Partnering Families
Families play an important role in the growth and development of a child. Learning takes place not just in school but also at home. NTUC First Campus (NFC) puts our families at the heart of what we do, partnering with parents to share our knowledge and resources with them for the development of their children.
Discovery Day 2020
Over two days in July, My First Skool organised the Discovery Day 2020, an annual learning and sharing event for its early childhood and student care educators as well as parents. Discovery Day is a platform for NFC’s educators to share their knowledge and resources on improving the quality of nurturing and caring for children.
NFC recognises the importance of high-quality childhood care and education for children from birth to 12 years old, and this year’s virtual event served to provide a platform for educators, parents and members of the public to learn and share. This is part of efforts to increase parent engagement and work closely with parents for the development of their children.
At the Discovery Day, there was a wide range of activities and programmes, with over 450 Mini-Workshops, 3 Keynote Speaker Sessions, 145 Cooks’ Demos, Coffee Chats with Principals and Parent Support Groups, for parents, the public and our educators to learn how to improve the quality and effectiveness of nurturing and caring for children.
The topics ranged from numeracy, literacy, Mother Tongue language learning, STEM-based learning, healthy media and digital devices usage habits and more. For example, we organised workshops on digital literacy to equip parents with practical tips on how they can nurture healthy media habits for their children and how sports can build strong cognitive and mental strength.
Unique to 2020 were topics pertaining to learning during the pandemic. For example, there was a session on digital literacy – to equip parents with practical tips on how they can nurture healthy media habits for their children.
Preparing for the workshop required me and my partner to think of the best way to execute a lesson through a screen. It was a new and interesting experience as it was something we had not done before. However, it was a good opportunity for us to explore a different method of teaching. Knowing that the children and parents could bond and learn from it together motivated me to do the best we can to make the lesson interesting and interactive.
Explaining the pandemic to young children
To partner with parents to educate their children on the COVID-19 pandemic, My First Skool published a bilingual, illustrated e-book on COVID-19, titled, “Covid-19, A Child’s Voice”. The e-book is aimed at supporting NFC’s teachers and parents to share with our children information and help them understand the COVID-19 outbreak, through the medium of storytelling.
With its interesting storyline accompanied with colourful illustrations and simple text, the e-book explains to children what the COVID-19 virus is, how it can affect us and how we can protect ourselves from it. This is the first edition and revised editions will be produced with updated and accurate information as the COVID-19 situation evolves.
Due to the Covid-19 situation, teachers and parents have repeatedly stressed to their children the need to maintain personal hygiene and social responsibility. As a result, many children would have questions about the COVID-19 situation, and the e-book serves as a good read for families at home to reinforce in children how to protect themselves amidst this COVID-19 situation.
Click here to view and download the e-book.
