The June holiday came and went in a breeze. A few of our new alumni (graduates of 2008) joined our June holiday program and the children were glad to catch up and update each other about their new school and daily routines. It is good to know that our alumni are adapting well and are happy in their new environment.

Ms. Fiona and Ms. Hwee Fung guided the children in their school-assigned homework and the children were keen to embark on their project, which was our main holiday activity. The theme for the project was “Tropical Rain Forest” but the Student Care children wanted to work on animals hence a compromise was achieved with “Animals in Tropical Rain Forest”. Knowing that children will be motivated to complete their task and will learn better if they are interested in the topic, the teachers were glad to make adjustments to their plans to accommodate these changes. We conducted an interview with some of the children involved to have a better understanding of how and what they did during the project work (refer to interview below).

The holiday should not be all work and no play. The children went on a nature walk at Kent Ridge Park on 19th June with our pre-schoolers. These primary children had a wealth of botany knowledge as they could easily identify the shapes of leaves and trees, correctly name the plants that were seen and talked about how seeds were dispersed. Some of them were overheard exchanging notes about what they learnt in school. Parents, you should be very proud of them. The children also participated in a Drama Workshop and went on a Fruits & Vegetable Trail at the Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden at the Singapore Botanic Gardens, as part of our annual Night Camp program. They enjoyed watching a movie and sleeping over in school. The next morning, the Student Care children worked hard in the kitchen to prepare a sumptuous breakfast for their parent, in lieu of our Parents’ Day celebration. The children also enjoyed the various cookery and baking activities planned, producing muffins, rice crispy treats etc. Most of all, they enjoyed playing games and spending time on the playground with their friends.

Interview with Javan (J) 9 yrs , Brayden (Bd) 9 yrs, Sok Mun (SM) 11 yrs, Brigitte (Bg) 8 yrs, Sok Yee (SY) 7 yrs:

Q : How did you go about the project?

Bd : We used the internet and books from the school library to gather information and recorded them in our journals.

J : We researched about animals that can be found in the different tropical rain forest and the location of these forest..

SY : We also found out names of trees.

SM : We know about the animal’s population, where they live, what they feed on and that some of them are endangered.

Bd : Ethan Ho and I drew the world map on a big wooden board by hand and painted it.

J : The rest of us moulded clay into different animals, painted them accordingly and placed them in the appropriate forests.

Q : How long did the group take to complete the project? Are you satisfied with the project outcome?

J : We took more than 2 weeks to complete the project because we had to complete our school work in the mornings and we took turns going on vacation.

Bd : I think we did a good job because it is interesting and Ms. Fiona said it is good.

Q : What else did you do during the holidays

SM : I enjoyed cookery, especially cooking for our parents on Parents’ Day. Now, I prepare breakfast for my family sometimes.

SY : This is my first holiday program and I enjoyed it. I loved the cookery sessions because the teachers allow us to cook by ourselves.

J & Bd : We enjoyed boiling the sausages on Parents’ Day because we can’t do that at home and we love the taste.

Bg : I would like to play more games.