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Contents:

Newsletter • 1 - 2012

Founder’s message

INTRODUCTION
1.

Founder’s message

communication centres within the classrooms wherechildren are encouraged to write for a purpose.

ETONHOUSE INTERNATIONALEDUCATION GROUP
2.

In Reggio Emilia, the educators speak of the 100
languages of children. At EtonHouse we understandthis as building children’s capacities to communicate
across many different media, as well as traditional
print-text. Inquiry curriculum supports children as
sophisticated thinkers and communicators, with many
opportunities to represent their thinking via the visualand performing arts, as well as print. We believe thiscapacity to be multi-literate equips children well as
citizens of a global context.

News Flash
EtonHouse Education Centre update

3.

The Writing Environment

SINGAPORE
4.

Thinking about being Multi-literate,
across 100 Languages
Considering Multiple Literacies

EtonHouse International School, Wuxi China,
receives IB authorisation

An auspicious year begins
5.

New Beginnings
What does it mean to be a Literate
Person in our Modern World

6.

Inquiry through a Real-life Experience
Literacy Learning through Units of Inquiry

7.

Looking beyond ‘Skills’
An Alphabet of Nature8.

Mmmm-marigold
Sharing about Literacy with our Parent
Community - making our Teaching Visible

CHINA/INDIA
9.

Advanced Placements and Diplomas
for Global Learners
Earth Week 2012: Literacy in Action

10. Reading at EtonHouse Wuxi
Literacy, a day-to-day Approach
JAPAN/MALAYSIA
11. Explorations in Literacy
Literacy - The “Hundred Languages”
INDONESIA/KOREA
12. Communication, Language
and Literacy Development
Strengthening Foundations in Literacy

The year 2012, the year of the dragon in the Chinese
zodiac, is a significant year which, within the Chinese
culture, is particularly fortuitous. I was able to join thecentre teams in many of the Singapore pre-schools
during the Chinese New Year period and would liketo thank the Pre-school Directors for ensuring thatthese visits were truly celebratory, many had theparticipation of children; many kitchens preparedfavourite dishes for the event. It was truly wonderful
to see the sense of team that exists in our preschools and to talk informally with staff of their plans
for the year.
Literacy learning at EtonHouse:
We have dedicated this newsletter to highlight the
many ways that EtonHouse educators support
children’s understandings of communication andliteracy learning.
The 21st century is a time of rapid change throughout
the world and children are expected (at an ever
earlier age) not only to be text literate, but also to
be familiar with a range of technological literacies aswell as environmental print. The Internet, email andvarious technological tools e.g. scanners; interactive
whiteboards; I-Pad and I-Phone applications areresearch tools which are highly useful to children as
part of their work with inquiry, however they requiredifferent skills to traditional book handling skills. At
EtonHouse we accept our responsibility to ensurethat children have exposure to a diverse range ofrich literacy experiences as part of a typical day –shared storybook, guided and independent reading;access to computer technology; the establishment of-1-

Heartiest congratulations to the staff at Wuxi esp.
Mr. Rob Stewart, Principal and Ms Betty Brown, PYP
coordinator for this outstanding achievement.
Singapore opens a new pre-school:
Two successful Open House days were held at the
new EtonHouse pre-school in Claymore Road theweek of March 12th which coincidentally was theanniversary of our 17th year of operation. From our very
first setting at Broadrick Road to this new preschool,
we have experienced
an exciting journey oflearning, with many
positive challenges andhappy memories. There
are now 52 EtonHouse
pre-schools/schools
across8different
countries within the Asia
Pacific Region and thisnewsletter is an important connector for the families
and teaching staff across the EtonHouse family. The
articles reflect children’s enthusiasm for learningand the commitment of our teachers to their workthat have come to be synonymous with EtonHouse
classrooms.
I wish all families and centre teams a happy start tothe year – let’s work together to achieve great things.
Ng Gim Choo
Group Managing Director,
EtonHouse International Education GroupEton Hous e I n ter nat ional Ed u c at ion Grou p

News Flash

EtonHouse International School Wuxi –Official IB World School!

EtonHouse International Pre-School at Claymore
off Orchard Road, the newest EtonHouse campus
in Singapore opened its doors to the public on the
16th and 17th of March 2012. The campus received
an overwhelming response with around 200 visitors
over the 2 Open House days. Situated in the heartof the city, this beautiful environment offers children
and teachers endless opportunities for engaging
teaching and learning experiences.

