Preschool education may not be compulsory in Singapore, but most parents, locals and expats alike, still choose to enroll their kids in preschool programs in an effort to prepare their young children for formal schooling.
Some also believe they need the assistance of early childhood professionals to help with their children’s holistic development because they work full time.
Whatever their reason is for sending their kids to preschool, these parents are helping their children in more ways than they can imagine.
After all, the long-lasting positive effects of preschool programs on the cognitive and social development of children are well-documented.
It is worth noting, however, that not all preschools are created equal.
With nearly 2,000 educational establishments for early childhood learning in Singapore, it is not surprising how preschool programs, facilities, and overall quality of education vary.
If you want your child to have the best chance of benefitting from their preschool experience, you need to be more discriminating about your school choices.
When you’re from overseas, in particular, you may want to search for an international preschool Singapore expat families have trusted for years to oversee their children’s early childhood education.
Besides providing high-quality education and exceptional facilities, top international preschools will expose your child to people from various cultural backgrounds, setting the foundation for a truly global education.
That said, your little one will have the opportunity to learn essential life lessons they can carry for a lifetime.
Here are 4 Lessons from International Preschool Your Child Will Carry for a Lifetime:
Table of Contents
Diversity
The value of diversity is one of the most crucial lessons your child can learn when they attend an international preschool.
Because children in such an educational setting will mingle and socialize with educators and other kids of various nationalities, they will learn, early on, to respect and appreciate people of different ethnic backgrounds, religions, and lifestyles.
Essentially, they’ll recognize from a very young age that the world is made up of individuals with different physical attributes, beliefs, and ways of life—not just people who look, talk, and live as they do.
And as they socialize and become more at ease with a diverse set of people, they’ll become more flexible and less likely to develop prejudices and discriminatory stereotypes, even as an adult.
Global Awareness
As a parent, you probably want to raise your child to become a globally aware citizen—someone who understands that there is a bigger world outside of your home country, and can respect and work well with people from different backgrounds for the common good.
However, helping children to have a better understanding and appreciation of the world is not easy.
Traditional preschools will probably teach global awareness through one-off lessons and activities, but these approaches may not be enough to create a lasting impact.
When your child attends an international preschool instead, instilling this concept comes more naturally.
Instead of learning about different people in books, they make real connections with children from various parts of the world.
They get to observe, taste, hear, and experience the lesson, which makes a lot of difference.
Ultimately, your child will learn to recognize the wider world around them and grow up better equipped to function in globalized and multicultural environments.
Tolerance
Although Singapore is a melting pot of different cultures, most people believe that racism remains a crucial issue, according to a survey on race relations conducted by Channel News Asia and the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS).
Given this reality, children, at an early age, should learn tolerance—the ability to accept and relate positively to diverse groups of people.
While regular kindergartens and early childhood learning in Singapore try to develop this trait among their young learners, international preschools offer the best opportunity for kids to learn the value of tolerance and acceptance to the fullest.
When your child plays and makes friends with kids from different cultures, they will learn to dig deep, reach out, and value people beyond how they look, dress, speak, or behave.
This lesson on tolerance will help your child become a broadminded, unbiased, and inclusive adult—the kind of person the world needs today.
Empathy
Empathy, or the ability to understand or feel what another person is feeling, is another valuable lesson your child can learn from an international preschool.
When children interact with people who are different from themselves, they get to know more about them—their lifestyles, feelings, and struggles.
As a result, they appreciate others more, build better connections with them, and realize that other people feel the same things they do despite their differences.
Besides being kind, a child who learns empathy at a young age is most likely to share, help others, and engage in other positive social behaviors later in life.
Isn’t this what you want for your little one?
These are just some of the essential life lessons your child will most likely learn naturally from international preschool—lessons that will serve them well later in life.
Indeed, no other type of early learning establishment offers children a unique opportunity to spend time and make meaningful connections with people from all parts of the world.
That said, make sure to consider early international childhood education as you explore preschool options and decide what is best for your little one.
