OUR LEARNING APPROACH
The Bucket House Way of Learning
The pedagogical approach at Bucket House, crafted by our Founding Director, Amber Koh, is a unique fusion of pre-planned activities (structured) and active learning (inquiry), ensuring comprehensive and purposeful early learning experiences. At the core of our approach is the "IEIE" method — Initiate, Explore, Inquire, and Experiment — the hallmark of learning at Bucket House. Our bilingual immersion curriculum, with Mandarin as the second language, is rooted in the esteemed Reggio Emilia Approach. We've further enriched this foundation by incorporating elements from the Singapore Early Years Development Framework (EYDF) and Nurturing Early Learners Framework (NEL).
The Bucket House curriculum strategically divides each term into 6 weeks of structured learning (Initiate and Explore) and 4 weeks of inquiry-based exploration (Inquire and Experiment). This thoughtful structure allows children to benefit from both educator-guided activities and self-driven projects.
The program for the first six weeks 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
Initiate-Explore (Weeks 1 to 6)
During this phase, educators initiate activities within predetermined units. Diverse themes facilitate knowledge construction, exploration of new ideas, and interdisciplinary connections. Themes are non-repetitive, progressing from concrete to abstract, providing a comprehensive understanding. Educators observe and encourage children's inquiries, documenting valuable information for discussions and future inquiries.
​
Inquire-Experiment (Weeks 7 to 10)
In this autonomy-driven phase, students take the lead in exploring their interests. Educators transition into the roles of learners, facilitators, and researchers. Student-led projects encourage exploration, connection of experiences to the real world, and expression through various languages. Inquiry questions stimulate careful observations and interpretations, fostering curiosity and wonder.
​
Open-Ended Exploration with Limitless Possibilities
​
Our curriculum empowers children to take control of their learning, expressing themselves freely with open-ended materials such as molding clay, blocks, paint, and loose parts. Without constraints or predefined expectations, children have the freedom to invent and discover through their personal investigations. This fosters the development of thinking skills and unleashes creativity, enabling children to engage with infinite possibilities.
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