This week EtonHouse Wuxi was formallyannounced as an IB World School by theinternational Baccalaureate Organisation. Thismeans the school is now fully authorized to run
the Primary Years Programme. Congratulations
to all of the Wuxi school community for thisoutstanding achievement. For such a young
school to achieve this high standard in sucha short time is a reflection on the hard workand professional standards it sets for itself. A
special thank you to Mrs. Betty Brown, the PYP
Coordinator, who led the school so well throughthe ‘Authorisation’ process. Her knowledgeof the PYP and organizational leadership isoutstanding and much appreciated.

Representatives of the Korean chapter of
OMEP (World Organisation for Early Childhood
Education) visit EtonHouse pre-schools andthe EtonHouse Education Centre to talkabout our work to support young children’s
understandings of sustainability.

EtonHouse Education Centre update
by Heather Conroy, Executive Director of Pedagogy

Working within an inquiry curriculum, requires adifferent ‘skill set’ to working with a prescriptive
curriculum (which basically tells teachers ‘what to
do when’). Teachers need to develop a repertoireof diverse teaching strategies to support not only
the process of inquiry, but also the documentation
and assessment of children’s learning through an

integrated and play based approach.
Since moving to its new locationin January 2011, the EtonHouse
Education Centre (EEC) has been
responsible for supporting teachers
in their professional development
through workshops, seminars,
network meetings (across centre
meetings facilitated by teacher
practitioners) and International
conferences.
Supporting our teachers’ professional development is one way
for us to show we value the professional knowledge base of ourteachers said Mrs Ng Gim Choo,and reminds us of the importanceof lifelong learning.

The new EtonHouse Claymore team reflecting on pedagogicaldocumentation as a learning teaching tool as part of their induction week.

as several dialogue sessions
in the Singapore pre-schools.
The EEC is also convening
its first International Conference
for 2012. Titled Provocations
forPractice,
conference
speakers come directly from
Reggio Emilia and the Reggio
Children International Network
in New Zealand (REANZ).
Conference content will focus
our attention on high quality
pedagogy and will further
We see teachers as researchers support our understandings
who regularly document children’s of the practice of pedagogicalideas, thoughts, skills and documentation. The conference
behaviours to support theirwill be held in Singapore 26th
understanding of children’s– 28th April, at the Concordelearning and development
Hotel in Orchard Road.

The start to the year has been a busy one
for the EEC with week-long workshops in
EtonHouse Japan and Malaysia, as well-2-

http://www.etonhouse.com.sg/media/newsevents/160-reggio-emilia-is-coming-to-singaporein-april.html

Eton Hous e I n ter nat ional Ed u c at ion Grou p

The Writing Environment
by John Cooley, Advisor-EtonHouseAs an educator with a career spanning far more
years than I would sometimes wish to remember,
one enduring constant has been my desire forthe highest quality of literacy education to beaccessible for every child in a pre-school andprimary classroom. This desire is for all the usual
reasons that children should receive the best
possible foundation literacy education in a civilisedcommunity i.e to be able to receive and articulate
feelings and ideas; and to utilise language to beable to think – and expand upon that thinking.
The articles in this edition of the EtonHouse
Corporate Newsletter explore these possibilities,
particularly within the context of Inquire-ThinkLearn or International Baccalaureate inquiry
learning, which place the child at the centreof the literacy inquiry cycle. This is exactly as
literacy should be facilitated with the awakening
and development of skills, and awareness in thechild being a co-operative learning adventure
mentored, motivated and guided by the classroom
teacher.
In the area of writing, thisreciprocal relationship isparticularly critical and thearea I would like to further
explore. From experience,
I have found that young
writers have a potential
for imaginative written
communication that can beconsiderably in advanceof the imagination of theirclassroom teachers. Whatcan limit creative written

