W hen 6-year-old Leo* confidently stepped up to the microphone to represent his class at their “Kindergarten 2 Celebrates!” event last year, Ms Qudsia Juwanda from MOE Kindergarten @ Greendale felt her heart swell with pride.
Just 10 months earlier, she had taken over his class and found the boy silent and expressionless during class activities. He was reluctant to answer questions, responding only with a blink or a nod. Patiently, Ms Qudsia employed various strategies to boost his confidence and encourage him to speak up and connect.
“Consistency is key when working with young children,” Ms Qudsia shared. “Over time, it builds trust and leads to positive outcomes for the child.”
SOCIAL GRACIOUSNESS STARTS FROM YOUNG
In Ms Qudsia’s classroom, fostering children’s social and emotional skills is a top priority. Through a variety of activities and teaching strategies, she aims to build a strong foundation for character building and lifelong learning in her children.
“Social and emotional development is integral to children’s learning. They help preschoolers build a strong and positive sense of self,” said Ms Qudsia. “This is where they start to form important attitudes and skills such as resilience, self-control and self-regulation, which will help them thrive in life.”
For children who struggle with social skills, playing with peers or working in groups can be challenging. To support them, Ms Qudsia offers prompts and reminders, emphasising the importance of taking turns and being attentive listeners.
Beyond literacy, numeracy, arts and motor skills, the English language teacher dedicates part of her curriculum to social and emotional skills development. On “GRAC2E Thursdays”, the class reflects on one school value, exploring its meaning and application in everyday life. GRAC2E is an acronym representing the values at Greendale Primary School, which her kindergarten is part of. GRAC2E stands for graciousness, resilience, appreciation, commitment and collaboration, and excellence.
For instance, when discussing “G” for graciousness, the children shared what it means to be kind and respectful. They wrote their responses on leaf-shaped papers, suggesting actions such as “saying thank you to Aunty for serving us snacks” and “saying thank you when friends hold the door for me”. Ms Qudsia and her colleagues then assembled these “leaves” into a “Grace Tree”, which is displayed along the school walkway. This tree serves as a visual reminder for the children to practise graciousness in their daily interactions.
Charlotte has learnt to voice her opinions and can better understand how to get along with her peers under Ms Qudsia’s guidance. She is proud to share what she has learnt in class and loves to be with her teachers and friends in MOE Kindergarten @ Greendale.”
MANAGING EMOTIONS : THE KEY TO THRIVING
Besides guiding children to be more thoughtful of others, Ms Qudsia helps them understand their own emotions through songs, audiovisual content, stories and puppets. According to Ms Qudsia, being able to name their feelings is an important step in building emotional intelligence. It helps children manage their emotions, regulate themselves, take proactive steps to overcome challenges and form healthy relationships.
In one activity, she provided each child with a small mirror and encouraged them to observe their own facial expressions as they smiled, pouted and frowned. Then, using playdough and paper plates, the children modelled an emotion of their choice. They reviewed each other’s creations to identify the feelings portrayed. These engaging activities are vital in promoting emotional development.
When children can articulate their emotions to me, it helps me calibrate my responses during interactions. Over the year, these conversations also help me build rapport with each child.”
At the start of every day, Ms Qudsia checks in with each child, asking how they are feeling. Visual flashcards on the classroom walls help children recognise and describe their feelings.
“When children can articulate their emotions to me, it helps me calibrate my responses during interactions. Over the year, these conversations also help me build rapport with each child,” she explained.
Ms Qudsia also emphasises teaching empathy. When disagreements arise, she encourages her children to “stop, think and choose”, prompting them to put themselves in the other person’s shoes. The strategy not only helps to develop social skills by cultivating positive peer relationships but also fosters learning dispositions such as reflectiveness and appreciation by encouraging the children to listen to and consider their friends’ viewpoints.
PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT
With 10 years of teaching experience, Ms Qudsia understands that mastering social and emotional skills requires time, patience and repeated exposure.
“It’s important for educators to maintain consistent communication and work with parents to help children develop these skills. I try to share with parents their child’s progress and the strategies I’ve implemented, and I encourage them to apply the same techniques at home,” said Ms Qudsia.
Thanks to Ms Qudsia and the MOE Kindergarten @ Greendale teachers, Naura looks forward to attending school every day and we definitely see her joy of learning when she shares what she does in school. We appreciate MOE Kindergarten's positive learning environment and how social and emotional development is part of its holistic approach to learning.
Ms Qudsia draws inspiration for age-appropriate activities and teaching strategies from weekly curriculum meetings, where she and her colleagues brainstorm and share insights on integrating purposeful play into their curriculum.
Reflecting on her work, Ms Qudsia said: “When I look at Leo’s progress, I feel proud that I didn’t give up on him. Each time I got a silent response, I’d tell myself: ‘It’s okay, let’s try again tomorrow.’ Recently, his Primary 1 teachers shared positive feedback about him. It makes me happy because to me, that’s success.”
*Names have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals.
MOE Kindergarten @ Greendale
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