Visit to Creative Kindergarten & Day Nursery
Creative Kindergarten & Day Nursery hosted 22 graduate students for a tour on January 22 that highlighted the differences between private and government-subsidised kindergartens. The visit was led by Principal So Wai Ling of the privately funded Kowloon Tong Main Campus, and by District Principals Dr Fung Wai Man (also the principal of Shan Wan Towers Campus) and Ms Au Fung Shan.
The visit provided postgraduates with a deeper appreciation of the distinctive characteristics of Hong Kong kindergartens. The Kowloon Tong Main Campus offers a more flexible curriculum, particularly in setting up French and Spanish language programmes and employing diverse methods to cultivate young children’s global cultural awareness. The government-subsidised Shan Wan Towers Campus, on the other hand, focuses on biliteracy and trilingualism, enhancing children’s language skills, social abilities, creativity, and artistic appreciation through diverse learning activities.
Vice Principal Cheung Ka Lo and Head Teacher Lai Wing Tung of Kowloon Tong Main Campus, and Vice Principal Chen Shan Shan of Shan Wan Towers Campus, provided detailed explanations of the curriculum and the environment. Both integrate Chinese culture into their curricula and environments, including Chinese festivals and the 24 solar terms. They also employ group instruction, with each classroom divided into distinct zones for personalised learning. Under teacher guidance, children acquire new knowledge through crafts, music, and art activities. Furthermore, teachers adapt content according to each child’s learning progress.
Each campus possesses its own distinctive character, closely aligned with the curriculum’s core focus. The Kowloon Tong Main Campus maintains diverse flora and fauna, guiding children to observe and care for nature. Through this process, they gain insight into the cycle of life, cultivating respect and understanding for all living beings. The Shan Wan Towers Campus features an exhibition area for children’s artwork, where students showcase their creativity and exchange ideas with their peers. Notably, every classroom at the Shan Wan Towers Campus is equipped with a washbasin. Principal Dr Fung explained that this arrangement encourages children to engage boldly in artistic creation while enabling them to wash their hands independently afterwards. Such settings in daily routines meticulously cultivate students’ self-care abilities.
Postgraduates enthusiastically engaged in a discussion with Principal Dr Fung, Principal Au and Vice Principal Chen. Dr Fung shared insights with the postgraduates, emphasising that children’s judgment and expressive skills should be nurtured at the kindergarten stage. Furthermore, parental education was highlighted as equally important, as their words and actions profoundly shape their children’s future. Dr Fung also highlighted how Hong Kong’s diverse cultural landscape fosters a wide variety of educational philosophies, and different kindergartens have distinct features. Parents should select the most suitable school based on their child’s personality traits and their own educational philosophy, thereby enabling the child to realise their full potential.
