Second Teachers' Day and what's more

It is my second Teachers' Day and that means .... I've survived another year! Beyond the presents, it is the recognition and appreciation that matters. Well, I am thrilled to know that there will be an additional half day centre closure starting next year and centres are encouraged to give the day off on Teachers' Day, now that's the perfect way to celebrate! (Source: ECDA).

1st of October will forever be a special day for me. I got engaged in the morning and I went to the ECDA conference to support our centre/booth for attaining Outstanding Teaching and Learning Award 2016. It is a sweet taste of glory and culmination of all our hard work. As what my leader said to us, "This award is not about perfection, but rather, a continued commitment to excellence. We will keep learning and working hard at becoming better early childhood professionals, improve our programmes for children, and foster trusting relationships with families." I really really love the way she puts it, I am inspired and energized for the journey ahead. And, I produced a quote, it's on a bookmark, awesome!

Quickie

I was reflecting on the professional development courses that I’ve attained since my first day of work and realized that though I did not attend many, the impact was great. The informal sessions, casual conversations and constant evaluation has made its mark on my professional life. I have evolved from one who was afraid and fearful of toddlers (remember I was terrified to be in the same room with them prior) to being able to manage twenty-ish of them. I’ve professionally developed (still developing), and the best is yet to come. #learning journey.

I am thankful for my upcoming opportunity to be a mentor, dipping my feet into a tad of leadership and really really excited for mentoring. About five years ago, when I was fresh in the Early Childhood Industry, I met a lovely and inspiring mentor that lead me, taught me and encouraged me. She could have left me to sink on my own, instead, she saw something in me and groomed me. Her faith in me left a huge impact on me. To you, thank you! Five years on, it is my turn to be a mentor to guide a young student-teacher in the work that I love. Cheers! Looking forward to ECDA conference on 1st Oct too, something special is brewing.

AECES overseas learning trip to Austria; Injecting fresh light to our local practices

        In June 2016, eight local preschool advocates from the Association of Early Childhood Educators (Singapore) who represents various preschools and educational institutions came together to travel across the globe to visit kindergartens in Austria. In this cross-cultural learning trip, there are distinct differences between the two cultures and two early childhood landscapes, yet there are similarities in both countries preschool education. In this trip, our preschool advocates have gained valuable insights and are inspired to improve the lives of family and young children in Singapore. Bearing in mind that different early childhood systems have its advantages and disadvantages; a certain system works in a culture but it could have detrimental effects to another culture. Thus, it is important for learners to be exposed to see, learn and do during overseas learning opportunities and to shortlist possible, culturally sensitive practices to implement and review in our own local context.

Most importantly, we see that children’s love for learning is passionate and contagious. We witness that learning can take place across culture, children are naturally curious and attracted to knowledge; they love to learn so let’s not ruin their drive. Thus, books and music are effective learning tool to overcome the language barriers.

The bottom line: how can we improve? 

Though, it is not (yet) possible for us to have our preschool in rainforest or to banish formal learning in preschool. We can change our pedagogy to be child-initiative, where we can build a culture that allows them to be who they want to be and award them the autonomy of their own learning and play. We need to slow down to listen to them because they have so much to share. We need to move them out of padded mats, indoor gyms, to risky, nature treks because they have so much to learn out there. We need to continue to shift parents’ and lawmakers’ mindset from formal learning and kiasu-ism to play, play and more play.  Bit by bit, we can make a change for the betterment and future of the lives of families in Singapore.

Austria Overseas Learning Trip (to be edited)

I went to Austria with a group of early childhood educators and leaders in June and the trip was eye-opener. I got to see the early childhood landscape in another country and have definitely brought invaluable knowledge. The trip started off with myself having a major homesick. The lack of wifi and time differences with Singapore really gave me a stress attack. Bravely, I sucked it up. I braved the 16 hours’ flight from Singapore to Finland, to Austria. I managed to buy a postcard and stamps and mailed it back home. 

