In collaboration with new Punggol Regional Library, our little ones at Woodlands Centre were busy working hard during December 2022. Punggol Regional Library held a soft launch on 30 January, opening just the first two floors which have specially curated spaces for children's interactive learning. They also offer accessible spaces and facilities that caters to the community with added needs or disabilities.
To create awareness about how children can do their part in their own classrooms to help integrate their classmates with needs, they worked together with their teachers to create artworks that make learning more enjoyable and accessible for all. Based on selected Eric Carle books, they brainstormed on how to make reading more interactive and multi-sensory to cater to different groups of children with various learning needs and disabilities. Marsiling Centre was also treated to an exclusive tour of the Library, where our children got a chance to meet with Minister for Communications and Information, Mrs Josephine Teo and Senior Minister of State for Communications and Information, Dr Janil Puthucheary. See if you can spot PPS in the news!
Marsiling Centre at the soft launch & tour on 30 Jan
PPS had the honour of attending the official opening of Punggol Regional Library on 5 April 2023, where Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Lawrence Wong was the guest-of-honour. All 5 floors of the biggest library in Singapore were finally open to public, with dedicated spaces that will appeal to children, teens, and working adults!
Do head down to Punggol Regional Library, Level 2 to take a look at our children’s work and explore the exciting new space. Meanwhile, you can take a closer look at the motivations behind each artwork below.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
Visual impairment means a person's eyesight cannot be corrected to a "normal" level.
Therefore, pop-up items were created to help children feel the items as they are being counted in the story. Then, the children decided on the colours they wanted to give to the items and pasted textured materials onto them. The additional tactile experience helps someone who is visually impaired to follow the story in a more
immersive manner as compared to just listening to it being read.
The Very Busy Spider
Autism, or autism spectrum disorder (ASD), refers to a broad range of conditions characterized by challenges with social skills, repetitive behaviours, and speech and nonverbal communication. Thus, the children created puppets by painting them and adding detailed features to enhance the characters further. Next, the children used the puppets to act out the story, which helped with expression and communication.
Brown bear, Brown Bear, What do you see?
Cerebral Palsy is a group of disorders that affect a person's ability to move and maintain balance and posture. The board book with visual guides assists children in clapping when a keyword in the story is mentioned. The teacher had co-created with the children with the artworks, using the paint stamping technique to create the characters in the story.
Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?
The term "hearing impaired" is often used to describe people with any degree of hearing loss, from mild to profound, including those who are deaf and those who are hard of hearing. Using pictorial sign language helps children 'see' the story as it is being read. After watching the story being read in sign language, the children learnt about hearing impairment and how sign language help people who cannot hear.
Next, the children learned about the sign language of the letters of the alphabet, and using the recycled boxes, the children decided to create a story in a box. Finally, the children drew the animals and picked the colour and materials needed to create the 3D animals.
The Tiny Seed
Speech and language delay means a child cannot use words or other forms of communication at the expected ages. So, the children and teacher decided to use pebbles to create the craft work. After giving the pebbles a base colour, the children asked the teacher to help them paint them, starting from the seed, the sprout, and finally, the grown plant. After which, the children used the pebbles as story pebbles to retell the story.
Do You Want to Be My Friend?
Down syndrome is a condition in which a person has an extra chromosome, which can cause both mental and physical challenges for a child. The sequencing puzzle helps children to use the pictures to sequence the story as it is being read. The teacher co-created with the children for this craft work; the children picked out three animals – a hippo, a monkey, and a giraffe. Each child decided on the color and texture of their selected animal. The hippo was pasted with blue buttons, the monkey with small brown seeds, and the giraffe with yellow macaroni.
We hope these artworks will inspire more children to be more aware of the different learning methods their peers may require in the classroom and also learn the importance of being inclusive to these classmates despite their learning needs and disabilities.
At Presbyterian Preschool Services, our Education Support Programme provides a natural environment for children with developmental concerns or special needs to learn, play, socialise and grow alongside with regular peers within the regular preschool setting to ensure that each child’s potential is maximised. Learn more at the link below:
If you would like to support our children via donations, please visit bit.ly/LilBlessings