As a parent of an early learner, between 2 and 5 years, you are probably aware of just how much learning takes place during this age. As a result, you want your child's preschool to encourage this learning and help it to flourish. For this reason, Global Indian International School (GIIS) offers an early childhood education programme for children between 2.5 and 5 years, that creates a superior environment for learning to occur. Using the Global Montessori Plus (GMP) programme, our highly trained kindergarten teachers help our students excel in key developmental areas:
1. Language Development and Communication
2. Personal, Socio-Emotional Development
3. Cognitive and Numeracy Skill Development
4. Motor Skills and Physical Development
5. Art Appreciation
What this means for your early learner is that they enter the programme with clear educational objectives and exit as a well-rounded individual with the skills needed to be successful in primary grades and beyond.
So, how does GIIS help early learners develop these necessary skills?
1. Language Skills and Communication
Our early childhood education programme uses interactive activities, that are also lots of fun, to help children master new skills in comprehension, reading, writing and vocabulary. Age-appropriate Montessori labs facilitate the learning journey of young children and help them develop vocabulary and communication skills.
Activities include storytelling, show and tell, puppet stories, classroom discussions, rhyming sessions and more, to help them develop key concepts, learn new words and refine their understanding of the words they already know. Of course, children don't realise they're actively being taught! Yet, they're becoming better communicators and more reflective listeners as they participate in or master each new activity.
Children under the age of five learn about the world primarily through play, which is why the GMP curriculum is designed to meet students where their interests lie.
2. Personal, Socio-Emotional Growth
Our preschool curriculum encourages students to become internationally minded from a young age, and a value-based learning approach helps them achieve it. Our children are exposed to other cultures from day one, which helps them learn values such as tolerance, kindness and adaptability.
Children share toys and play spaces. They learn to be part of a team and cooperate, concede and collaborate on simple tasks. As they experience success in these interactions, they gain confidence in their abilities. They are encouraged to share their ideas and emotions. And when they are successful, they receive positive feedback from teachers and staff. This helps them develop a positive attitude towards learning.
Our preschool programme believes in nurturing early learners, encouraging them to do so much more than memorising the names of colours and counting to a specified number!
Instead, children learn how to construct their thoughts, solve simple problems and make good decisions. Rather than rote memorisation, students use puzzles, mazes and games to understand how numbers work. They explore, investigate and draw conclusions regarding what they see and experience.
Age-appropriate mathematical experiences challenge young children to explore ideas related to patterns, shapes, numbers, and space. Various activities are designed to fuel the curiosity and visual perception skills of our young learners. In this way, a strong foundation for learning is established, and children are able to build upon it as they progress through grade levels. STEAM activities help them develop their 21st century skills through the use of developmentally appropriate manipulatives. Thus enhancing and honing their creativity and innovative skills.
4. Motor Skills and Physical Development
Movement is a vital activity for very young children. Through activities such as jumping, running, dancing, role-playing and moving between learning stations, they not only burn off excess energy, but they hone fine and gross motor skills as well.
The GMP programme encourages movement through free play, circle time, games and crafts to help students refine skills in balancing, stability and more. Grade-focussed Montessori activities such as stacking small objects, zipping, buttoning/ unbuttoning on dressing frames, using spoons to master precision refine their fine motor skills.
5. Art Appreciation
The arts encompass music as well as visual arts. While children in our preschool programme have plenty of opportunities to draw and paint with various media, they're also exposed to music and all the activities it prompts, such as dancing, humming, swaying and skipping along to the music, singing, playing instruments and actively listening.
The arts bring joy and emotional release for everyone, and young children are no exception. Art appreciation and learning to form independent opinions regarding visual art and music are vital components of our preschool programme at GIIS.
Your preschooler's first educational experience will set the stage for all the grades that come after. Early learning is about more than each child hitting their developmental milestone on time, though skill development plays an important role.
We encourage our young students to have fun, laugh, be adventurous and communicate to grow. And together with a strong pedagogy, based on five pillars of our preschool curriculum, our students flourish in an international environment that emphasises kindness, compassion and curiosity.
And if these goals are accomplished, learning follows organically.
At GIIS, you can choose from our GMP Regular Programme (9.00am - 12.15pm) or GMP Extended Programme (9.00am - 3.30pm) that features additional planned activities for your child. In addition to the learnings and activities conducted during the regular programme in the morning session, the extended programme will include a daily story-telling / manipulatives time, along with enrichment sessions for Dance, Speech and Drama, Art, Free play/Physical Education, Creative fun/Design thinking/ Maker space activities on a rotational basis, each day of the week.
For more information on the key aspects and benefits of our preschool programme at GIIS, please don't hesitate to reach out to us.
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Ms Rajiv has been an Early Childhood educator and practitioner for the past 15 years at GIIS. She heads the Global Montessori Plus (GMP) Programme, supporting kindergarten students in their learning and holistic development to maximise the potential of every student. She has been instrumental in implementing developmentally age-appropriate curriculum that provides a strong foundation for lifelong learning. She is well-respected due to her rich experience in the field and passion for working with preschoolers, helping establish a good rapport with the parent community.