We arrived at Vienna airport to meet up with the rest of the team and we were chauffeured to our house at Pfaffstatten. Our house looks amazing, the garden, rooms, architecture, neighborhoods is the epitome of serenity and suburban. Trust me, it is a suburban and it is a break from the hustle and bustle of a city. We went to grab lunch and sightseeing around Vienna for the rest of the day. I learnt a lot about the Austria culture and advice from my fellow team mates.                                          

                                    

We went to No Landeskindergarten at Pfaffstatten, Austria. The people and culture is contagious. In Austria, kindergartens are play-based and for children between two and a half years to six years, between 8am to 1pm. They practice mixed-aged learning, so you see children of a diverse age and capabilities within the same group. Kindergarten is free and parents are only paying a small fee for food and materials each month. 

Principals and managers of schools are not responsible for enrollment rate, profits or targeted growth, their job is to ensure the best quality in the education and care provided. Preschool teacher training is five years of course work, examinations and apprenticeship. Soon-to-be teachers are required to learn piano, guitar and other basic instruments. Such training provides trainees teachers to learn and understand the process of picking up music, movement, literacy. With that, they better understand the process and are able to facilitate the children when they learn. In terms of curriculum outcomes, the state has desired learning outcomes for kindergartners (just like our early childhood system) and different kindergartens uses different methodology and pedagogues to achieve these goals.  

                                      

We had our morning runs by saying hi to them all in their large campus, then we prepared for our activities. We had music and movement, story, making of firecrackers with red packets and erasers game. We taught the little angmoh how to play with our flag erasers! Remember our childhood erasers with country flags and you aim to flip your own erasers on top of your opponents! 

                                                 

Through this planned activity, I learnt that learning can take place across culture, children are naturally curious and attracted to knowledge; they love to learn so let’s not ruin their drive. I also learnt that books and music are like magical learning tool, despite the language barriers, they were so attentive and have strong desire to know more. It also reinforced my teaching pedagogy at Cove where materials are used to facilitate children’s provocations. We provided red packets for them to create crafts, unfortunately they do not have the cultural and contextually knowledge, hence we provided some directions. But, I strongly believe with time and familiarity, these children are capable to create masterful, creative artwork. 

 

While we were at Pffaffstaten, we had the opportunity to participate in the Kindergartner's (6 years old) transition to Primary School. We walked to Volkshule and along the way we saw painted flowers concrete on the roads! These colorful, concrete markers are built by the community to help young children to identify the road to the primary schools and to remind drivers to slow down. How nice! In primary school, children bring food from home and they can eat it during their breaks. Their schedule is such that they have fifteen minutes of focused work, five minutes of break and the cycle repeats. Each classroom has a soft corner, music, movement areas and library corner. Also, I like how they practice continuity of care in primary school, their class teachers accompanies them from first grade to the fourth grade! 

 Later in the week, we went to another preschool in a nearby city - No Landeskindergarten Doblhoffpark (Barden). Bearing in mind that preschools education is free and resources, teachers and land are state funded, I assumed that we will be seeing similar pedagogies and environment setup. However, as compared to Pfaffstatten, the city of Barden has a casino, spa, farmers’ markets and amenities, the demographics of the families are probably middle- to high- incomes and parent seems to work longer hours. 

We learnt from the centre's manageress that this Kindergarten in Barden opens from 7am to 6pm to cater to the families’ needs. Similiar to Singapore’s preschool, kindergarten is subjected to the parents’ needs. While we were sharing our practices, I could empathized with the struggles the manageress of the kindergarten faced; parent’s expectation and demands. A state law has ensured that as long as more than three families requires additional kindergarten hours, the school must be open. With a longer working hours required in a thirty-hour work week country, manageress takes great pain to work out teachers’ schedule and timings to cater to the family’s needs legally. In Barden, families have greater expectations and enjoys looking at the product of the children’s play. Hence, documentation and progress reports are done frequently and digitally. Akin to our own culture, different centres/groups has different families’ dynamics with varies socio-economic status, expectation, commitments, thus different challenges, cultures and joys at work.

