Not every child grows up speaking Chinese at home. Some children may only hear it during enrichment classes or short conversations with grandparents.

To bring the joy of learning Chinese language and culture to preschoolers, Singapore Hokkien Huay Kuan (SHHK) Preschool uses Chinese as a living language to help preschoolers explore, express and connect.

How does this award-winning preschool build Chinese language competence, life skills and character through purposeful play and discovery?

Living Skills in a Bilingual Environment

Preschoolers learn a variety of living skills in a bilingual environment. This is helpful especially for children who entered with little Chinese and do not speak Chinese often at home.

During these activities, these moments of observation and mindfulness build language through interactions with the environment and their class. Preschoolers learn how to use vocabulary in context of life, rather than memorising from flashcards.

For example, at SHHK’s premises at Sennett Road:

• Simple cooking activities at the kitchenette: the teacher explains the steps in Chinese for the children to process, find the correct ingredient, and carry out the steps to prepare the final dish to enjoy after the activity.

• Storytelling at the Living Garden: preschoolers collect natural items such as leaves, twigs, and fruit during a storytelling session. They are encouraged to “look closely”, “think of a story”, and “describe what you see”, in Chinese.

• Treasure hunt outdoors: K2 students look for a series of loose story pages hidden in the Living Garden, and work in teams to collate all the pages into the right sequence to make up the story. Upon completion of the story, the team would read the story together in groups.

• Exercise in the large school gym: The teachers lead students in telematch games that build listening skills, observation, self-control, motor skills coordination, self-regulation, and teamwork—skills that contribute to their executive functioning and future learning success. Preschoolers also practise for upcoming events such as the annual Sports Day in the gym.

Learning Chinese for Everyday Eloquence

SHHK Preschool uses storytelling, descriptive and conversational skills to help students develop a familiarity with Chinese as a living language in everyday settings.

Here are some examples of how students learn to use Chinese to describe their lives and the world around them:

• Lessons around meaningful themes: During a class about transportation, instead of drilling vocabulary, the teacher asks each student to share the type of transport they have taken before. From there, the class starts describing who they travel with and elaborating on what they saw while in the vehicle.

• Science and current affairs: Students learn about current affairs, such as world climate and its components like the water cycle. They assemble art pieces showing rain, clouds and sun, labelled in Chinese, and share how they noticed different types of weather over the week.

• Building a story with teamwork: In the picture above, K1 students were given cards with different Chinese sentences, and they had to work together to re-arrange Chinese sentences in the correct sequence in order to read the entire passage.

Thematic learning like this helps children build language naturally while connecting their newfound vocabulary to real-life topics, whether it’s National Day or Mid-Autumn Festival, or daily experiences such as weather, cooking, and family routines. The more the children feel ownership and personal impact over what they’re learning, the more willing they are to speak Chinese with confidence.

Family Involvement and Appreciating Chinese Culture Strengthens Learning

One thing I’ve learnt as a parent is that children are more motivated to learn when they feel their parents are interested too, and when they appreciate Chinese heritage and history through the Singapore Hokkien Huay Kuan’s legacy.

• Parent involvement: At SHHK Preschool, parents are invited to be a part of their children’s learning experience through family events like Sports Day, cultural celebrations, and even semiweekly flag raising ceremonies at the large field inside the preschool grounds.

• Appreciating the history of Chinese culture: During festive seasons, students and parents learn about the Chinese history in fun ways, such as making tang yuan (filled rice balls) together for Winter Solstice, or watching their children perform a skit in Chinese.

Character, Culture and Confidence

Beyond language, SHHK Preschool puts a strong focus on character education and cultural values.

• Independence through daily routines: Preschoolers learn to wash their hands, pack their own bags, care for the plants in the garden, and clean up after snack time.

• Expected classroom behaviour: The teachers take care to explain and guide preschoolers on expected classroom behaviours, because this is not just about teaching them to follow rules, but enabling them to reflect on qualities such as patience, empathy and responsibility.

• Understanding of one’s role in family and society: During cultural celebrations, preschoolers are taught the stories and values behind the customs, such as why children feed their parents dumplings during the Dumpling Festival, or demonstrating filial piety to their parents by appreciating them with a flower and a sincere “thank you” during Gratitude Day.

Why Parents Choose SHHK Preschool

If you ask parents why they send their children to SHHK Preschool, you’ll hear some common reasons:

• a bilingual environment where their kids find joy in learning even with little Chinese background
• backed by the strong heritage and reputation of Singapore Hokkien Huay Kuan
• caring teachers who teach Chinese culture and Chinese as a living language

Come and visit SHHK Preschool to experience how Chinese comes alive! Book a school tour today or call us now at 6589-9503.

Visit shhkpreschool.com.sg and check out its Facebook page to learn more.

Brought to you by Singapore Hokkien Huay Kuan Preschool.

By Julia Chan.

The New Age Parents – TNAP Awards 2025

Congratulations to Singapore Hokkien Huay Kuan Preschool for being the winner of TNAP Awards 2025 (Education) – Best Preschool with a Holistic Living Skills Programme.

Find out who the other winners of the TNAP Awards 2025 (Education) are here!

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