S’pore parents share how MOE Kindergarten is a lifesaver when it comes to teaching their kids Mother Tongue

Every parent wants to give their best to their children.

But sometimes, even their best may fall short, especially when it comes to teaching the Mother Tongue.

Therefore, finding a preschool where children can have fun while mastering their Mother Tongue effectively brings immense joy to parents.

Although it may not be easy to find such a preschool, parents who enrolled their children in MOE Kindergarten (MK) have discovered the perfect environment for their children to learn and grow.

Kids need to love school in order to enjoy learning

Siti Nursyafiqah Binte Sulaiman enrolled both her daughters at MK@Shuqun, located within Shuqun Primary School.

As much as Siti hopes to provide her daughters with a conducive environment to pick up Malay, she admits that she and her husband often speak English at home, as it's quicker to get to the point. This situation isn't uncommon among modern parents.

Therefore, Siti is especially grateful for MK@Shuqun’s teacher, Muhammed Fairus Bin Adam, who teaches Malay. One of her daughters' favourite teachers, Cikgu Fairus makes learning the Malay language and culture fun for the children.

Thanks to Cikgu Fairus, who incorporates role play, singing and dancing into his lessons, Siti's daughters develop a love for the Malay language.

At home, the girls would sing Malay songs that even Siti herself had never heard before, giving her a chance to help with their pronunciation.

Siti was also pleasantly surprised when her younger daughter told her that the word for the colour "orange" in Malay is "jingga." Now, her younger daughter knows all the colours in Malay.

Like Cikgu Fairus, the MK teachers are all passionate and energetic, Siti observed. They also make time and space to put the children at ease. Her elder daughter was always crying when attending another preschool in Nursery 2 but was well-adjusted within a few days into the new environment when she enrolled in Kindergarten 1 at MK@Shuqun.

“The children need to love the school environment to enjoy learning,” Siti explained, which was why she also enrolled her younger daughter at MK@Shuqun.

MOE Kindergarten’s unique curriculum

Cikgu Fairus' interactive teaching style is not unique to him.

The MK teachers aim to actively engage the children in learning through their curriculum, which is developed by MOE’s curriculum specialists and trained educators.

They have the knowledge and experience in early childhood education and are familiar with the primary school curriculum. The MK curriculum is guided by MOE’s Nurturing Early Learners (NEL) Framework for quality and learning of children ages four to six.

One of MK’s flagship programmes is the Starlight Literacy Programme for both English and Mother Tongue Languages (MTLs). Teachers use Big Books, songs, rhymes, and games with a distinctive Singapore flavour to make language learning enjoyable and meaningful for the children.

For example, Joseph Edwin Selvakumar Patric Jenefer, a Tamil Language teacher at MK@Fengshan, would play musical chairs and traditional games with her children to engage them in learning.

Encouraging curiosity and family bonding

Another highlight of MK’s curriculum is the Weeks of Wonder (WoW) projects conducted at the end of each term, which allows children to explore a topic of their choice to encourage self-motivated learning. In a year, children would complete two WoW projects in English and another two in their MTLs.

Through WoW projects conducted in MTLs, children develop an interest to use their Mother Tongue to interact with others and see it as a living language.

Zhang Ling, a Chinese Language teacher at MK@Jurong West, recounted that one of the WoW projects was inspired by a Big Book on how people in Singapore pursue hobbies such as baking at the community centres.

That reading session piqued the children’s interest to find out more about baking, exploring the ingredients used to make a cake and even trying their hand at making and decorating a cake. Through this activity, children were able to extend their learning beyond the Big Book while conversing meaningfully in their Mother Tongue.

Xu Xingna, a mother whose child, Chen Jihe, just graduated from MK@Jurong West, recalled a WoW project where the children explored the topic of fruits. The children visited the school’s garden to learn Chinese terms such as banana plant and papaya tree. The experiences made Jihe so excited that he drew something about it and tried his hand planting at home.

There was also a take-home activity for children to find their favourite fruits in their neighbourhood with their parents and share their experiences with their friends in school. Being a big fan of fruits, Jihe was thrilled to find a giant banana at the wet market.

The experience helped Jihe and his friends learn and practise their Mother Tongue Language in an authentic context. Xingna mentioned that these take-home activities encouraged Jihe and his friends to practise their Mother Tongue and are excellent for family bonding.

Another favourite take-home activity for Mother Tongue Language among parents was puppet-making, according to Aasiriyai Jenefer.

The parents and children first created puppets at home using recycled materials. They then made a video of themselves playing with the puppets and shared the videos with the class.

Aasiriyai Jenefer explained that some children were initially shy about speaking their Mother Tongue, but the use of puppets helped them become more comfortable to use their Mother Tongue. Through the puppet-play video, parents also saw how their children were able to converse spontaneously and confidently in Tamil.

One child who benefitted from the puppet-making activity is Mohamed Suhail Bin Sulthan. He was initially reluctant to speak Tamil at home but gradually gained confidence.

Suhail’s mother, Fathima Parvin Binte Noormaideen, shared that after attending MK@Fengshan, Suhail started communicating with his grandfather in Tamil.

Although he struggled with complete sentences, he was able to convey his message. Fathima was heartened by her son’s improved command of Tamil, which had laid a strong foundation for him as he entered primary school this year.

Interested to find out more about MOE Kindergarten?

There are currently 56 MOE Kindergartens spread across Singapore.

Whether you're a busy parent, unsure of how to teach your child the Mother Tongue Language, or someone who isn’t very proficient in the language but wants your child to be better at it, the teachers at MOE Kindergarten have got you covered.

An additional perk of enrolling your child to a MOE Kindergarten is that he or she will be given priority to apply at Phase 2A P1 registration exercise for the primary school that the kindergarten is located within.

Find the nearest MOE Kindergarten to your home via the SchoolFinder and contact them directly to enquire more.

This branded article by MOE Kindergarten makes the writer want to go back to school.

Top images by Zheng Zhangxin and MOE Kindergarten