                                 

 

The kindergarten has an aesthetically pleasing decorations, developmentally appropriate and open-ended learning environment set up with plenty of nature and sensorial materials for the children. What amazed me was the children goes for walks almost every day, and they walked for an hour long under the hot Sun. They play outdoor between 10.30am-11.30am when the Sun is the hottest. Imagine how our Singaporean families would react to this! Most importantly, a big Congratulations to No Landeskindergarten Doblhoffpark to be awarded the great honor of thirty years of successfully inclusion practices. Yay!

This trip is a great eye-opener, but what's more important is to know what I can bring back and implement in the local context. As I continue to regain my thoughts on this learning trip, and reflecting on my groundwork with the toddlers, I will be brainstorming on what and how I can improve my strategies and skills. So stay tuned for latest updates!

The Thirty 30 Million Word Gap" with AECES Early Educators (Jan 2015)

I have been doing some writing, dipping my feet in both children's literature and reading materials for professional. And, I am very blessed to have an opportunity to published my first advocacy piece "The Thirty 30 Million Word Gap" with AECES Early Educators (Jan 2015). Early Educators is a national journal for early childhood educators in Singapore, available hardcopy. 

Closing the Gap at 2 [Personal Opinions]

There are hundreds of research articles around the world that talks about academic disparity between children across socio-economic groups, geographic, family types and cultural groups. Throughout my years being an educator and studying to become one, I learnt to accept that such disparity is usually common in older children (5 – 7 years onwards) and usually it takes tremendous efforts and time to recuperate the missing lapses. However, I was wrong. The gap begins at toddlerhood and intensifies each passing year.

Of course, disparity among the early childhood years is evident in Singapore as well. With the qualifications of parents and varied quality of care and education available across the nation; there is no standardized early childhood education at the moment. Hence, every child is embarking at a different starting line. These starting line are, however, subjected to a societal flaw at how much parents are willing to pay for early education and care.

After directly working with the infant and toddlers and their families in the past year, I learnt that the gap starts at two.  I am not advocating for parents to enroll their inquisitive toddlers into enrichment classes or to pay truckloads of money for high quality early childhood education. My intention is to highlight the importance of good teachers for the youngest children. Knowing that the gap begins at two (and sometimes even earlier), the role of the edu-carer and educator is extremely important. Their job is to provide developmentally appropriate materials, intentional facilitation and pedagogues to scaffold the entire class to progress forward, while paying extra focus on the lagging child(ren). Based on my own experience, I worked with several passionate and experienced educators to suspect learning disabilities/learning needs/self-regulation issues at toddlerhood and worked with families and therapists to devise strategies to include them seamlessly within the class. Without time lapses, these toddlers received help early and was able to progress alongside with their same-aged peers. 

Currently, in Singapore, there are grading to ensure teacher quality and needless to say, our best teachers are deployed to work with older children (4-6 years of age). This arrangement works perfect for our society as citizens are programmed to know that ‘preschools prepare each child for primary school’. However, we should promote the ‘inverted pyramid of teaching qualifications’ within our local preschool system. Made famous by Finland and Switzerland’s early childhood education system, it refers to having the best teachers for the youngest age group. Studies has shown that conscious and intentional infants and toddlers teachers grooms healthy, well-adjusted, curious children who displays strong learning abilities in their school life.

Moving forward, I wish for parents, educators and policy makers to know that preschools prepare your child for life. I wish for policy makers to understand the opportunity cost of deploying great teachers with the older children than the birth to three. Lastly, for tertiary institutions/teachers training schools to reevaluate modules offers for teachers-to-be. Having been through the system, I wish tertiary institutions provided me and my peers more hands-on experiences with infant and toddlers than just theoretical knowledge. Lastly, I wish for parents to know the windows of learning opportunities through play and exploration in the early years than just the preschoolers/school-aged. 

