Children Drama Center

• Helen O'Grady Children Drama Centre

• Kindermusik Music and Movement

• JumpStart Kidsports

Articles by our staff and advisors (In Chronological Order)

• Mathematics in the Early Childhood Years

• Processes for Learning about Mathematics

• Mathematics Process of Matching

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Speech and Drama Classes by Helen O’ Grady Children Drama’s Centre

www.helenogrady.com
Raffles House is pleased to announce that the school has engaged Helen O’ Grady Children’s Drama Centre to conduct our speech and drama classes as standard part of the core curriculum that we offer to our children. Helen O’ Grady is an established drama school that began in Australia in 1979 and now has thousands of students attending classes in USA, UK, South Africa and Asia. Below is a snap shot of the type of programmes, which the children will be undergoing during the speech and drama classes.

Playgroup: “Development through Drama - Creative English Enrichment”
This will include finger play activities, songs, rhymes and language / speech development activities.

Nursery 1: “Express yourself! – Creative English Enrichment” (1)
Children will learn how to express themselves with energy, enthusiasm and confidence. Weekly interactive drama, movement to music and storytelling activities will capture your child’s imagination, promote analytical thinking and explore creative thoughts.

Nursery 2: “Express yourself! – Creative English Enrichment” (2)
We will introduce a variety of stories to encourage conversation and creative thinking skills. In addition the Movement Skills Development Programme from our International Drama Curriculum encourages body expression, awareness and an appreciation fro music and mime.

Kindergarten: “Drama Develops Kids!”
In this programme children develop confidence and skills in verbal communication. Helen has a thirteen - year curriculum so students never repeat a single lesson.

In 2004 we will introduce a new set of curriculum materials which covers the following activities:

• Introductory Activities to develop Ad Lib skills and Multiple Sentence Flow.

• Speech Training Exercises to promote clear speech and vocal expression

• Movement and Dance Drama Segments to introduce the importance of non-verbal communication and explore the use of gestures, body language and expression.

• Creative Drama Stories to involve each student in the creation of short drama scripts, which will explore many social issues like caring, sharing and the importance of family, friends the environment and the imagination.

• Snippets to increase the language development of each student, as they devise simple short scenes and act out, thus developing audience awareness and confidence.

• Play Productions or Performance Items are presented once a year to develop confidence and the art of performing.

(Materials used: Helen O’Grady International Pte. Ltd Drama System – Introductory Level)

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Kindermusik, an Internationally acclaimed Music and Movement program in our extra-curriculum activity.


Raffles House is pleased to offer Kindermusik music and Movement program to our children in our extra-curriculum activity.

How does Kindermusik enhance learning in our children:

• Music nurtures a child's cognitive, emotional, social, language and physical development.

• Excites your child's imagination and creativity

• Creates a learning environment that integrates music, expressive language, peer interaction and pretend play.

• Challenges your child through activities that promote problem-solving, decision making and ideas expression.

• Allows your child to have an active role in the development of music and movenent activities.

• Music making and music listening activities develop self-discipline, as well as
critical and creative thinking skills.

• Learning process includes use of a set of Home Materials which contains high quality music on CD, Songs and Books, Specialty Instruments and/or manipulatives, parent cards, stickers and/or art materials.

Schedule and Fees

Class Duration: 30 min
Course Duration: 10 lessons per semester
Fees : $130
Home Materials: $58 for Playgroup/N1, $70 for N2/K1

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JumpStart Kidsports, a fun and exciting physical program in our extra-curriculum activity


Jumpstart KidSports is a fun and exciting physical activity that focuses on motor skills development for our children. It teaches children fundamental movement skills and general gymnastics, which are essential for proper development of specialized sporting skills, through carefully sequenced activties. It is a multi-sensory experience for children and includes fundamental motor skill development, basic gymnastic movement, adventure, language and music development.

JumpStart Kidsports is foundered by Ms Carmee Lim. Carmee was formerly Principle of Raffles Girls’ Secondary School and is currently the President of Singapore Gymnastics and the author of the book “Bright Brains: Fun Activities to Unlock Your Child’s Potential”. Carmee’s passion in recent years has been in educational kinesiology and integrating physical play and general gymnastics into the early childhood curriculum. She also holds a Masters of Education in Early Childhood Education.

