Analyzing Early Childhood Education and Care in Singapore

This essay provides an overview of early childhood education in Singapore, highlighting the country's approach to preschool services, bilingual education, and teacher training. It discusses the dual system of kindergartens and childcare centers, emphasizing the increasing importance of childcare in socializing children. The essay also touches on Vygotsky's zone of proximal development and the significance of enactive learning. Furthermore, it examines the government's subsidies for preschool facilities, the role of bilingualism with English as the primary language, and the influence of the Montessori theory. The training programs for teachers are detailed, along with the importance of a well-articulated philosophy in preschool programs. The essay concludes by addressing the need for early childhood enrichment, the integration of music and language arts, and the importance of a holistic approach that integrates education, health, and social welfare services.

Running head: EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION IN SINGAPORE
Early Childhood Education in Singapore
Name of the student
Name of the University
Author note

1EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION IN SINGAPORE
Early childhood education is indicative of a branch in relation to education theory that
talks about the teaching of the young children till the age of eight. The early childhood
education plays an important role in the development of children and is crucial for the mental
formation of the children. This essay discusses about the early childhood education in
Singapore and the early years landscape pertaining to education.
Singapore is regarded as a cosmopolitan along with multilingual society. Singapore
was a British colony at the time of the Second World War and in the year 1963 she was
joined by Malaysia. Singapore has got a high standard in relation to living and employment.
The careful planning on the part of the government has been manifested with the help of
social achievements. The national priority within Singapore has been laid on that of the
preschool sector in the modern age when there is the burgeoning of international research.
The preschool services falls under two categories: kindergarten and that of childcare centres.
It helps in reflecting on the split between that of ‘care’ and that of ‘education’. Kindergarten
is an educational setting that helps in supporting academic development of the young
children. The childcare centre on the other hand assume that of a broader function and
encompasses a wide range of areas (Elango et al., 2015). The development of that of
childcare centre has been very dramatic. There has been a great increase in that of child care
center number in Singapore. Child care helps in exposing the children to different attributes
that can help them in socializing with the other children that can prove to be helpful for them
in the long run.
In the event of early education, the teacher should become attuned to the
understanding of the children so that they can lure the child forward to that of new conceptual
understanding. Vygotsky has stressed on the aspect of “zone of proximal development” in
which the learning of the child takes place with the help of perceptive guidance from the
teacher. The pre-school teacher should encourage the children to discover on their own how

2EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION IN SINGAPORE
they can arrive at the solution. According to research, it has been suggested that word
problems instead of three dimensional picture was difficult for the children for solving
(Bredekamp, 2016). The word problems need symbolic mental solution that proves to be
more difficult for the young children. It shows that enactive learning that have three-
dimensional materials can prove to be easier than that of iconic learning that is possessed of
two-dimensional material. Symbolic verbal classification can prove to be hard for the young
children.
The government helps in providing two types of the subsidies that can help in
boosting development pertaining to preschool facilities. It encourages the parents so that they
place their children in the child care centre. The subsidies are provided to the employers so
that the child care center can be established. Bilingualism helps in permeating the aspect of
education within Singapore. English acts as the instructing language at different levels of
education- primary, secondary and post-secondary (Eliason & Jenkins, 2015). The children
have to study another language apart from that of the first language. The second language is
held to be one language from that of Mandarin Chinese, Malay and that of Tamil. English
acts as the language that can help in international communication and it can help in getting
access to that of modernization. High status is provided to that of English, Science along with
Technology. The Montessori Theory of Learning focusses on multi-aged grouping that is on
the basis of period of development (Van Hoorn et al., 2014). The high school years prove to
be a time of intellectual work and the child should go through critical thinking in the early
years that can help them in evolving into a responsible individual. It focuses on the aspect of
independent research by enabling the children to do problem solving.
The teachers have to undergo the three level training programme that can help in
improving the quality of their teaching. The childcare assistant, teachers along with
supervisors are provided with the necessary amount of training at the different levels- basic,

3EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION IN SINGAPORE
intermediate and that of advanced level. The training courses have been restructured after
establishing National Institute of Education in the year 1991. The Level 1 of the training
course dealt with the aspect of pre-school teaching and Level 2 dealt with the management
and administration. They have been provided on consultancy basis and they are considered
equivalent to the advanced courses. The program that serves the pre-school children should
possess a articulated philosophy that should be capable of reflecting the respect in relation to
safety. The materials should be related to that of desired outcomes in relation to quality
preschool education. The quality pertaining to materials will be controlled by the cultural
along with economic reality in various nations. The materials in relation to the pre-schoolers
should be capable of enhancing the factor of socialness that can provide a sense of that of
emotional safety (Moss, 2014). It can help in reflecting respect in relation to familial along
with cultural experiences pertaining to the child. It is of crucial importance that change from
home to the school should not be very sudden that can cause that can cause psychological
stress.
It has been found that music and rhythm can serve in enhancing the pleasure
pertaining to language learning for the children. The pre-schoolers should be able to get
assistance in relation to learning so that they can emphasize on aspects of curricular
components. The integrated music along with language arts program can help in fostering
oral along with listening skills of the children. This can help in enhancing the aspect of
communicative competence and promote the aspect of English language learning by that of
young Asian children (Wood, 2014). The teachers can sue the small book of the rhymes that
they can make use of in classroom with that of Singapore children. The rhymes can help in
reflecting the themes that are familiar to the children like special foods or that of animals.
Training materials should be provided to childcare teachers that can help in making the
rhymes enjoyable to the children.

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The young children needs that of early childhood enrichment. The boosting in relation
to early learning are important for the children who have got developmental difficulties. The
parents want their children to learn the self-help skills like that of self-feeding or that of self-
toileting (Roskos, 2017). The teachers should teach functional academics like social
relationship skills along with life skills that are community-based. The curriculum planning
in relation to these children should take into account co-ordinated consideration of the
preferences of parents along with the caregivers.
In the present age, there is the dearth of linkage between that of pre and that of
primary schools. Pre-school services within Singapore should be underpinned by that of
holistic approach within which children along with families can be supported with the help of
a integrated network in relation to the programmes. Education, health along with the social
welfare should be able to work together. Information along with knowledge should be shared
that can help in the creation of a layered support in which the teachers feel supported so that
they can bring about changes.

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References:
Bredekamp, S. (2016). Effective practices in early childhood education: Building a
foundation. Boston: Pearson.
Elango, S., García, J. L., Heckman, J. J., & Hojman, A. (2015). Early childhood
education (No. w21766). National Bureau of Economic Research.
Eliason, C. F., & Jenkins, L. T. (2015). A practical guide to early childhood curriculum.
Pearson.
Moss, P. (2014). Transformative change and real utopias in early childhood education: A
story of democracy, experimentation and potentiality. Routledge.
Roskos, K. A. (Ed.). (2017). Play and literacy in early childhood: Research from multiple
perspectives. Routledge.
Van Hoorn, J. L., Monighan-Nourot, P., Scales, B., & Alward, K. R. (2014). Play at the
center of the curriculum. Pearson.
Wood, E. A. (2014). Free choice and free play in early childhood education: Troubling the
discourse. International Journal of Early Years Education, 22(1), 4-18.