In my humble opinion, for the betterment of early education in Singapore, such changes must be done progressively and intentionally. 

Discover the Storyteller within you by Ana Sousa Gavin

I registered this course with the intention to be a better storyteller for my toddlers. Currently, the toddlers that I am working with (are turning three), are very curious and keen to use their developing language in story reading with questions and comments and short stories.  I wish to include them in stories beyond the visuals or published content. As we know, storybooks have great visuals to enhance their language comprehension and attention span. Hence, I wish to challenge myself and the toddlers, to rely less on visuals and more on auditory and imagination. I wish to embrace the beauty of creativity and imagination in the classroom.

I was truly inspired by the facilitator and the people I met. Firstly, Ana was the most talented and engaging storyteller I’ve met. She was quick to react to the audience’s verbal and non-verbal cues while delivering consistent and engaging stories. As an adult, I was engrossed and was able to visualize her stories vividly in my mind, these visuals are unforgettable and remains in my mind till now. The classmates who I’ve met are not just teachers or students, they are film makers, sales executives, businessmen and insurance agents. Just like myself, they are aware of the importance of storytelling in convincing and educating others (to achieve sales, objectives, etc.).

Most importantly, I am inspired to know that I am a great storyteller.  Everyone has their own stories to tell and everyone can learn the skills to tell good stories. Furthermore, humans are wired to learn through stories. There are strategies that we can learn from to aid us to be great storyteller. For instance, using simple storyboards, highlighting special phrases and features to replicate. With consistent practice and evaluating, your stories can be mesmerizing and educational to others as well.  New class goals: To tell more stories! And, be better at it!

If you are keen, you can register via ALAP (Academy of Literary Arts and Publishing Singapore) for Ana’s upcoming classes - Discover the storyteller within you 2; Storytelling with Pictures in April. 

See you there!

6 things teachers need parents to know (edited in March 2021)

The relationship between teachers and parents is an extremely powerful component in student success. Yet so many parents go through the school year without communicating with the teacher or understanding what to do (or avoid) to make the most of the year. 

I have been working in a school that highly values relationships between home-school and teacher-child, we have an open door policy and invites families into the classrooms frequently. I continue to learn about the relationship between home and school; beyond the communication, there is mutual trust, transparency, respect, interdependency, team learning and accountability. Effective home-school partnership requires conscious effort. In light of my current stand with the families I am working with, I have been reflecting a lot on trust and been sharing my perspective with others. Trust is an individual feeling, different people build trust differently. I know many people who say that they trust me, but I do not always feel that trust, it is not transparent to me. 

However, I and my (recently graduated) peers do feel under appreciated and tired from the parents' expectations and demands (using these terms loosely). Unfortunately, this sentiment seems to be becoming more and more prevalent. Today, new teachers remain in our profession an average of just 3-5 years [*personal experiences], and many of them list "issues with parents" as one of their reasons for throwing in the towel. Word is spreading, and the more negativity teachers receive from parents, the harder it becomes to recruit the best and the brightest preschool teachers. 

Thus, from the bottom of my heart, there are several things I wish parents knew before sending their children to school/group care.

1. We are on the same team

We truly care about your children and we watches them grow up in our care and we want them to be successful. The child's success is our success too. When we contacts you about a problem or something that happened at school, understand that we are trying to work with you to resolve any conflicts that may be getting in the way of your child's success. We are on the same team.

Please have a leap of faith in our feedback. Just because a child doesn't exhibit a particular behavior at home doesn't mean he doesn't exhibit that behavior in the classroom. So if we shares a particular behavior that you haven't seen before, don't rush to say, "Well, I've never seen him do that, he learnt it in school." The classroom and home environments are quite different, and often times children behave differently when forced to follow rules and work with peers. So, do have an open mind and listen to what the teacher has to say as we work together towards a solution.

