As shared by Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong during the National Day Rally 2019 and later announced by Minister for Manpower Josephine Teo, parents can look forward to greater subsidy amounts on their children’s preschool fees from January 2020 as this will be increased across all eligible income tiers.
According to a recent Straits Times article, childcare fees in Singapore vary widely, from about $700 to more than $2,000 per month. To provide a clearer indication to parents on what the fee covers, the article featured selected preschool brands and their offerings that make up the preschool experience.
What makes the MindChamps PreSchool experience different?
MindChamps was featured in the article where we shared the depth of research that goes behind our curriculum and the elements that make our preschool experience stand out.
To this end, Mr Joseph Lim, Assistant Director-General of MindChamps PreSchool, highlighted the three factors that form the basis of our preschool experience which provides children with a strong early years foundation as we prepare them for primary school and beyond.
1. A curriculum based on decades of research
Starting as a research institute in the early days, MindChamps was focused on its mission to understand how children’s minds develop and how to best lay the foundations for that development. This was carried out by gathering primary research in Education, Psychology and Neuroscience – while also drawing on the art of Theatre for methods to engage our preschoolers. The result of this was better classroom (and home) environments and more effective teaching and learning strategies.
With the depth of research that was conducted in the domains of Psychology, Neuroscience, Theatre and Education over two decades, this has led to the development of MindChamps PreSchool’s unique curriculum which nurtures all aspects of a child (aged 18 months to 6 years).
2. An all-inclusive preschool programme
The MindChamps PreSchool curriculum, which is based on decades of research, includes world proprietary academic and enrichment programmes.
As pointed out by Joseph, most preschools in Singapore, private or otherwise, charge extra fees for their enrichment programmes, as they might be engaging external vendors to conduct these programmes. In contrast, there are teachers that are specifically brought in to teach the proprietary enrichment programmes at all MindChamps PreSchool centres, which are included in the school fees.
“At MindChamps PreSchool, all enrichment programmes are included in the fees – as we feel strongly that if a programme is important to a child’s learning and development during the preschool years, then every child at MindChamps deserves to have it and the programme should not be only restricted to those who pay extra for it,” he explained.
With this, parents can be assured that at all MindChamps PreSchool centres, there is no extra charge for our enrichment programmes on top of the school fees.
3. Passionate and qualified teachers who are trained regularly
Having a great curriculum is only as good as the teachers who deliver it, and at MindChamps, we believe that “when we stop learning, we stop teaching”.
As shared by Joseph, all teachers at MindChamps PreSchool receive up to 200 hours of extensive training and accreditation, regardless of their early childhood qualifications. This is to ensure that the minds of our children are nurtured by the most qualified and dedicated teachers.
These training include exclusive sessions by masters in their fields such as Hollywood movie director, Dr Scott Hicks and Hugh Jackman’s acting teacher, Dean Carey.
“From the training, our MindChamps teachers are even better equipped with the skills and knowledge to engage their children,” Joseph elaborated.
How does a typical day of a MindChamps preschooler looks like?
As mentioned earlier, all the core and enrichment programmes are included in the MindChamps PreSchool curriculum.
Although the operating hours of all MindChamps PreSchool centres are from 7am to 7pm from Monday to Friday, the curriculum hours run from 9am to 5pm. Each class schedule differs in terms of the duration of the various activities as they are arranged to cater to the age and developmental needs of children from various levels (Playgroup, Nursery 1 & 2, and Kindergarten 1 & 2)
Check out these articles for a preview of what a typical day looks like for our preschooler:
A Day in a Life of a PreSchooler at MindChamps PreSchool @ Changi Business Park
Here’s What your Toddler Gets Up to During the Day at MindChamps PreSchool @ Boon Keng
Here’s What Your Toddler Gets Up to in a Chinese Playgroup at Tampines Central
A Day in the Life Of An Infant in MindChamps Infant Care @ Buona Vista
Written by Justina Goh
Keen to enrol your child in a MindChamps PreSchool centre nearest to you?