output in the classroom is not theability of the young writer but theadult mind partnering this output.
While this may at first appear to bea radical position to argue, consider
the last occasion as a teacher
or parent that time was taken (oravailable) to write a poem, create
a story or paint a watercolour.
Also reflect for a moment when
you last had a conversation with
an imaginary friendor played in a world
createdentirely
from
your
own
imagination. Whenit comes to theworld of imagination, children are
the active daily agents and experts and adults, the onlookers. Children,
every day, journey in a world inwhich reality and fantasy overlap
without boundaries that constrict
their thinking or their writing. Adults
live a far more prosaic reality.
Another great asset that a childhas as a creative thinker/writer isthe unbridled immediacy to use ideas, images
and words without the filter of an adult mindset
programmed to continually funnel ideas backwithin expected norms. Children experience theworld with a raw open-minded and open-hearted
intimacy that most adults have been weaned fromover many decades.
Now this is not to propagate the idea that thebest of children’s creative thinking and writing will
simply flow when the teacher steps back and thechild, as writer, steps forward –it’s a little more
complexthan
this simple traffic
movement.
However,it’sanimportantrecognition thatthe child shouldbe the expert
and the teacher
the muse/editor/coach with thesupport role to
play.

-3-

The other critical factors to bring into the writing
environment are time for the children’s quiet,
uninterrupted gestation and elaboration of ideas- and the opportunity for these young writers tothen share their ideas for the process of further
inspiration and exploration. It will be in thissharing process that ideas will begin to percolate
and flavour. This brewing exchange is essential
to identify the richness of potential ideas in thecreative pot and for young writers to use theseideas as the catalyst for further depth and diversity.
While these steps can soundcumbersome and unnecessarily
time consuming, in reality theprocess is naturally organic andseamless – and enormously
inspiring and liberating. It is theprocess by which young writers canreach “eureka” moments realising
the potential to be explored in thewords and images they conjure
from their own experience andimagination. To be in a classroom
when this level of writing excitement
and creative thinking is being
achieved is truly exhilarating - andthen boundless in its possibilities.
In summation I reinforce the importance of thechild being placed at the core of all writing activities
and the responsibility of the teacher to be theclassroom coach always ready to support these
efforts. The classroom writing environment should

feel like a studio in which ideas are given theopportunity, and time, to be explored, abandoned,
reworked, played with, shared and enjoyed. Insuch an environment creativity and thinking will berobust, truthful, gloriously immediate and inspiring
for every individual in that classroom.

Eton Hou se in Singap ore

Thinking about being Multi-literate, across 100 Languages
by Heather Conroy, Executive Director of Pedagogy, EtonHouse Preschools

Early childhood
environments typicallyoffer children daily
opportunities toengage with a variety
of different symbol
systems i.e. number
symbols, print andpicture labels andcombinations ofboth e.g. a child’s cubby is generally
identified with a picture image andtheir printed name (at EtonHouse,
this typically occurs in English
and Chinese).
These opportunities support children
in constructing awareness of theimportance of ‘shared’ symbol systems
i.e. when I record an idea, or thought,

using traditional ‘letters’ other people
understand my message even when I am notpresent to tell them (this differs from the use of‘personal’ symbol systems, whereby children
make marks which ‘represent’ their thinking,however the symbols used are invented andunique to the writer).
In EtonHouse classrooms which work with
the inspirations of Reggio Emilia, we areattempting to build children’scapacities to communicate
their thinking, feelings andemotions, in many different‘languages’, that is, to be‘literate’ in the languages ofmusic, dance and movement,
wire construction, drawing
and painting, clay sculpture,composition with natural andman-and madematerials; poetry…
and so on.
Each ‘language’has its own code,or symbol system,
through which wecommunicate e.g.
the visual arts is alanguage of line,
colour, symmetry,shape and form.
When children are
invited to reflect on
and to represent their thinking in many ways, we
invite them to consider the essential purposeof communicating with others – to share theirthinking with and to ‘listen’ to and reflect on thethinking of others.

Considering Multiple Literacies
EtonHouse @ Orchard
by Leanne Sunarya, Pre-School Director, EtonHouse International Pre-School, Orchard“We read the world through images, symbols, colours,
signs, body language and in the gaps and margins aswell as through printed text … The notion of “text” hasbroadened to include texts of all kinds including images,
sounds, and even the body.”- Dr Janette Hughes, 2007

This view of literacy is critical to a child being a
successful learner in the 21st century. Literacy canno longer be considered as just speaking, reading
and writing. It is exciting for us to consider the
possibilities for children to express their emotions,
their thinking and theirideas through the many
ways of the child that Loris
Malaguzzi suggests in

Expression through movement
As the child moves to express
the idea of a swimmingsea creature, an emotional
connection is explored by
the child. Through song,
the educator connects thelanguage to the feeling andmovement. The child is thus
empowered to express theirthinking in a new and more
complex way.

