The children's house, TTDI

When a child steps into The children’s house TTDI, the child steps into a world of beauty where he or she is allowed to explore the possibilities in the prepared educational environment that’s carefully planned for him/her. Every object, letter or number is designed for a precise purpose, and every bead, knobbed cylinder, skittle, etc. has a designated place for it to be orderly kept – all within the reach of the child to do his/her work. Welcome to the world of Montessori!

Housed within a quaint red and white house, this TTDI branch opened its doors back in 2009 to meet the needs of the growing community in this suburb. To this day, it continues to adhere to the Montessori method of education developed by Dr Maria Montessori where every child is allowed to grow comfortably at his or her own pace. At the core of every aspect of the school is respect – respect for the children, respect for the teachers, respect for each other and even respect for the materials. In this intimate TTDI community, everyone is part of a big family deeply committed to helping the child reach his/her full potential. “We trust that we are doing our part to nurture the bright young minds at the TTDI preschool in a way that they will always want to give back to the community that has always been so supportive,” says Ms Clairessa, the principal of The children’s house TTDI.

The principal – Ms Clairessa

Ms Clairessa started her journey at The children’s house as a teacher 13 years ago. After 8 years into her role of ensuring the children in her care learn and grow effectively, her great work and passion in education placed her at the helm of The children’s house TTDI as the principal. Her warm, friendly demeanour – a quintessential trait of all teachers at The children’s house – and reassuring manner have led parents to gain trust in The children’s house TTDI to be the preschool for their children. “At The children’s house TTDI, we welcome you to enjoy and celebrate every step in your child’s learning process as they develop into compassionate, confident, independent and socially responsible individuals,” adds Ms Clairessa.

Montessori programmes for 18 months – 6 years old

The children’s house TTDI offers a Montessori Playgroup Programme for 18 months to 2.5 years, and a Montessori Junior (Nursery and Preparatory) Programme for 2.6 to 6 years. The preschool provides extended hours until 3 p.m., during which extracurricular activities such as Young Thespian and Young Einstein are available.

Honing innate abilities through trust-building activities and motivational routines

Each programme emphasises on preparing the child for the next level with activities that are designed to promote the development of his/her social, emotional, cognitive and physical ability. Here, textbooks are not used. Instead, learning is hands-on to capture young children’s natural curiosity to explore as they try to comprehend their environment. For instance, in Number Work (mathematical skills), the child practises with creative mathematical materials that enables him/her to absorb abstract concepts like geometry and sequencing. The teacher first demonstrates and guides the child, then allows him/her to work on the material, thereby actively engaging him/her in the learning process.

Children are also encouraged to participate in motivational routines, such as putting away their toys, and engage in repetitive activities until they succeed. This leads to a sense of accomplishment and happiness which then cultivates a motivated child.

Every day, children are provided guidance in positive communication and behaviour. Use of polite language and courteous behaviour are focus areas in daily lessons to help the children better manage their emotions, effectively communicate and socialise. The children are guided in vocabulary, and later encouraged to discuss stories and enjoy reading and writing. Teaching, learning and play are well balanced in a way that prepares these little young learners with the skills, confidence and independence they need for big school later on.

To ensure optimal learning, The children’s house TTDI observes a low student-teacher ratio. This enables personalized attention and for teachers to be able to closely monitor the developmental changes in each child’s unique learning journey – parents will be in the know via the LittleLives app, as well as face-to-face communication.

With everything carefully prepared and designed for the growing child – down to the dietitian-approved and allergy-friendly meals – there really is nothing like starting preschool years at The children’s house TTDI.