The benefits of sending your child to a bilingual pre-school in Singapore
We believe every child is born ready, able and eager to learn. Not only do children absorb extraordinary amounts of information from the world around them in early childhood, but they find great joy in education through playing and exploring.
Pre-school is the ideal time to begin your child’s bilingual learning journey. Fluency in English and Mandarin will undoubtedly help their future prospects, but the benefits go far beyond the ability to speak two languages. Parents of bilingual children may find that they are more confident, more tolerant of others, and even able to switch between tasks more easily. Here’s more about what you can expect from the British Council Pre-school in Singapore.
Our bilingual approach to learning
Designed to provide your child with the best of Singapore-UK education, the British Council Pre-school curriculum promotes successful learning through involvement in a language-rich environment.
We offer a bilingual English-Mandarin curriculum in nursery and kindergarten, where both English and Mandarin teachers are present in class. The advantage of this is that children are immersed in a bilingual environment, with opportunities to absorb and practise speaking both languages.
In addition to nurturing your child’s communication skills, our caring and enthusiastic teachers will encourage creativity and discovery of the wider world. Chinese art, music and literature will be introduced to help cultivate a love for learning Mandarin and a connection to Chinese culture.
Learn more about our Pre-school at Tampines
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What does a typical lesson look like?
Our British Council Pre-school curriculum encompasses the areas stipulated in both the Singapore Kindergarten Curriculum Framework (KCF) and the United Kingdom’s Early Years Foundation Years (EYFS). For an idea of what our kindergarten and nursery children learn, our British Council Pre-school teachers have shared two recent lessons:
Kindergarten: Bilingual Literacy with Discovery of the World
‘In this kindergarten lesson, children refreshed their knowledge of how to use a dictionary. Stimulating activities include putting letters in the correct sequence, word races, making up silly phrases, and breaking the dictionary code, resulting in speedier and more confident word finding. To expose children to new ideas, we conducted a hands-on learning experience, Defying Gravity. While working on the experiment, each child learned to predict, observe, and reflect on their learning objectives.’
Nursery lesson: Bilingual Literacy with Numeracy and Music & Movement
‘In this lesson, the topic was: cars! This promoted children to think about how things around us work. Children shared about their experiences riding in cars and different types of cars they see on the roads. To find out more, we read 'My Car' by Byron Barton. The children loved the book! With its large print and bold illustrations, the children started to read along and this became an engaging shared activity enjoyed with rapt attention.
When the children were asked to bring their toy cars for a numeracy activity, they did not need a second invitation. For this activity, we compared the sizes of three vehicles to see which is the biggest/smallest. We have been learning how a car moves and naming some basic parts. Finally, we explored the concept of non-standard units of measurement by using Unifix cubes to measure the length of a fire truck.’
A happy, secure and healthy learning environment
The British Council’s tried-and-tested teaching approach offers children an exceptional foundation for learning. Our mission is to help every child fulfill his or her true potential by nurturing their confidence in a happy and safe environment. Give your little one the best head start in life by relying on our years of experience in educating young learners.