2. Don't go over the teacher's head. 

If you're having an issue with us or your child, the subject matter or the classroom in general, talk directly with the teacher before going to the principal or other administrators. For instance, you discovered a scratch on your child's body and you are worried, do drop us an email or phone call. There is no need to write a complaint letter about "negligence in care" and share it with the big bosses. We feel bad when your child is hurt too, so we don't deserve to feel even worse by your comments. Children fall down and get hurt in group care settings and good teachers really invest efforts to prevent any possible physical injuries through reminders, shifting of classroom furniture etc. 

3. Norms of a group care setting

Placing your child in a group care setting means having your child sharing the teachers' attention, care and school's resources with other children concurrently as well. As much as we wish to prevent it, there are instances when your child fell down yet teachers did not managed to see the fall. This is because children are running all about within the space and teachers could be engaged helping other children or simply got block by fixed fittings to miss their fall. We are humans and mistakes happens. Further, teachers are showering children in groups, things bound to get misplaced. Children are learning to be responsible and teachers are showering/diapering/dressing up seven to ten children at the same time, have some heart.

It does sucks to have your kid's socks missing, let's be understanding. We can retrieve these missing items by checking in with other families and teachers. So, don't yell at us. 

4. Be consistent

You are a good parent and you wish to give the best to your child. But you realized that it is so challenging to make them eat vegetables at home or tame their tantrums at home yet they are angels in school. Indeed, children behave differently at home and in school. As they spend a good 8-12 hours in school, teachers can see their not-so-good behaviors and rectify it by disciplining your child. Thus, do work with the teachers to instill consistency in disciplining your child at home and in school. We are helping you and your child.

Don't ask the teacher why my 3 year old haven't start on potty learning, but ask yourself are you ready to commit to your son's potty learning? Often, parents are too focused at work and could not commit their time and efforts with their child at home (getting trainers, be prepared for wetting, extra clothes, consistent pee schedule). In the case of toilet learning, we need parents to be supportive and work with the school. Some "busy" parents, honestly, are causing their child to lag behind their developmental milestones.

5. Be involved

Speaking of "busy", I understand that parents these days are holding executive positions, exercising to look good, network for better work prospects while juggling milk bottles and diapers. Yes, work-life balance is tough, some may say - impossible. But please, be committed to your child's development by being there for them. They grow up once, and they are growing up too fast.

Do read their home-school communication file to know what is going on with the class, do volunteer your time to participate in class' activities and do spend time to talk to them about their feelings. Ask yourself what can you do more for your child.

6. Be kind

Honestly, teachers are paid to do their job and passion and gratitude does keep us going. So, there is no need to buy fancy teachers' day gifts once a year, when you hardly appreciate us on a daily basis. We appreciate your kind words like "please", "thank you so much" and "I appreciate your hard work" much much more than your expensive festive cookies and mugs. Parents ought to set good examples to children by being kind to their teachers. When children see their parents and teachers working well, they learn to pass on their kindness and empathy to their peers; making the world a better place.

When parents are quick to complain about their children's teachers, teachers are walking on eggshells. I feel sorry for good teachers these days whose hands are completely tied. In many ways, we live in fear of what will happen next. We walk on eggshells in a watered-down education system where teachers lacks the courage to be honest and speak their mind. If we make a slight mistake, it could be a major disaster. 

Hence, I would like to encourage parents to be partners instead of a prosecutor. We know you love your children. We love them, too. We need you to trust us, support us and work with us, not against it. We need you to have our backs, and we need you to give us the respect we deserve. So, lift us up and make us feel appreciated, and we will work even harder to give your child the best childhood possible.

That's a teacher's promise, from us to you.

Fighting the blues

I sort of had pretty nasty Monday Blues lately; having internal struggles of going to work. How could you not when you have worked for three consecutive Saturdays while balancing your other priorities.