his poem, “The Hundred
Languages of Children”.
The children’s interactions
within the units of inquiry arecontinually developing theirunderstanding of the world.
It is of course a child’s
right to become a reader
and a writer. Throughthe developmentally
appropriate learning
proposals so carefully
considered by the educators, the child explores
not only print but also the multi faceted areas now
considered as “literacy”.
Every book read aloud, conversation about
pictures, perceptive response to noticed signs orsymbols, or mark that has been made has been
inviting the child to make sense of text. Every
opportunity to consider, problem to investigate ortheory to pose has been an authentic exploration
for the child into the uniqueness and richnessof language and its power in communicating
effectively. Every non verbal gesture that has
been made, song that has been sung, movementthat has been danced, painting that has beencreated or drama that has been performed has-4-

Sharing the wonder and joy of learningChildren revisit their learning throughthe documentation created within theirenvironment. The images and work samples
provide an access point to reflect with
their friends, family and teachers and they
are often drawn to the print to read what it
was they said and thought. By developing
connections between the spoken and written
word, the educator scaffolds the child’s
learning about text. The connection thechild has to the experience further createsan opportunity to engage in the text in ameaningful way.

strengthened the child’s connection to the useof the language that surrounds them. From allof these experiences the wonder of language
is explored by the child and the educators who
journey with them. Children begin to speak withincreasing fluency and complexity, they makemarks that flow from simple messages to intricate
expressions and they enter books with wonder
and joy as they learn through the meaning of theprint. At EtonHouse International Pre-School(Orchard), children are not only supported in
becoming literate in the traditional notion of text
but also in the definition of “text “ as it is thought ofcurrently as multiple literacies.

Eton Hou se in Singap ore

New Beginnings
EtonHouse International Pre-School Claymore
by Karen Nicholls, Project Director, EtonHouse

Mountbatten Road.
EtonHouse has again embarked on a project torestore a 2 storey bungalow in Claymore Road,
just off Orchard Road. This former residence
contains many of the elegant features of the othertwo buildings; sweeping staircases extending an
invitation into interesting spaces, open al fresco
dining areas and a large playground that opens
up endless possibilities for play and exploration.

Over the years EtonHouse has built a reputationsynonymous with quality education in Singapore.
The idea of taking old buildings full of charm,
character and history and restoring them to theirformer glory for the purpose of use as international
pre-schools has proven successful at both
EtonHouse on Orchard Boulevard and at 718

The internationaland Singaporeanteaching teamsupported by
the EtonHouse
Education
Centre will
ensure that thisschool will bea sister school
to the other
EtonHouse
campuses.
Learning areas,
designed withpurpose and thecurriculum will be engaging and supportive of
all children and will take into consideration theirinterests in order to extend their knowledge andsupport their learning.
The school officially opens its doors to students
on the 9th April 2012. Enormous interest has
already been shown in this school and we lookforward to welcoming another high quality learning
environment into the EtonHouse group.

What does it mean to be a Literate Person in our
Modern World
EtonHouse @ Broadrick
by Cheryl Kelly, Principal, EtonHouse International School Broadrick

At the heartof literacy isthe ability toeffectively
communicate
using social
contextualc u e s ,deriving andconveying meaning and using language andknowledge to achieve a desired purpose.
EtonHouse
Broadrick’sYear
4 Poetry Café provided an
opportunityfor
students
toshowcase their literacy andcommunication skills. Parents
and friends joined the students
for a Café evening to share theirenjoyment and understanding of
the language of poetry. Students
had researched and written theirpoems, developed theirunderstanding of thecontext of the poems,
and then presented
them from the stage.
As being literate also
includes being able
to use symbolism;
the atmosphere wascarefully planned andorchestrated by thestudents toreflectthemood of their poems. Building a homeschool partnership in learning is central
at Broadrick and parents also shared
their favorite poems with the students
and staff.
While the Poetry Café was deliveredin English, Broadrick students also
engage in Hindi, Japanese and Chinese-5-

language. Sean Inglin from Year 4also participated in a public bilingual
reading of a book at the Singapore
Arts House recently. Israeli author
Elad Weingrod’s first bilingual
children’s story ‘Like You, Like Me’tells the tale of a young boy in Israel
wondering if there is a young boy in
China just like him. Sean confidently
delivered the story to the publicaudience.
The conceptof literacy is an evolving
one. The curriculum at
Broadrick also includes“literacy” in informationand communication
technologies and critical
literacy.

