Drawing inspiration from the Finnish system, Reggio Emilia, Waldorf Educational Approach and the British EYFS curriculum, our eclectic approach combines global best practices to create an enriching learning experience for our students with an individualized, play and family-centered approach.
Early Year Programme from Playgroup to Prep
Pre-school at VLC is characterised by days of dependable routine and structure, a set-up reminiscent of home, and a congenial atmosphere which provides children with a sense of security and belonging. This space has been carefully designed to be friendly and aesthetically pleasing, with an emphasis on the use of natural materials. We follow the innovative, in-house developed SNAP (stories, nature, art and play) curriculum.
Learn more...The innovative SNAP (stories, nature, art and play) curriculum of this play-based, literacy-rich environment allows children to thrive and develop according to age-appropriate milestones that have been set out in accordance with EYFS learning outcomes. Having an emergent curriculum ensures that pedagogical practices always remain child-centric, allowing educators to collaborate with, and not dictate to, children on their learning processes.
Storytelling bolsters a child’s imagination and allows them to experience words, sounds and images. This cultivates a range of abilities in children as they learn languages, colours, shapes and much more which play a pivotal role in developing communication skills and cognitive skills. When the child develops these skills, they’re capable of generating a range of emotions making them and empathic individual.
Exposure to nature is a crucial part of daily activities at VLC. Whether it’s through outdoor play, gardening, playing with school pets, creating art with natural material, or our cooking and nutrition program we aim to help children develop a healthy relationship with their environment. Nature has science, math and art embedded into its patterns, textures, colours. Children pick up this information when they immerse in nature play.
Children communicate and express themselves through art even before they learn to write. Art is a multisensory experience for children as they dip their hands in paint and squish it between their fingers or watch in awe as they discover what happens when they mix different colours together. Their little fingers develop fine motor skills as they work on crafts, drawing, pasting creating works of art with little bits of textured material. Children learn best in an environment filled with imagination, creativity, and curiosity.
In early childhood settings, play is the vehicle children use to organize and understand the world around them. In allowing children free reign to engage with objects, people, and their immediate surroundings, we give the children opportunities to explore, create meaning, resolve conflicts and exercise their creative faculties.
From SNAP to STAMP
The STAMP curriculum draws inspiration from the Finnish Education system while keeping in mind the expected long-term learning milestones of the International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE). This unique, blended approach allows us to remain true to our philosophy, while also being mindful of the educational environment and standards that children are privy to.
Elementary school at VLC currently starts with Grade 1 and goes up till Grade 7 in Middle School. A grade level is added each year with the intention to go all the way through IGCSE for those families who believe in progressive education for their child’s wholesome development.
While we grow and integrate the STAMP (science, technology, arts, mathematics, and play) curriculum in to our classrooms, we stand true to our roots with SNAP (stories, nature, art and play) deeply immersed within the core teaching methodology of our more advanced curriculum.
Children are naturally curious and need answers for the latent processes of daily life happenings. Science is taken as an intensely human and creative subject at VLC which helps children nurture their curiosity, experiment, develop problem solving skills, and spark interest in the world of science. Our teaching methodology is largely multi-disciplinary and cross curricular.
We live in an age where digital literacy and the use of technology is of paramount importance as a part of daily life. When used to enable the learning process, technology provides a wide array of varied and complementary learning possibilities. Paired with traditional learning experiences, technology can open up a whole horizon of learning and concepts that are applicable in the present and future.
The arts are used as a tool for channeling creativity, telling stories, and self-expression. At VLC our curriculum centers around process art where the value is in the experience of creating the artwork and exploring materials and techniques. It encompasses multiple diverse modes of thinking, doing and being. Art when integrated with modules such as mindfulness, yoga, carpentry, cooking and more help children process emotions, understand their surroundings and see new perspectives, focus and build self-esteem. It also helps to build such cognitive skills as comparison, prediction, planning and problem-solving
Math is the science of structure, order, relations and logic. It is an extremely vital subject that develops a rational thinking approach and mental order. Math is integrated in every subject, even art. At VLC adapt traditional learning into a more child-centric approach so they pick concepts from real life demonstrations and experiments instead of route learning.
Play which is guided, imaginative, non-directive, therapeutic, engineering, nature immersive and free contributes to self- esteem, motivation, engagement and positive social interactions. It is the primary means by which children explore the world, investigate its properties, and build an understanding about how the world works. Through play students engage in STEM concepts daily, they actively pose problems, explore solutions, and develop understandings of real-world concepts of form and function. Organized play in the form of our various sports modules aids in improved social health, positive mental health and the development of physical skills.
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