I had a bad sleep the past Monday morning and I had to rush to my family doctor to get my urine tested, get breakfast and travel from city to Jurong, all before half past eight. On the way to work, my heart was tugging slightly towards the devilish side; looking for motivation and shortcuts to end the day quicker and fast forward to payday/bonus/public holiday/off days.

Then, when I arrived at the foyer at fifteen minutes past eight, I was warmly greeted by the parents and teacher who were already there. I walked a little further into the workroom and saw my closet colleague offering me my favorite junk food. After a short catch up, I picked up the courage to bear the wrath of the children, who were already high on ecstasy and loud like a trumpet, engaging in mixed-age interactions. There were louds good-mornings, huge smiles, fleshy hugs and sloppy kisses from my favorite babies. In the background, there were colleagues sharing junk food and breakfast with one another, though, I received several breakfast options, I munched onto my cold, lifeless hotdog bun. Then, there were parents who asked how my weekend was and there was a school auntie who asked if I had breakfast.

Somehow or rather, the blues vanished and the rest of the day seems really good and smooth. Thus, how can any individual fail in such a supportive work culture? Yet, how can any charcoal flourish when she is surrounding with diamonds and gem stones? 

Meanwhile, throwback to my Indian lookbook, hahahas! 

Overcoming self-doubts as a new teacher

I feel that my inexperience can bite me in the butt sometimes. I really hope that my lack of experience will not be detrimental for these children’s growth and development. After spending five year of tertiary education and merely six months of work, I noticed that I only have superficial knowledge, I possess a wide range of know-knows but I lack depth and credible examples. 

Recently, it was my first time planning a field trip (from scratch) for the preschoolers and I thought that it was challenging. I have many ideas and places to go for the older children but when it comes to thinking for the really young ones, I struggled a little. I learnt that there are many factors to consider in planning the trip, like the children and parents’ needs, timings and weathers, intentions and rationale. 

Usually on my way home, I reflect on how my day with the children, colleagues and parents went. There are days when I feel lousy, there are days when I feel satisfied (thankfully, more of the latter). Furthermore, when the self-doubts overwhelms my own thinking, I feel very depressed. I can honestly feel that I am struggling with the responsibilities, pressure and expectations as a new teacher. Even though, I often remind myself to enjoy the teaching process than to overthink, it is tougher than I expect. I like my job but I am too uptight kanchiong, too afraid to make mistakes, worry too much and scares myself with worst case scenarios. 

Furthermore, I often asked myself if “I am a bad teacher” because I am so immersed with my overthinking and self-doubts. Then again, I asked myself “What defines a good teacher?” and I always have different definitions for every different work experiences. There are days when I think a good teacher “is a creator of a well-regulated children”, “patience and understanding”, “a survivor”, “has good teaching intentions”… I really don’t know what defines a good teacher. Oh well, it is a learning process. 

Nonetheless, I often remind myself that we were not created to be perfect and no matter how hard we try we will never be. Practice may not make perfect but it makes it permanent. I need to continue to gain experience, reflect on them, and work on making it better.

Biggest takeaways from ECDA Conference 2015

Anyone who knows me know I love to go to school and study. So, I have been really excited to go to this year ECDA conference. Asides from it being a class reunion, I learnt new knowledge that can be used in my teaching. 

Three biggest takeaway

1. From "Unleashing creative confidence in play", I learnt that preschoolers' problem solving skills is better than college graduate. I am confident that my preschoolers are competent and capable individuals that can solve problems independently, but to know that they are so good at it, it makes me feels great! In the TED video, it describes how preschoolers think, facilitate and engaged in teamwork cohesively while college graduates performed teamwork aimlessly in an egocentric manner. 