Eton Hou se in Singap ore

Inquiry through a Real-life Experience
EtonHouse @ Outram
by Jessica Khoo, Class Teacher, EtonHouse Pre-School, Outram

With the caterpillar as the focusof their observations, discussion,
narrations and predictions, thechildren began to document a story
book which recorded the growth andchange process. This experienceoffered opportunities for literacy
through writing thestory as well as
illustrating (using
picture symbols) to complement the children’s narratives.
The children also recorded their predictions (making
connections to mathematical concepts i.e. how long it willtake for the butterfly to emerge).

Literacy is traditionally understood asreading and writing. Before children
can read and write, they need to grasp
other forms of language such as
speech and the use of print, picturesand real life experiences.
Our K1 children chanced
upon a caterpillar, foundlying on a fallen leaf in
the playground. The children engaged in a discussion as to how
caterpillars grow and change.
The children composed a song (Caterpillar, Caterpillar), which
explored, through dramatization, the caterpillar’s movement andhabitat.

Literacy Learning through Units of Inquiry
EtonHouse @ Newton
by Ms Barbara Robb, Senior Team Leader and K1 Class Teacher
Ms Tracey Boyle, Pre- School Director, EtonHouse Pre-School Newton
K1 Polar Bears Class:
Unit
Of
Inquiry:“Exploring Materials”
Central International
Baccalaureate Idea:
Understanding
the way materials
behave and interact
determineshowpeople use them.
During our Unit ofInquiry “Exploring
Materials”, the children in the K1 Polar Bearclass inquired about the materials from whichplay dough is made. Through research andinvestigation, a classrecipe was created and we
proceeded to then work withthe recipe to make dough.
The experience of the doughrecipe led to thinking about“food recipes”. Ethan madea “Jelly Pancake” fromoil, flour, salt and sugar;

Maegan, a “Delicious and Colourful Ice Cream”
and Prai made a “Wedding Cake” from ribbons,flour and water. Prai’s wedding cake was admiredby the whole class and led to many individuallydesigned wedding cakes, which were confidently
drawn, labelled and shared
amongst class members.
The idea of the dough, thenpromoted thinking about
creating wedding cakes.
The children’s play doughwedding
cakes,
theirrecorded
designandphotographic images were proudly displayedin the school foyer. The language and dialogue
observed from the display wasa true indication of the level oflearning that had taken placethrough the “Exploring Materials”
unit of inquiry.
As a class culminating activity
the class made the icing anddecorated real cakes with avariety of materials. The beautiful-6-

cake creations were then shared amongst thestaff and students at Newton.
Reflection from Ms Barbara, K1 Polar Bears Class
Teacher:“As well as applying theirknowledge and understandingof the materials and procedurerequired to make play doughand wedding cakes the students’
enthusiasm,
curiosity
andwillingness to participate in thisclass project was overwhelming.
All students were fully engaged
and eagerly participated in the exploration,
decision making andrisk taking that was
required. This unitof inquiry not only
furtherdeveloped
the children’s literacy
learning but also
every other earlyyears
curriculum
learning area.”

Eton Hou se in Singap ore

Looking beyond ‘Skills’
EtonHouse @ Vanda
by Ms Emelia Prayogo, Pre- School Director, EtonHouse Pre-School Vanda

1974). This freedom may leadchildren to discover or invent
possibilities as some new
ways of doing things and new
ways of thinking about ideas.

Exploring ideas

In play-based learning experiences, the focus is on
exploring to build understanding. There is therefore
less pressure to produce ‘correct’ answers or final‘products’. Play-based learning experiences offer
players the freedom to manipulate materials,
experiences, roles and ideas in new, creative,
experimental, “as if” ways (Bruner, 1977; Garvey,

Approachingwritingandreading
with
such
an
Exploring the environment:
experimental, “as if” attitude
Architectural features suppor t
may help children realize that children’s understandings about
written language is something letter shapes
they can manipulate in avariety of ways and for a variety of purposes.
“Experiencing purposeful writing and reading
experiences - by mark making, drawing,pretending to write, or pretending to read - may
serve to open up the activities of writing andreading for children’s further consideration andexploration (Bruner, 1976; Sutton-Smith, 1979).

