OUR LEARNING APPROACH
The Bucket House Way of Learning
At Bucket House Preschool, we bring together purposeful, structured lessons and inquiry projects inspired by the Reggio Emilia approach. Children build essential foundations in language, literacy and numeracy while developing the confidence to ask questions, explore possibilities and think for themselves.
Both are part of our day. We make time for focused teaching, shared discovery, play and opportunities to put learning into practice.
At the core of our approach is the "IEIE" method — Initiate, Explore, Inquire, and Experiment — the hallmark of learning at Bucket House. We've further enriched this foundation by incorporating elements from the Singapore Early Years Development Framework (EYDF) and Nurturing Early Learners Framework (NEL).
The experience is built around five areas of learning:
Language and Literacy
Numeracy
Health, Safety and Motor Skills Development
Discovery of the World
Aesthetics and Creative Expression
Learning Through Inquiry
A question, an observation or an unexpected encounter can become the beginning of a project that develops over time. Our IEIE method guides this process:
Learning moves back and forth through these stages as children’s understanding develops. Inspired by the Reggio Emilia approach, children express their thinking through many forms, including drawing, construction, movement, conversation and work with different materials.
Our educators listen closely, document the learning and introduce resources and questions that extend the investigation. They bring knowledge and guidance while remaining open to discovering alongside the children.
Through these shared investigations, children practise collaborating, solving problems, working through uncertainty and trying again. These capabilities help them approach a changing world with curiosity, confidence and adaptability.
Building Strong Foundations
Alongside inquiry projects, structured lessons provide focused opportunities to develop and practise essential skills. These experiences are planned according to children’s ages and stages of development, with increasing preparation for primary school during the kindergarten years.
Our programme includes:
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Language and literacy: Phonics, reading with reader books, writing, and age-appropriate spelling and 听写 practice.
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Numeracy: Building an understanding of numbers and applying mathematical concepts through experiences such as counting money and telling the time.
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Everyday independence: Practising how to manage belongings, follow routines, communicate needs and take responsibility.
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Learning with others: Developing confidence to participate, listen, take turns and ask for help.
We connect these skills to meaningful situations so children can understand and use what they learn.
Ready for Primary School and beyond
Preparing for primary school means helping children feel confident academically, socially and emotionally. We want children to recognise words and enjoy the stories they tell; work with numbers and understand how they are used; follow instructions and have the confidence to ask questions.
By balancing structured teaching with inquiry, we support children to enter primary school with strong foundations, growing independence and a curiosity that keeps them learning.
INITIATE
EXPLORE
INQUIRE
EXPERIMENT
When we in Reggio say children have 100 languages, we mean more than the 100 languages of children, we also mean the 100 languages of adults, of teachers.
The teacher must have the capacity for many different roles.
The teacher has to be the author of a play, someone who thinks ahead of time.
Teachers also need to be the main actors in the play, the protagonists.
The teacher must forget all the lines he knew before and invent the ones he doesn’t remember.
Teachers also have to take the role of the prompter, the one who gives the cues to the actors.
Teachers need to be set designers who create the environment in which activities take place.
At the same time, the teacher needs to be the audience who applauds.”
– The image of the child by Loris Malaguzzi, 1993
