“Connection” is a keyword in Little Atlas Preschool’s SSDB - “We Heartly Connect”. Children’s literature is full of wonder and imagination; it evokes emotions and relationships with ourselves and everything else in our world. Books and literacy media, hence, provided our teachers with excellent material to grow unique connections with our little innovators. Over the span of 10 weeks in April, May and June, we embarked on a remarkable reading journey with the children and made it to social media to post all about it. Fortunately, the Geylang East Public Library is a great resource within close proximity of our campus; our teachers and children borrowed numerous titles to read in class - one new title each day. It made every day a special one.
Check out our hashtags #nlbabookaday #lap388384 #littleatlaspreschool #ssdb2022 #weheartlyconnect #readingisfun #readwithme #SGpreschooleducation to see more!
Research has proven that early reading ignites creativity, sparks curiosity, and stimulates children’s fantasy. It is always amazing to watch how children could verbally share their thoughts about the stories, and different characters, as well as how they feel about certain elements. Despite their young age, we should never be mistaken that children are incapable of sharing thought-provoking interactions with adults. On the contrary, using the right questions and approach, we have seen firsthand the benefits of shared reading and talking about stories; children expressed their interpretation of the world, showed problem-solving skills, and invested emotions into what they had heard or read. Reading is indeed an excellent way to form connections!
Anytime is a good time for a story!
Embedded into our daily curriculum, children engaged in reading with their peers, reading alone, and reading with their teachers throughout the day. On a typical day, our children get to choose one unique storybook to share as a class, then read with their peers in transition and play. Gradually, we see an increased organic engagement with literature where children chose reading stories over other types of play activities, role-playing ideas, getting involved in conversations surrounding pictures and texts, and even requesting books at home! The transformation is magical!
Some of our most popular titles are “Dandelion Magic”, “Giraffes Can’t Dance”, 《猜猜我有多爱你》, and《我有一个探险梦》in both English and Chinese medium, and all could be found in our public libraries! We advocate and encourage parents, teachers and children to come on board with us for a good literacy experience. Start with one book a day, hold a meaningful conversation, and form a deep connection!