To
these
relationships
andexperiences,childrenbring
their curiosity, their interest incommunicating and interacting withothers, and their inclination to bea part of their wider environment
naturally. They too take more
control of materials and tools thatthey perceive as important to theirexperiences.

Applying understanding

An Alphabet of Nature
EtonHouse @ 717 Mounbatten Road
by Charlotte Choy, Supervisor, EtonHouse Pre-School, 717 Mounbatten Road
Utilizing the outdoor landscapeprovides a wonderful alternative
to the traditional classroom
setting in supporting children’s
understanding about the languageof nature. We introduce andinvite children to examine theaesthetic elements of the naturalenvironment. The term, ‘aesthetic’refers to the emotions that arise
and the expressions of wonder towards the beauty
around us as we build on the children’s expression
and appreciation of the beauty of nature throughthe use of their senses (Crowther, 2008).

Building relationships with thenatural environment can be
fostered through a variety of multisensory experiences. This can beundertaken by encouraging children
to explore the differing aspects andvariations provided by the great
outdoors: the differing textures ofleaves found in our garden, the soft
sound of leaves rustling in the wind,
the contrasting hues of colours seen on leaves,
flowers, and fruits, tasting the mangoes grownin our backyard, and enjoying the fresh aromatic
scents of mint and rosemary. As such children arebuilding a language (of different sensory featurese.g. the scent , fragrance; or aromatic qualities ofa plant) and an alphabet of symbols to represent
this sensory thinking.
As children form awarenessabout the environment aroundthem, they ‘develop enhanced
powers of observation andcreativity, through appropriate
interactions with nature’(Grain, 2001). Throughregular contact with nature,-7-

these learning experiences instil values suchas respect and empathy for all living things.
Learning opportunities in the natural
world encourages self initiation whenchildren maintain agency in building
authentic experiences with flora andfauna. Their early encounters withnature promote interest and develop
a sense of responsibility in orderto protect, preserve and nurture alifelong love of nature.

Eton Hou se in Singap ore

Mmmm-marigold
EtonHouse @ 764 Mountbatten Road
by Suzanne Rossouw, N2 Teacher, EtonHouse Pre-School, 764 Mounbatten Road

The importance of instructing
beginning readers in phonics
andphonemicawarenesshas received wide support
among researchers. Phonemic
awareness refers to the ability
to identify and manipulate
the sounds of a language,
while phonics is used when
we associate these soundswith letters and letter patterns.
Decoding skills, which develop as a result ofphonemic awareness and knowledge of phonics,
are essential for fluent reading in later grades.
In an integrated learning environment, it would
only make sense to build children’s literacy
experiences upon our current inquiries. This
makes the learning experience more meaningful

for the learners, as it justifies theirlearning.

you can hear in the word ‘Marigold? Mmmmmarigold!’

In one of our Nursery 2 classes,
the first sound the children
learned this year was them-sound. Earlier that week, they
had looked at many flowers inorder to choosea name for theirclass. After avoting process, they decided
on the name Marigold. And so
our learning centred aroundmarigolds: their colours, theirsmell, textures and shapes. Whenit came time to turn our focus toliteracy, the natural question to be
asked was: What is the first soundLearning should be fun. It should be relevant andit should inspire further thinking and questioning.
By making it a ‘game’ of guessing the ‘word of theweek’, or having a ‘mystery bag’, children enjoy
the experience. By linking it to what they arelearning and thinking
about, it becomesrelevant. And by
givingthem
theopportunity to thinkof their own words,
it requires further
thinking in order tolink it to things they
already know.

Sharing about Literacy with our Parent Community- making our Teaching Visible
EtonHouse @ 718 Mountbatten Road
by Lisamarie Hughes, Assistant Pre-School Director
Jessica Dawson, N2 Class Teacher
being responsible in their work
as a doctor. Our next step was
to take these two developments,
mark making for a purpose andRole of Intentional Teacher when
responsibility, from our pretend
thinking about literacy
play into our daily routines. Withknowledge of our children and our
1. Observe and collect information
curriculum framework goals, we
intentionally introduced the idea
2. Extend ideas
Further growth of new theories
of rosters to the children. They
3. Further growth of new theories
engaged with the rosters as a way to record theirname (mark making for a purpose) and to take
4. Application
responsibility for an area of our daily routine. We
Reflective sharing:were intentional in supporting the children to apply
the work that they had done in their pretend play
Inquiry into Doctors - The children’s interest
into their everyday lives from today into the future.
in doctors appeared when they used theour role as intentional teachers at
718 when planning for rich andmeaningful literacy experiences.

