OUR CURRICULUMCore Academic & Enrichment Programmes

MindChamps International PreSchool’s unique curriculum is the result of over a decade of research and development in the 3 domains of Psychology, Neuroscience and Theatre. The curriculum nurtures all aspects of your child (18 months – 4 years) and includes world proprietary academic and enrichment programmes.

Core Academic & Enrichment Programmes

MindChamps International PreSchool’s unique curriculum is the result of over a decade of research and development in the 3 domains of Psychology, Neuroscience and Theatre. The curriculum nurtures all aspects of your child (18 months – 4 years) and includes world proprietary academic and enrichment programmes.

Core Academic Programmes

Fun with Language™

A wide range of quality literature is provided and children have the opportunity to read for their own interest, pleasure and general knowledge. Fun with Language ™ is specially designed to create highly successful future readers, writers and storytellers through fostering an enjoyment in children of being read quality children’s literature that is brought to life in an engaging and dynamic manner.

The Love for Chinese Language™

Conducted 1 hour a day (½ hr AM & PM) for the Playgroup to Nursery 2 levels, The Love for Chinese Language™ enhances the child’s language communication skills in the areas of reading, listening, engaging and writing. Taught in a fun and interactive way, these lessons involve elements of drama, music, song and movement. Children deepen their understanding of the structures of the Chinese language, while providing themselves with the invaluable ability to communicate with a wider range of people.

Inquiry Moments™

Inquiry Moments™ encourage an active learning and thinking approach through which the children construct meaning from experience about the social and physical world that surrounds them. Inquiry Moments™ are demonstrated by wondering, exploring and investigating (collecting data), classifying, analysing, synthesising and theorising. Their developing theories are applied and verified or modified, by expressing their ideas in a variety of mediums through play and reflection.

Numeracy Strategies™

Numeracy Strategies™ are developed within the program through physical grouping and counting exercises, musical Pre-Numeracy exercises, the physical manipulation of numbers and groups, shapes and patterns, and through calculating and experimenting with combinations of money denominations by participating in ‘real life’ money calculation exercises. The latest research demonstrates that the developing minds of younger children grasp the complexities of the world through experience, experiment and understanding, and the MindChamps International PreSchool approach is ideally suited to help these young minds make the necessary connections to build an understanding of numerical concepts.

Enrichment Programmes

Music for the Mind™

Music is vital to the development of language and listening skills. Music and language arts both consist of symbols that when used in combination, abstract concepts become more concrete.

Music experiences are brilliant neurological exercises vital to intellectual development. By combining the rhythmic movement with speech and song, children are being given the opportunity to further develop their minds, particularly in the areas of ‘inner speech’ and ‘impulse control’ which contribute to language development, self-management and social skills.

By providing planned strategies that integrate music, movement, dance and creativity, children are led to explore, enjoy and solve problems to enhance their creative potential.

NeuroMooves™

The NeuroMooves™ program is designed to enhance both the physical and neural growth so that children will explode into learning. The activities are fun and enjoyable to enrich children’s experience in whole-brain learning. Not only will they equip them with core skills needed for sports and games, but they are especially effective with academic skills. The model is holistic and complete, and aims at achieving optimal connection between the physical body, mental perception and emotional feeling in children.

Creativity & Theatrical Strategies™

The overall objective of MindChamps’ Theatre Unit is the creation of a play for presentation at the end of each term. After reading a designated story, the children will then re-write the ending of the story and script this new ending as the final scene of the story. Apart from developing their written and oral language skills, this process also helps to boost their confidence. The focus of this activity is on the creative process, using role play as the main vehicle.

Gourmet Moments™

Gourmet Moments™ covers important aspects of development that affect the way children learn. It provides children ample opportunities for creative, associative thinking and cognitive development. It also offers opportunities to develop language and communication skill that they need throughout their life.

Gourmet Moments™ offers opportunities for children to make observations, to ask questions and to compare. They can observe a range of ingredients used. By looking at and talking about food from around the world and food for special occasions they will become aware of the wide variety of food provided. Activities such as dough making, as well as making fruit salad and biscuits will give children the opportunity to describe materials and to talk about similarities, differences and changes.

THE S.M.I.L.E.S™ METHODOLOGY

The S.M.I.L.E.S™ methodology is an environment of engagement and security of nurturing and exploration. It prepares the brain for optimal growth and anticipates the future development of the 3 Minds.

The acronym S.M.I.L.E.S™ stands for: Sensory, Motor (Music and Movement), Intellectual, Linguistic, Emotional and Social. It is a principle which acknowledges that brains, in their formative stages, need all aspects of the mind stimulated simultaneously – and that all activities (even the most mundane) contain the potential for providing experiences that engage all of the S.M.I.L.E.S™ elements.

By constantly focusing on the creation of S.M.I.L.E.S™ activities (or the expansion of existing ones to encompass the S.M.I.L.E.S™ methodology), the MindChamps teacher or ‘educarer’ becomes a potent source of age-appropriate stimulation for a mind hungry for the building-blocks of intellect.

THE BAMBOO METAPHOR

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The symbol of MindChamps International PreSchool is the bamboo plant, one of the most successful plants in the world, because of the ‘preparation’ it goes through underneath the ground, before the extent of its development is apparent.

