by on 26/01/2018 4687
Canvas World is unlike your typical kindergarten, it is a learning centre with programmes specially curated by Ms. Ila and Ms. Melissa. Speaking to them was truly an eye-opener because of their passion for education and their dedication in implementing the most effective methods in teaching to make learning fun for children.
The name, Canvas World, has been specially chosen to reflect their beliefs and philosophies. “Canvas” was chosen because when a child enrolls at Canvas World he does so with a clean slate thus representing an artist’s blank canvas. “World” was chosen to represent inclusivity. They do not discriminate. They will accept and provide their very best for each and every child who walks through their open doors. Together "Canvas World" is a wondrous oasis of knowledge and nurturing where children are allowed to discover their strengths, their talents, their interests etc. On this journey of self-discovery, the children will not only discover who they are, they will discover who they can be!
The programmes at Canvas World is unique as all the lesson plans have been designed in-house with personalized learning being emphasized as each child has a different learning style and pace. Instead of teaching with textbooks, hands-on activities are used to capture the children’s interest during lessons. Every activity planned has a purpose, even during fun play and game time. Canvas World believes that having built a solid foundation, the 5 and 6 year olds will find acquiring knowledge that much easier.
For English, Canvas World uses Letterland phonics to teach reading, writing and spelling. The Letterland characters transform plain black letter shapes into child-friendly pictograms and they all live in an imaginary place called Letterland! This simple little make-believe world makes learning so much more interesting and fun for the children.
It is little things like this that will inspire the children to want to learn and remembersays Melissa
The children would also learn to read and write in Bahasa Malaysia and Mandarin through activities such as sand tracing and guided reading. Canvas World believes in the magic of story books, so much so that they have paid a lot of attention to setting up a cozy library corner plus reading corners in every class, filled with children’s books from different publishers and authors. Everyday there would be a guided reading session for all students. Besides that, a weekly story-telling session is also incorporated to stimulate the imagination and creativity of the children.
There is also a weekly “show & tell” period where the children would bring from home anything that is related to the topic of the week. Each child would be given the opportunity to share his story and experience with his peers. This not only makes it more engaging for the children, it also promotes their presentation and communication skills. Using the same concept, children would learn Mathematics through games or objects that they have brought while older children will have slightly more complex concepts such as categorizing, calculating and drawing graphs. Canvas World wants the children to be more involved in the learning process so that they can see and understand the connections and are then able to apply it later on in real life situations.
Aside from the usual academic activities, a weekly session aptly named “Joy Club” has been incorporated into Canvas World’s timetable. The activities carried out during “Joy Club” sessions include gardening, science experiments and cooking – all under the guidance and supervision of the teachers. The activities will be held in a different language each week based on the teacher in charge. In this way, all 3 languages receive equal emphasis and children would be able to train their motor skills too. There is an additional Canvas Club which is offered to children aged 6-15 years old. These classes are usually held on Saturdays and they focus on presentation or creative writing. For creative writing class aka Writer’s Club, students will learn how to produce and publish a story – from drafting, editing, utilizing certain words and finally publishing it. While another class called Stage will focus on presentation skills such as drama, storytelling and public speaking.
Recognizing the importance and benefit of creative writing, Canvas World has also incorporated creative writing into the timetable for students aged 5–6 years old. Through creative writing, the children are able to ignite their imagination and unleash their creativity. Children would be guided to write a short story based on the given word or topic of the week. There is no restriction on the length of the story because the real intention is to motivate the children to express themselves through their stories and to cultivate an interest in creative writing. Teachers will not correct the work of the children as they want to encourage them to express themselves freely.
At Canvas World, the holistic growth and development of a child is of the utmost importance. We noticed that in almost every corner of the kindergarten there are these colorful printouts of the 7 Habits adapted from “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” but have been simplified to make it easier for the children to understand.
Canvas World is definitely not your usual kindergarten as lesson plans are very personalized and will change according to the learning ability of the children. The purpose is to make learning more meaningful for children and to promote lifelong learning beyond traditional schooling.
