Singapore
“Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old, he will not depart from it” Proverbs 22:6. I believe what this verse is implying is the values that the child has been taught from young will be the ones that they will hold onto for the rest of their lives. With the knowledge gained from my diploma in Early Childhood Development and Education, along with my creative thinking, interpersonal and communication skills and varied early childhood experiences, I hope to provide children with extraordinary learning experiences to cultivate positive values which will shape them for their rest of their lives. From my diploma, I have acquired knowledge and skills to create learning opportunities to cater to children with different learning needs and abilities, across the various learning areas through modules such as “Early Numeracy”, “Language and Literacy” and “Motor Skills Development”. My modules “Business communication” and “The Professional and Reflective Practitioner” taught me on how to communicate in a professional work environment. My modules “Working with The Exceptional Child” and “Early Intervention and Teaching Approaches” taught about how I could create an inclusive classroom environment for all my children regardless of their impairments and disabilities. My local and overseas experiences have also allowed me to edify my abilities as an aspiring early childhood educator. In the local early childhood scene, I have been through internships with centers such as Cherie Hearts @Limbang, Creative Thinkers Preschool, and PCF @Bukit Batok Blk 206. Through those internships, I was able to interact with the children, conduct story reading sessions and craft and execute engaging and meaningful lesson activities for the class. I am also serving as a teacher in the children’s ministry where I could cultivate class management skills and design lessons that would be engaging and meaningful for my children. I also worked as an assistant football coach to help facilitate the drills for the children to imitate. This job trained my interpersonal and communication skills when I engaged them. In my overseas experience to countries such as Cambodia, Tanjong Pinang and the Philippines, my team and I also planned arts and crafts for the local children and played different games, conducted skits and sang songs with them. Though they may all be ordinary seeds at first, I seek to provide holistic learning experiences for my children, ones that they will remember for the rest of their lives, so that they can bloom to become individually unique flowers.
Description: Having a strong interest in the F&B industry, I went to one of my favorite restaurants to apply for a position. In that time, I was assigned to be a salesperson to promote the restaurant to various individuals and I did so by either going door to door or going up to them directly. Responsibilities: Engaged the public about the restaurant by interacting with them and handing out flyers Key Learning Points: As a salesperson, I was able to come up with a tagline that captured the attention of the public. I also learned about the importance of strategic planning as I planned which location I should head to best approach the public and was also able to further gain confidence in my speaking abilities and in approaching strangers.
Description: During my school holidays, knowing my background and passion for early childhood and football, my friend contacted me regarding a job offer as an assistant football coach where I had to manage a group of primary 4 to primary 6 children. I did not hesitate to pick up the job, knowing that it could help me broaden my horizons in taking care of children beyond the preschool age group. Responsibilities: Facilitated the children in conducting shooting, passing and dribbling drills Correct their footwork Advise tactics for the children Interacted with children during break times Conducted training matches Key Learning Points: In that time as an assistant football coach, I learned how I could apply the class management and teaching strategies that I had learned in my diploma to the training sessions and communication and interpersonal skills when communicating to them on and off the pitch.
Description: In Year 3 of my diploma, I was assigned to PCF Sparkletots preschool for a duration of 6 months where i helped manage a N1 class (Children aged 2-3 years old). During my internship, I got the opportunity to interact with the parents and observe the gradual growth and development of my children over the 6 months, which really excited me. Responsibilities: Aided the teacher in preparing and executing lessons Distributed lunch and tea for the children Organized and kept the children’s cots before and after nap time Prepared the children’s milk bottles for their nap time Interacted with the children by reading stories to them and playing their toys with them Conducted story reading sessions for the class Crafted and implemented 10 lesson plans Designed a calm down corner Key Learning Points: From this internship, I learned more about classroom management and child management strategies and the importance of the parental relationships with the teacher in order to extend the child’s learning from home to school. I also learned more about how I could adapt my lessons to best suit the needs and abilities of every child and how continuity in lesson plans aided children to scaffold and grow in their learning. This internship has also taught me to become a more confident educator and allowed me to gain perspective on the various forms of family cultures, backgrounds and values in my classroom and how they affected my children’s character.
Description: In year 2 of my diploma, I was assigned to a one-month practicum which was held at Creative Thinkers Preschool and helped manage a N2 class (Children aged 3 to 4 years old). I really enjoyed my experience at the preschool as I was able to implement the lessons I created in a real-life context and seeing the children being thoroughly engaged in the lessons was heartwarming Responsibilities: Aided the teacher in preparing and executing lessons Distributed lunch and tea for the children Organized and kept the children’s cots before and after nap time Interacted with the children by reading stories to them and playing their toys with them Conducted story reading sessions for the class Key Learning points: From this practicum, I learned how to plan lessons based on the children’s interests, various abilities and needs in order for the lessons to engage and challenge them appropriately, which in turn trained my ability to adapt to new situations. Implementing my lessons also allowed me to learn new classroom management strategies and gain confidence of teaching in front of a crowd.
Description: In year 1 of my diploma, in order to gain hands-on experience, I was attached to a preschool named Cherie Hearts@ Limbang where I had to attend weekly practicums over the period of 3 months. During this time, I helped manage a N1 class (Children aged 2-3 years old) and a K2 class (Children aged 5-6 years old). Responsibilities: Assisted in preparing lesson materials and executing lessons Distributed food and feeding of children during the mealtime Prepared the children’s milk bottles for their nap time Organized and kept the children’s cots before and after nap time Key Learning Points: The practicum gave me a varied learning experience, in teaching me how to plan and execute engaging lessons for children of different age groups and in making me more aware about the different responsibilities that an educator has to carry out to take care of children.