5 Ways to Play and Learn

Preschools in Singapore have different educational approaches. Visit a few before deciding which approach is best suited to your child’s temperament and interests.

Play-based Approach

• Long, uninterrupted periods of openended play where children follow their own interests, initiate activities and are self-directed with the teachers’ support.

• Allows children to explore and enhance their ability to tackle problems, be independent, socialise, and develop knowledge, self-esteem, fine and gross motor skills, and skills in language, literacy, maths and science.

Project Approach

• Hands-on, interactive style of education that builds on children’s natural curiosity, enabling them to interact, question, connect, problem-solve, communicate and reflect.

• Focuses on active participation in real learning based on children’s interests and abilities.

• Projects don’t constitute the whole curriculum but are used in conjunction with more traditional teaching methods.

Montessori Education

• Developed by Italian Maria Montessori in the early 1900s with the aim of cultivating a child’s own natural desire to learn and absorb information.

• Characterised by an emphasis on independence, freedom within limits and respect for a child’s natural psychological development.

• Curriculum is broad-based, and classrooms provide a prepared environment that facilitates and maximises independent learning and exploration.

Waldorf / Steiner

• Humanistic approach to education based on the

philosophy of Austrian Rudolf Steiner.

• Learning is interdisciplinary, integrating practical, artistic and conceptual elements, and emphasising the role of the imagination to develop both creative and analytical thinking.

• In early childhood, learning is largely experiential, imitative and sensory, with an emphasis on learning through practical activities.

Reggio Emilia

• An educational philosophy that started in a village of the same name in Italy after WWII, and focused on preschool and primary education.

• Villagers created a self-guided curriculum based on the principles of respect, responsibility and community through exploration and discovery in a supportive and enriching environment based on children’s interests.

• Parents are a vital component of the philosophy; they’re viewed as partners, collaborators and advocates for their children.