MOE Kindergarten students explore technology through BRPS’s Applied Learning Program

In Term 2 our K2 students learned about our homes in Singapore. As most of our people live in a HDB flat, our students learned about the unique housing infrastructure planned on our small island that allows many people to have a home.

Through BRPS’s Applied Learning Programme (ALP), our pre-schoolers got to engage in a session where they learned how engineers make use of technology to solve problems. Our students learned that there are Civil, Mechanical, Electrical and Software Engineers who look into “what” the problems are, “who” has the problem and “why” the problem is important to solve.

This preamble to introducing our pre-schoolers to technology had them excited when they were tasked to think like engineers who are attempting to build a tall and sturdy structure just using straw and clay. In their groups, they discussed and tried their best to construct their “building”. Our MK students persevered and did not give up even though their initial structures kept falling despite repeated attempts to make them stand.

Surya from K2 Integrity even teared when his structure fell after his painstaking efforts to build it up. He said, “I was sad that my structure fell after I put in so much effort to make it sturdy.” His teacher encouraged him to try again the next day and to not give up. For Adam from K2 Courage, the experience was a “wow” discovery moment as he learned that he could make a structure by just using straws and clay.

This engaging activity definitely gave our MK children valuable takeaways; to keep trying even in the face of failure. Muhammad said, “I learnt that if I keep trying, the better I will be.” This activity taught our children to have a positive disposition towards a task. Our MK teachers advised our pre-schoolers on how they could try to make their structure stronger the next day. More discussions and determination were heard and seen on the second day of the activity.

At the end our children proudly showed off their completed structures and penned down their thoughts in their K2 Transition Journal. Puiysha wrote “I feel happy because I tried to make the tallest building!”. Our students’ perseverance was an inspiration to our teachers. Ms Su Yi, teacher of K2 Integrity, noted that the time spent on the ALP activity definitely left an indelible imprint on the students.