Fancy your child painting with Picasso or learning Chinese with Confucius? It could be a reality at Learning Vision’s latest centre at Changi Business Park. All rooms and age-group classes are aptly named after great masters of the arts to inspire the children. The centre is ideally located on ground level of 15A Changi Business Park Central 1, The Eightrium, a mere five minutes walk from Singapore Expo MRT station.
This latest Learning Vision centre boasts an academic staff of 15 highly- qualified teachers that provide infant care, toddler, nursery and kindergarten programme for children aged 2 months to 6 years.
Spanking new facility
This latest centre is located conveniently beside the sheltered drive-way where parents can drop their children off at the curb to the waiting staff member. This eliminates the hassle of parking the vehicle or having to turn their backs towards clingy teary-eyed children.
The first thing that struck us upon entering the carpeted piazza was the fresh smell wafting through the spacious centre. Having undergone a complete renovation with spanking new furniture, the walls and floors seemed to shine. The spacious centre made use of expansive floor-to-ceiling windows that allowed natural light to illuminate the children play area. Cleverly designed storage compartments served as partitions for the different classes while not compromising the space.
Teacher-child ratio
Ms Raudha, a senior teacher at the centre, pointed out that having minimal walls within the different age-groups allowed them to have a sensing of what they could expect in future and to have something to aspire towards. The centre also boasts of an outdoor playground and a massive rooftop garden where children will be brought up to.
The centre has a capacity of 20 infants and 140 preschool children. Based on the physical size of the centre’s area, the figures could have easily swelled beyond. However, Ms Raudha was quick to point out that the roomy spaces were deliberate and that Learning Vision has a strong emphasis on the ideal teacher-child ratio.
According to MCYS guidelines, all childcare centres must have a minimum of 1 teacher to 25 children for kindergarten 1 and 2 levels. However, Learning Vision has a ratio of 1 teacher to only 18 children for the same age-groups. This offers more effective small group teaching and supervision that allows optimal development in the children.
Even for nursery and infant levels, Learning Vision’s teacher-child ratio is well above the minimum ratio as drawn by MCYS guidelines. The children’s education is further aided by the creative materials and modules used by the centre. For example, instead of conventional forms of spelling quizzes, the children learn spelling at their own pace through fun materials and games. This was further reinforced by Ms Raudha who added, “Apart from us, the environment and the materials the children use are also their teachers.”
Hands on approach to learning
The centre boasts an exclusive Chinese learning area, appropriately called the Confucius room. Optional classes such as Chinese classics and appreciation programme are taught here. While the nursery and kindergarten children learn Chinese through various interactive ways, the non-Chinese children will take on optional modules like “Music for the intelligent mind” at the sparkling music room. Classes at the music room will expose children to different musical instruments. From physical handling of the western keyboard to the Indian table, children are introduced to different genres of music.
The little ones are exposed to a variety of music in Learning Vision
There is a strong emphasis towards physical discovery in the centre’s holistic approach towards education. Knowledge is imparted to the children through learning and experimenting. Ms Raudha shared an example of how the teacher would conduct a lesson on water and floating collectively, before splitting the class into groups of four where the children would physically experiment with floats and sinkers in a tub of water to drive home the lesson.
Learning Vision’s Philosophy: A Focus On Learning For the Future
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First steps to a bright future
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Ms Raudha shared that Learning Vision introduces computers and the internet from as early as nursery level. Each age-group class will be equipped with a computer and lessons will also be conducted through research on the internet.
“The children must know how to harness the powers of the internet as they encounter computers in primary school” said Ms Raudah. Plans are in place for the children to send surprise emails to their parents during lunch time.
As impressive as the massive centre is, the main strength of Learning Vision is its strong philosophy on learning and its equally strong academic staff. This was exemplified by Ms Raudah who quipped just before we parted, “At the end of their time here, the children must have positive views on learning. They must understand that learning is a joyful process where skills learnt are life-long.”
To find out more about Learning Vision visit it’s website!
