Archive | November, 2016

BibiNogs’ Cultural and Educational Exchange with Delegates from Russia, Kazakhstan & Serbia

29 November

On 16 November 2017, delegates from  Russia, Kazakhstan and Serbia visited BibiNogs Preschool at King’s Arcade. The delegates’ goals were to: study BibiNogs’ best practices, understand our curriculum and pedagogy/teaching approaches, as well as to get to know the rich cultures and traditions that exist in Singapore. The delegates were educators, school leaders, business leaders as well as officials from government agencies.

The delegates observed our teachers and children in their classrooms. Our children engaged the delegates in activities as well as put up a performance for them. A lively and fruitful exchange then took place between the delegates and our Teachers, Principals and Directors. At the end of their visit, BibiNogs children presented the delegates with Batik art pieces that they created themselves!

Delegates observed teachers and children in action

Delegates observed teachers and children in action

 

Our Director Joyce made a presentation to introduce BibiNogs' philosophy, curriculum and teaching approach

Our Director Joyce made a presentation to introduce BibiNogs’ philosophy, curriculum and teaching approaches

 

A lively and productive exchange took place. We all learned alot about each others’ education systems and schools!

 

Our children created Batik art pieces that symbolise Singapore’s cultural heritage for the delegates . The delegates were thrilled to receive Batik art pieces as memorabilia from Singapore!

 

The delegates presented beautiful cultural gifts to BibiNogs

The delegates presented beautiful cultural gifts to BibiNogs. Thank you!

 

This was a very productive and heart-warming exchange for the adults and children alike!

This was a very productive and heart-warming exchange for the adults and children alike!

BibiNogs’ Article: Sharing is Having More, “Less” May Mean More.

15 November
By Joyce Lim, Director of BibiNogs

Having repeated this phrase: “Sharing is having more” to my two older kids for almost half a decade, I stopped to ponder as I begin to appreciate the statement more. My extended version – “less” may mean more.

Have we had experiences of buying new toys for our children only to realize that after a week or so, or sometimes merely a few days, they got bored and asked for more? I was chatting with another mummy the other day, she said that her children are getting smarter and they are getting bored of their new toys faster.

Points to ponder:

  • have we created for children a sense of diminishing marginal utilities by introducing more new toys in a shorter span of time?
  • have we not given our children enough time to explore and re-explore their toys and materials?
  • are we too impatient to have them occupy their time quickly so that we could have our own time?

The above were my own reflections as a parent. I do not indulge my kids by buying new toys but they do get new supplies of toys after birthdays and Christmas celebrations. After a while, I stopped opening up the new boxes of toys. People who know me well would know that I love to have an organized space.  To my pleasant surprise, my children started to innovate, re-purpose and re-create their existing pool of toys. Their play became engaging and extensive. They started to creatively use different toys like cars, Lego, dolls, kitchen toys to extend their play.

There will be days when they engage in opening “shops” to sell things or  preparing interesting menus for “restaurants”. If not, the two of them would create different things with their Lego & playdough. The latter would sometimes be props for their other role-plays.

In the beginning stage, they may look bored. However, have patience. Soon after they get over their boredom, the “less” things they have would not work against them, but encourage them to create their own play experiences.

Thus, sharing is having more, “less” may mean more!

The benefits of having less would be:

  • spending less on toys
  • expanding your children’s capacity as they create using “less” toys
  • (if you have more than one child at home) teaching them to co-operate and share as they adapt to the circumstance of having “less”
  • learning to treasure the things they have
Ms Joyce Lim has over 20 years of experience in the Early Childhood Education field and is a Certified Trainer in Parent Education and Teacher Training.

BibiNogs’ Charity Event and Open House 2016 – Donate a Book, Attend a Great Talk, Visit Our Kindergarten

14 November

Every year, BibiNogs organises a charity event to give back to the community, locally or abroad. This year, we are pleased to announce that we will be supporting the NUHS Fund – a fund set up by National University Hospital of Singapore to support children with severe medical conditions needing funds for medical treatment. In conjunction with the charity event, our Kindergarten will be opening its doors for new parents to visit. Come check us out and do some good on 3rd December!

How you can be a part of this:

1) Donate your children’s pre-loved books now (drop them off at any of our centres)! Then come to our Charity Drive and Open House on 3rd December, all the donated books will be sold there and all proceeds from the sale will go to NUHS Fund.

2) Attend a talk by our Director cum Certified Trainer, Ms Joyce Lim, who has 20 years of experience in the Early Childhood field. At the Charity Drive on 3rd December, Joyce will conduct a 45-min Parents’ Workshop on ‘Primary One Preparation: Raising Resilient Kids’. All proceeds from will go to NUHS Fund.

3) Visit our Kindergarten at King’s Arcade and get to know what makes BibiNogs so special! You will enjoy discounts off your term fee if you/your friend sign up for our Kindergarten/Drop-off programmes at the event!

See you on 3rd December! Sign up and RSVP at enquiry@bibinogs.com

 

 

 

Appreciation of Global Cultures – Happy Deepavali!

14 November

One of BibiNogs’ goals is to groom children to be appreciative of global cultures.

Over Deepavali, the Festival of Lights, we not only celebrated the festival but immersed ourselves in a variety of cultural activities. The children discovered so much about the festival! More importantly, the fun and hands-on activities allowed them to understand more about the Indian culture.

Check out our event slideshow below:

https://www.facebook.com/bibinogs/videos/1095115517210373/