Equipment Used:
• Gym & Position Met
• Bean bags, foam/plastic balls, foam/donut discs, dice
• Ribbon sticks, scarves
• Ropes, hoops, cones, balloons, tunnel
• Scooter boards, Parachute
• Balance beam, Low Bench
• Drums and Rhythm Sticks, Percussion Instruments and others

Schedule and Fees

Class Duration: 45min
Course Duration: 10 lessons per semester
Fees : $110

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Mathematics in the Early Childhood Years

Rosemary Reuille Irons
Master of Science in Education (Indiana University)
Lecturer in Mathematics Education
Queensland University of Technology, Australia


Dear Raffles House Preschool Parents,

The philosophy of your child's Raffles House Preschool mathematics curriculum reflects the following insights into how children learn and factors that make early mathematics education effective and successful. Your child learns through active experimentation. Direct hands-on experiences are essential in order for learning to be meaningful. Social interaction with other children and adults is a key to successful learning as well as the language that is fostered by the interaction. Your child learns through play, which naturally promotes the learning processes of exploring, experimenting, imagining and creating. Your child participates with resources in a supportive environment and then later work independently. The teacher's role is one of supporting, guiding and facilitating development and learning, as opposed to the traditional view of teaching as the formal transmission of knowledge.

The preschool environment and resources build upon children's curiosity, enthusiasm and intuitive mathematics knowledge. Your child's interests will be fostered by the learning experiences designed by the teachers. The mathematics learning will be "active, rich in natural and mathematical language and filled with thought-provoking opportunities." The teacher will use pictures, stories, and discussion to develop concepts as well as your child will participate with resources to experiment with ideas. Children at Raffles House Preschool will learn with the approach that builds concepts, then skills and supports young children's natural inclination to solve problems.

Over the next few Raffles House Preschool newsletters, your child's mathematics curriculum will be described. This information will help you see that mathematics is a natural part of your child's daily life. Mathematics is more than numbers. The focus is to develop your child's confidence to reason, problem solve and enjoy learning. The next letter will describe the beginning processes for learning about mathematics.

References
Copley, J. V. (2000). The Young Child and Mathematics. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children.

National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. (2000). Principles and Standards for School Mathematics. Reston, VA: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.

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Processes for Learning about Mathematics

Rosemary Reuille Irons
Master of Science in Education (Indiana University)
Lecturer in Mathematics Education
Queensland University of Technology, Australia


Dear Raffles House Preschool Parents,

Problem Solving is a hallmark of mathematical activity and a major means of developing mathematical knowledge. Problem solving is natural to young children because the world is new to them. (NCTM, 2000)

Children develop competencies through the processes of mathematics. Young children are curious and eager to learn. They bring a problem-solving approach to most activities they undertake. They are constantly developing and refining their reasoning skills as they formulate conjectures about their world and test them out.

Communication is a vitally important part of learning. Children clarify their own thinking by sharing and exchanging ideas with others and by recording their experiences, first with pictures and later with words and symbols. We can gain valuable insights into children's thinking by carefully studying these representations of their mathematical experiences.

From the earliest years, children learn by actively investigating their physical world. They hear, observe, touch, taste and smell things that they encounter around them. Learning is an active process of constructing meaning. However active learning and the construction of meaning also require children to think, reflect, justify, represent, discuss and apply what they have learned to other situations. That is why the teacher begins with stories and pictures to discuss what children already know about a topic or concept, such as long or short. The picture is a top shop with many toys showing various lengths, widths and thickness. From what the children say, the teacher learns about each child's development of the concept of long and short. Then the children play with resources and make resources to show the ideas of long and short.

The beginning mathematical processes that your child will actively learn about are listed as identifying and describing attributes, matching, sorting, comparing and ordering. Letters over the months will describe each process. Today the first beginning mathematical process will be described.

