Objectives
We hope to see children go to school with a smile on their faces every day. Therefore, through the “SMILE” concept, we let children learn in a happy, joyful and stress-free environment, and hope that they will become good children with good character, health and happiness.
S: Social Skills: Developing children’s ability to interact effectively with others
Elements: Communication, active listening, teamwork, and problem-solving skills
M: Manners: Developing children’s ability to behave appropriately in various situations
Elements: Politeness, respect for others, and understanding of social norms
I: Introspection: Examining one’s own thoughts, feelings, and motivations
Elements: Self-reflection, self-awareness, and personal growth
L: Language Skills: The ability to use language (biliterate and trilingual) to communicate effectively
Elements: Vocabulary, grammar, comprehension, and expression (verbal and non-verbal)
E: Empathy: The ability to understand and share the feelings of others
Utilizing the concepts and elements of the Education Bureau’s School of Language and Literature (SCOLAR), the curriculum develops a school-based Chinese/English language program, creating a rich and authentic language environment to progressively improve children’s listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills, communication abilities, and reading habits. In addition, there are five English classes daily, one outdoor English learning day per week, and children create their own unique “school-based English storybooks” with their individual portraits.
Learning is integrated into regular activities through the hidden meaning of Smile in school, including storybooks, teaching “Standards for Being a Good Student and Child” at morning assemblies, scout/happy little bee activities, little angels of love, community ambassadors, and good behavior leaderboards. These activities help cultivate good character, build self-image and self-confidence, learn to appreciate oneself, respect and care for others, and become a self-disciplined, law-abiding, and responsible child.
Teachers are driven by love. Beyond exemplary teaching, the school collaborates with the Education University of Hong Kong and participates in the institution’s “3Es Emotional + Social Companionship Program.” This program aims to enhance children’s social-emotional development through a systematic and coherent character education curriculum. Teachers apply the skills and teaching methods learned through the “3Es” (Early Prevention, Early Identification, and Early Intervention) approach to help children understand, express, and manage positive and negative emotions. They also learn empathy, enabling them to better share with others and build positive relationships. This helps children develop the confidence to proactively explore and learn through their environment.
Our school also has a “Good Behaviour List” to cultivate children’s good behaviour.
Diverse and engaging activities, such as Chinese and Western painting, handicrafts, art creation, drama activities, and Orff music, cultivate children’s artistic qualities. These activities inspire children and help them build self-confidence, imagination, creativity, teamwork skills, communication skills, oral expression skills, and problem-solving abilities.
Orff Music:
Adopting the “Orff Music Teaching Method”, experienced music teachers are responsible for leading and designing courses. Through activities such as singing rhymes, playing percussion instruments, body wave and dance, and improvisation, children are exposed to and learn different music knowledge, and cultivate their interest in music.
Each week, there are science experiments of different sizes to allow children to operate hands-on, which sustains their curiosity and spirit of exploration, and helps them learn to think, reason, ask questions, solve problems, and develop various other abilities.
The “3Es Emotional + Social Partnership Program” is used to design school-based emotional curriculum, enabling children to learn how to manage positive and negative emotions, understand their own and others’ needs, thereby building empathy and altruistic behavior, learning to use various skills to build good social relationships with others, and preparing them for the next stage of their lives.
The school arranges different activities and competitions according to the concept of “multiple intelligences”, and encourages participation in various types of activities according to the children’s personal characteristics and interests, so as to realize the children’s potential.
Primary School Transition:
Our school has prepared a series of activities for parents and children in the senior class to help them transition from kindergarten to primary school, including: sharing by primary school principals, parent lectures, distribution of school-based school admission booklets to help parents better understand school admission information, as well as providing children with opportunities to visit primary schools in the district and participate in experiential classes at primary schools, an adaptation period simulating primary school life, and mock interview classes.
The curriculum is designed with Chinese and English elements from the “Standing Committee on Language Education and Research (SCOLAR)” recognized by the Education Bureau.
Chinese:
To promote children to consciously pay attention to various characteristics of the language, such as: vocabulary : recognize different radicals and component ideograms, various word structures, learn to compose meaningful sentences from vocabularies, so that children can smoothly promote to primary school.
English:
In addition to hiring foreign teachers to serve as NET TEACHER, the school also sets up an English teaching team, which is taught by teachers who have been trained in the Standing Committee of Language Education and Research (SCOLAR). Children are exposed to English for no less than 30 minutes a day. Through class and small group study, follow the course step by step to train students’ listening, speaking, reading and writing skills. Knowing the 26 alphabets, learning the rules of English phonics, the pronunciation of vowels and consonants.
Our kindergarten aims to help children develop healthy minds from an early age, enabling them to face the endless challenges of the future, solve problems, achieve goals at every stage of life, and enjoy life more fully. Therefore, we are committed to promoting the “Positive Education 3Es: Emotional + Social Development and Positive Behavior Management” program. This program includes: understanding individual emotions, how to express and manage emotions appropriately, and developing empathy and altruism.
Drama activities can benefit children in many areas, including language, social interaction, emotional expression, cognition, and self-confidence.
During drama instruction, teachers utilize a range of drama strategies and routines, such as teacher immersion, pantomime, spatial utilization, role-playing, and group discussion strategies, to achieve comprehensive development in a relaxed and engaging atmosphere.
Thus, through drama performances in each thematic lesson, we aim to enhance children’s language expression, imagination, thinking, creativity, and problem-solving abilities. It also helps strengthen children’s self-confidence and cultivates their cooperative and communication skills. Through hands-on experience and exploration, they learn how to build their identities and understand the people and things around them.
Thus, a simple story can contribute to children’s holistic development in terms of knowledge, skills, attitudes, and moral and emotional development. Children also gain confidence and the courage to express their personal feelings through immersion in their roles! We hope that drama instruction will bring joy to every class for both children and teachers!
The Education Bureau’s “Kindergarten Curriculum Guide 2017” clearly states that free play is crucial for children’s learning and overall development. Furthermore, the Hong Kong Committee for UNICEF recommends that preschoolers engage in at least one hour of free play daily. Therefore, to satisfy children’s natural love of play, our kindergarten provides children with engaging, sensory experiences that are life-like, and full of fun. Children are the leaders and participate spontaneously in activities. Adults, in a safe environment, allow children to engage freely and play without any restrictions or intervention.
Free play helps children build confidence and self-care, promote fine and fine motor development, enhance language skills, cultivate social skills, develop self-regulation, foster problem-solving skills, and enhance sharing and conflict resolution abilities. We hope that during these three years, free play will foster children’s interest in learning and maintain their motivation to learn.