Activities happening around the class was singing of insy winsy spider in Spanish, then in English, audio storytelling and free play. The children were given choices to choose what they would like to do-water play, soft blocks, dramatic corner, dough, art, drawing, computer stations. And they are not rushed into doing the academics which are 'revising the high frequency words' or 'do basal reading'. Maybe they are more into helping children progress that their own pace (Guesell's Biological Theory) as well as helping children to construct their own knowledge (Piaget)- which can be seen in the bringing in of authentic materials such as the butterfly nest and plants to learning of their life cycles.
I like how they present their curriculum objectives too! Like they use photos of children as evidence of how they have met the objectives. It's not just mere observations or assessments, instead it shows they the curriculum are for the children, not planned for the teachers. They look into children's perspectives in learning!
There's this girl in particular name Giannia. She described her drawing to me. And it is not until she wrote her name from left to right and in mirror image that I realised that she's different. She was able to verbalise her thoughts very well. I liked the way she took ownership of her drawing and it is something that she's proud of. I took a photo with her which I can't post up yet as there's a need for permission to use photos of children (ethics). In contrast, Singaporean children are rather passive. They wait for teachers to always tell them what to do and how to draw. If as teachers we don't value children's ideas, they become afraid of failing and trying things out. Ultimately, we are the ones who create and change the culture, yea?
Another culture that I like in Headstart is that they value teachers' contributions. They appreciate each other by writing notes to thank each other for being there (completing attendance) and they put up photos of teachers and their families on a special board, introducing about them. It keeps teachers motivated with encouragements as well as the feeling of 'I'm not alone in this." This is which I think also lacked in a Singaporean classroom.
I'm so excited in visiting the MIT's Technology Children Centre at Stata on the 29th Jun and Corner Co-op Nursery School on the 15th Jul!!! There are really many things we can learn from the Americans.