportsmanship, all while having the time of their lives.
Sports is one of the key focus areas of MindChamps Preschool @ Yio Chu Kang, and the school believes that increased exposure to sports aids in developing children into all-rounders through their emotional development.
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Written by Steffi Wee