Identifying Describing Attributes

Attributes are characteristics, features, qualities, properties, traits, particulars or specifications of objects. Common attributes which young children notice are colour, mass, shape, size, sound, texture, type of material and an object's function or use. When children engage in activities that require the use of senses, they are exposed to new vocabulary and learn words that are relevant for each attribute.

The process of identifying and describing attributes is concerned with the likenesses and differences between objects and pictures. The ability to recognise likenesses and differences is important in the development of children's beginning mathematics. Children should be encouraged to notice detail and to be observant.

Activities should foster a range of language so children will talk about the likenesses and differences of objects. In this way, reasoning is promoted at a very young age. For example, children may be playing with two toy trucks that are the same size and shape, but different colours, or with two buckets that are yellow in colour, but with different sizes. The teacher listens to the young children as they play with toys and encourages them to use their own language. The children use the words 'same' and 'different' in their language, modeled by the teacher to broaden the children's attribute vocabulary. Discussion is the main mode of interaction in this process. Another example might involve two toy whistles. The teacher will ask the children to talk about the objects. The children might talk about the colours that are the same (both whistles are green), colours that are different (one whistle has pink on it), function of the whistles (you can blow them), sounds the whistles make (loud sound, soft sound, shrill sound), size of the whistles (thick, thin) and length of the whistles (long, short), shape of the whistles (round, flat), material used to make the whistles (plastic, metal).

The focus of the mathematical activities as your child begins preschool help your child to be observant and to use language that reveals knowledge of the characteristics and features of objects.

Latter mathematical processes, such as matching, sorting and comparing, are dependent upon the children's confidence with attributes. When children match objects, they choose a similar attribute. In sorting objects, they separate them according to similarities and differences. When comparing, the children determine if an object has more or less of an attribute.

In the next article, we will describe the matching and sorting processes in beginning mathematics development.

References
Irons, R.R (2000). Living and Learning Beginning Mathematics. Brisbane: Prime Education.

National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (2000). Principals and Standards for School Mathematics. Reston, VA: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.

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Mathematical Process of Matching

Rosemary Reuille Irons
Master of Science in Education (Indiana University)
Lecturer in Mathematics Education
Queensland University of Technology, Australia

Dear Raffles House Preschool Parents,

The mathematical process of matching has activities that focus on the 'sameness' of attributes. Children find two objects that have a least one attribute the same. Your child then describes why the objects or pictures match, using language associated with the attribute they have selected. For example, matching a toy bird and toy airplane. The teacher asks, Why do those match? which encourages your child to think at an early age. Your child might say, Because they both fly. The child's response describes function of the real objects. As the teacher encourages children to share matching language and show matching objects this type of activity broadens attribute knowledge about objects in the world. Your child will use the senses of sight, touch, and hearing sounds to find and discuss matching attributes. Learning experiences that involve matching, foster your child's reasoning.

Mathematical Process of Sorting

Once your child is confident in finding two things that have at least one attribute the same, he or she can begin the process of sorting. Sorting involves grouping objects according to one or more attributes. When your child is sorting he or she is working with many objects not just two items. In the Preschool mathematics program, sorting involves the three 'Ds'- Decide, Do and Describe. The main aim is to have your child decide which attributes to sort by, do the sorting and describe the sorting after it has been completed. Many experiences sorting objects in a variety of ways are needed before your child feels confident to describe how and why he or she sorted in a particular way. Children invent their own systems for sorting. The teacher encourages this openness and versatility.

At home you probably sorted with your child when you sorted food by how it is stored- in the refrigerator, pantry, or freezer. There are many resources for the children to sort in the preschool. A child could sort a box of a variety of objects by colour. Your child might have decided to sort the objects by metal and plastic as the attributes. Teachers try to have resources available that will be very interesting for your child. Science is based on classification and your child will have an early start by sorting pictures of animals by habitats and movements. Sorting builds classification and logic concepts that form the foundation for algebraic thinking and work with data analysis in the primary grades. Later in literacy work, your child will be using the sorting process by sorting letters by shape and words by beginning and ending sounds.

As the year progresses, listen to your child as he or she tells you about activities at school. Are you hearing more language and words that describe attributes for matching and sorting? The next letter will describe the beginning mathematical processes of comparing and ordering.