Thus, I am empowered to appreciate each child's uniqueness than to embrace conformity in my own teaching. I would provide play materials that encourages openness and creativity and to encourage innovation in their play. Lastly, I shall not discipline them by subjecting them to the judgement of the other children. For instance, "When you shout and scream so loud at the mall, how do you think others are looking at you?", "What do you think your friends think about you?". When we speak to them in such a demeaning manner, they are often coerced to be someone the society wants him to be than to be themselves.

easier to build a child than to rebuild an adult

2. I learnt that there are serious implications for the very young ones who are exposed to group care. It is even worse if the educators are not caring enough. Based on "Building trusting relationships with infants and toddlers", we learnt about the importance and significance of  responsive, reciprocal and respectful curriculum for the very young ones. It reminds me to provide plenty of sensorial learning experiences and to enjoy the process of working with young children. Personally, I am observing and documenting my toddlers development on a weekly basis as I continue to understand their milestones and achievements. To be honest, it is tough to resist the urge to rush in our hurried society. I need to be patient, slow down and give them unhurried time to explore and respond.

Storigami; simplicity at its best.

3. I am a huge fan of children's literature and I learnt a new way of narrating story. How exciting! Storigami is the art of telling stories through origami. I realised that I often provide children with books filled with illustrations and words. How about wordless books? Nonetheless, we need to cultivate good reading habits since toddler hood and exposed them to a wide array of books. For instances, books with rhymes, books for enjoyments, books on managing change. 

A brief update.

As a degree graduate, we are often trained to teach the older children (4 years and above). Hence, we often step into schools with a 4 to 6 (years old) mindset. We are capable of writing term goals, activities, classroom management strategies for them so easily, it becomes an automatic thinking and reactive thinking. A fellow friend of mine took two days to cough out a term of lesson plans for her K1 class. It becomes second nature because we are too familiar with the Nurturing Early Learners and Kindergarten Curriculum Framework. But what about the infant and toddlers curriculum? How well do we know our toddlers' development and pedagogy? In my opinion, the relationship-based curriculum and birth to three curriculum has been overlooked in the diploma and degree program. And, I felt the wrath of it at work. As a fresh graduate, I struggled with my class of toddlers. I have to admit that I learnt more while getting my hands dirty with the toddlers in five months then five years of my tertiary education. I had to put in more efforts than my peers to learn and to overcome my barriers at work and I have no regrets about it. Because, over time, I fell in love with the toddlers and they inspire me each day. 

I came into the toddler classroom with nothing to offer, fear of toddlers and has evolved to a more alert, observant and knowledgeable practitioner. Having the opportunity to write the portfolios for the children has reminded me that these toddlers are very competent human beings. They have the ability to learn the class culture, befriend new companions and build relationships with strangers and address them as teachers within such a short period of time; I reckon quicker than a grown-up would take. Seeing them growing up so healthy and happy motivates me to work hard to be a better educator. 

On a side note, show some love to the Science of Play project, organised by the Lien Foundation, to advocate for play in the early years. Do take a look at their advocacy over at http://scienceofplay.sg/ . Personally, I like this website as it provides me with classroom ideas for my toddlers. The ideas provided are really simple and developmentally appropriate for young children. There were a couple of workshops hosted for families to encourage play with the underprivileged families. And, there will be more workshops held in community centres around Singapore, so do look out for them! How lovely! Such advocacy projects are a testimonial of the nation efforts to improve the early childhood education and to provide a more meaningful childhood. So, do support! 

A timely reminder

            Enculturation has given me the opportunity to know the organization in the larger scale and it was a good platform for networking and revision as well. There were many people from various backgrounds within the same room as myself embarking on this teaching profession. It was nice to see some familiar faces too.

At Enculturation, I was often asked by my peers and instructors, where do I see myself in three years? And, my answer remain the same. I want to be a masterful teacher and an effective advocate. I want to learn, grow and be challenged consistently. I intend to learn pedagogies and effective communication from my older colleagues and to read up on effective strategies and latest trends. One of the most memorable quotes shared at the Enculturation was; with or without a leader, a good teacher still carry out her tasks dutifully and passionately. It doesn’t take a leader to make her great, the heart of the teacher make herself great. It reminds me to be proactive, hardworking and maintain integrity at work at all times.