A bamboo plant spreads by first extending roots and tendrils beneath the soil, giving the plant a firm hold on the essentials of water and nutrition – and an extensive physical foundation to sustain the mature plant – before the first shoots appear the surface. Once it begins to ‘shoot’ however, it does so quickly and efficiently, because all the required elements are in place. The mature bamboo plant is resistant to almost all natural threats in its environment because it is flexible and every element of its structure support every other.

The lesson of the bamboo can be applied to great effect when developing foundation programmes for young learners. MindChamps International PreSchool introduces and carefully nurtures ‘foundation’ skills and strategies designed to create a cumulative effect, gradually developing competence in all key areas of development.

The 10 Key Roots of the Bamboo

Building on this metaphor, the 10 ‘key roots’  are the learning and development strategies which will underpin a young child’s mind, social and intellectual growth throughout childhood and into adulthood:

Key Root 1: Champion Values and Emotional Intelligence Building Strategies

Champion Values and Social Skills are more important today than ever before, and they are learned young. Fear, of public speaking, of sharing our ideas – even fear of rejection – is a learned response; a behaviour programmed in childhood and lodged in the non-conscious mind.

Our young children need to develop their self-confidence and social skills – including their empathy and compassion – at an early age.

Key Root 2: Creativity and Theatrical Strategies

Young children learn best through hands-on experiential activities – as exemplified in MindChamps’ ‘Crafted Play’. MindChamps’ Theatrical Strategies are developed from solid, established theatrical principles and practices.

Creativity and creative expression are developed through exploration of diverse media, and through the employment of generative questions.  Creativity & Theatrical Strategies are designed to engage young minds and bring life to every aspect of the curriculum.

Key Root 3: Associative Thinking & Cognitive Strategies

Associative Thinking and Cognitive Strategies are developed in the programme through ‘relationship and connection’ questions and exercises, ‘cause and effect’ questions and exercises, problem-solving activities, and numeracy-based, language-based and inquiry-based learning activities.

Key Root 4: Communication Strategies

With communication skills being critical to success in the 21st  century society, laying strong preschool foundations for language and communication is essential.

Communication Strategies are developed in the MindChamps PreSchool programme through a variety of engaging social language activities, which enable young children to develop their own responses.

Language skills are further enhanced through the specialised MindChamps Natural Literacy and Reading and Writing programmes.

Key Root 5: Narrative Intelligence Strategies

MindChamps’ Narrative Intelligence Strategies are designed to build a child’s mastery of learning domains through their natural affinity with stories and metaphors. These strategies are designed to create successful future readers, writers, storytellers (and learners), and provide an environment that nurtures the child’s love for story and reading.

Key Root 6: Language and Reading Strategies

This approach is based on the latest scientific research into language acquisition and the importance of a child’s engagement with language, rather than the discredited ‘drill and kill’ approach.

MindChamps has developed the ‘MindChamps Reading and Writing’ and ‘The Love for Chinese Language’ programmes especially for pre-readers and emerging readers.

They incorporate age-appropriate activities, including our unique ‘Say and Sing’ approach to developing phonemic and phonics awareness.

Key Root 7: Numeracy Strategies

These strategies lead children to see several possible pathways to the final answer.  Children learn to focus on the ‘how’ (process) of arriving at the answer – as opposed to simply memorising the algorithm (conventional method) for reaching the answer.

Fun numeracy activities lead children to understand the logic of numbers, number structures and patterns. Children also develop their own written and verbal language responses to number facts and relationships.

Key Root 8: Nature and Environmental Awareness Strategies

In a world where the environment is endangered, our children’s generation will need to act positively and effectively in relation to protecting the ecology.

Our Nature and Environmental Awareness programme is an on-going priority and is developed in the curriculum through the exploration of themes: Me, My Family, My Friends, My Community and My World.

Key Root 9: Movement for the Mind Strategies

Decades of research have shown a strong and positively connected relationship between certain movements and cross-lateral neural development.

MindChamps NeuroMooves™ programme is scientifically designed and uses a variety of engaging and exciting developmentally appropriate activities, such as coordinated cross-lateral movements to help our children develop gross motor skills, musical intelligence, coordination and balance.

These developments help provide better blood-flow to the growing brain while laying neural foundations for a wide range of thinking skills.

Key Root 10: Music for Learning and Life Strategies

Music is important in developing shared neural networks and integrating conceptual development in all areas of learning and social-emotional growth.

This is a new and exciting area of study in neurology and psychology, and in this area – as in many others – MindChamps PreSchool is significantly ‘ahead of the curve’!

Music, used in accord with the latest scientific research into integrated cross-domain learning, is the root that connects and empowers all the other roots, making Music for Learning and Life, a unique and vitally important development in the area of early childhood education.

WHAT MAKES A MINDCHAMPION?

The MindChamps Education and Life Philosophy of 100% RESPECT, Zero Fear nurtures children to become young Champions, distinguishable by the following 10 values:

  1. I am Confident
  2. I am Grateful
  3. I have Integrity
  4. I am Self-reflective
  5. I Focus on the Beauty in Others
  6. I Embrace Setbacks as SetUps
  7. I Value Feedback as a Seed for Growth
  8. I am Creative
  9. I am Compassionate
  10. I am a Life-long Learner