Attending Enculturation program made me found out that almost every teachers cried buckets of tears before because of all the heavy workload, expectation and stress. They have asked themselves over and over again why they are here, doing tasks that the society do not appreciate. But they said, “when children smile and say thank you to you, everything’s worth it”. And then, willingly, we continue on this journey as we cry and fall for millions of times until our souls and bodies break. Without the passion and love for children, we really wouldn’t be here. Teachers are really great. I am really honored to be in one of the world’s great profession.

It will not be an easy journey but it will be worth it. I believe that in everything I do, just be the best I can be and be genuine to myself and the people around me. People will have expectations of myself, everyone will, but as long as I try my best, I should be proud of myself. Everyone goes through the newbie stage, and the beginning is the toughest. 

SuperHero Me

"Our children today are growing up amid rising expectations and complexity. Success is no longer dependent only on grades. What they need is a stronger sense of self. To know who they are, and where they want to go. Or, in other words, to find the superhero in themselves". - Mr Lee Poh Wah 

Superhero Me is a social initiative by Lien Foundation, in collaboration with In Merry Motion and Logue, held at the Plaza at the National Library Board in late June 2015. It is a value-based craft + play event as we advocate for play for children. Basically, we are telling children that superheros are making the world a better place and there is a superhero within us. We can make the world a better place by being resilient, kind, grateful, patient and respectful to one another. 

Sharing of the five values

I love the 5 values; 

Tree of Resilience: Be it rain of shine, a tree 'never gives up' and stands firmly onto the ground throughout the year.

Cloud of Patience: In order to form clouds, tiny water droplets work together and wait patiently for the right time to rain.

Bird of Gratitude: Baby crows are well-fed and nursed to excellent health by their mothers. When these crows grow up, they return their gratitude by sharing food and taking care of their mothers till the latter passed on. 

Fruit of Kindness: It reminds me of a funny story of my mother. She told me she love to eat fish parts with bones ever since I was young. So, I always gave her the fish parts with lots of bones while I enjoy boneless fish. It took me over two decades to realized that no one likes fish with bones. They eat it out of love. Share with others your favorite food is an example of being kind.

Heart of Respect: Respect means listening when others are talking, means having eye contact to the person you are talking to, treating everyone nicely. Respect should come from the heart.

Adorable!

  

Dinosaurs made of cardboard, sweet!

Highlights

- Love the design of the entire place, very bright and lively. Its every nook of the area could easily captivates children's interest. How they utilized recycled materials as part of the decorations was amazing!

- Materials was open-ended. There were many loose materials, recycled materials, feathers, wool and more, the children loved the different textures and colors.

- Family-oriented. It makes parents feel very comfortable and welcomed. This was nicely done by sharing some strategies that parents can be engaged in, having enough space for adults to participate, effective questioning techniques.

Possible Improvements (Note: The organizers did a fantastic job, these points are merely taken from my own perspective as a classroom teacher) 

- Craft activity was not developmentally appropriate for younger children (below 6 years old). There were sample works and the organizer/volunteers encouraged them to do it a certain way. I never believe in showing sample work as it kills creativity and ownership. 

- Paint was not children-friendly. In any paint activity with young children, non toxic, washable paint should be used.

- Decoration and Sounds are distracting. There were too much sounds as many activities took place concurrently. The decorations are really colorful and nice but could be too visual overwhelming to some. There could be a balance in black and white space.

Craft work

Personally, I like this event and I could tell that the children were meaningfully engaged throughout. They could share examples of being nice/kind/respectful/grateful and they were really sweet when they told their mummies and daddies that they promise to take care of them when they gets older. The participants are really happy and had fun! It is my pleasure to work with them and I look forward to more projects!

Learn more about the event at @superhero_sg/superhero me festival. They are really talented and their photos speaks for itself.