Observe and collect information

We take opportunities throughout the year tohighlight focus topics with parents in an effort tosupport their understanding of our approach andcurriculum framework. In addition, through sharing,
we aim to build relationships and collaborative
partners. “Remembering, notonly are parents their child’s firstteacher, they are also their child’s
most frequent teacher” Allen, E.
Edwards Cowdery, G. Johnson, J(2009 .p.237).
Below, you will find a lens into oursharing with parents, highlighting

Extend ideas

wooden blocks ‘as if’ it were athermometer. To facilitate literacy
further in their pretend play, we
intentionally invited the children
to use clipboards, pencils, carbon
paper, and notebooks as a doctor
would to record for a purpose. The
children used these materials as
part of their play and demonstrated-8-

Application

E tonH ou se in China

Advanced Placements and Diplomas
for Global Learners
EtonHouse @ Suzhou
by Marnie Weeden, Senior Years Coordinator, SY & MYP Science Teacher

Suzhou EtonHouse is very excited by thedevelopment of our school into the Senior Years.
We are over half way through our first year, withstudents now beginning to focus on the exam
period ahead. This year we offer two programmes
aimed at meeting the needs of our students;
the first is based on the American Advanced
Placement (AP) programme, where students willattempt to gain an AP International Diploma, withthe second being the EtonHouse High School
Diploma-offering a well rounded and balanced twoyear course.
Advanced Placement provides students with anopportunity for learning that goes beyond just facts
and figures. The rich course material, classroom
discussions and demanding assignments typicalof AP courses will help students develop theand productive role in the Senior Years, with an
example being weekly reading and numeracy
support for Year 1, as well as maintaining anactive role in our Tuesday afternoon co-curricular
activities.

knowledge and critical thinking skills expected ofuniversity students. What’s more, by participatingin the AP, students have the opportunity to earn
university credit and to greatly improve theirchances of university admission.
Community and service also plays an important

In preparation for the world outside of EtonHouse,
our students regularly discuss and compare theconcept of a job and a career. We have taken
a historical perspective of careers, focusing
specifically on the roles of gender in the workplace,
categorizing careers into indoor/outdoor, etc.
Students have selected five of their ‘top career’choices and examined why they have chosen
these particular areas, what they would need toaim towards them in their lives (study, dedication,
skills, stamina, etc.), and what could possibly
prevent them from achieving their goals.

Earth Week 2012: Literacy in Action
EtonHouse @ Yiwu
by Jeremy Van Sluytman, Principal, EtonHouse International School, Yiwu

Throughout
the week ofMarch 26 – 30,
the communityof EtonHouse
Yiwu celebrated
Earth Week asa way to cherish
our planet andexplore ways
in which we
can be a partof sustaining
it. The week
culminated with
Earth Hour at 8:30 on March 31 when families of
EtonHouse Yiwu along with hundreds of millions ofpeople around the world will switched off all electrical
power in their homes in support of this enormous
environmental event.

Each day students
will participated inexperiences suchas planting vegetables/plants to create classgardens - as well as creating posters out ofreused materials and writing
letters and stories to express
what we knew and have learnt
about the environment andglobal climate change.
Earth Week is an example of
how we take literacy skills anduse them in real and relevant
ways. Students, teachers,-9-

and parents
worked together
in a varietyof languages using numerous research andcommunication methods as part of our EarthWeek efforts. As such, we are allable to not only learn more about
the crucial issues facing ourenvironment, but also how we canput our literacy skills into action to
make a difference.

Eton Hou se in China/ Ind ia

Reading at EtonHouse Wuxi
by Lizzie Lawrence, Literacy Coordinator, EtonHouse International School,Wuxi
book. You might see children sharing a book withan older child or in the library. We understandthat all readers access texts at different levels
according to their comprehension of both thepicture and the written word and therefore we aim
to provide a wide range of reading experiences forall our children.

There are many ways for a child to begin theirreading journey. At a young age a child’s firstexperience is usually looking at picture books or
being read to by their parents.
As they enter the school
environment, we try to makereading an equally enjoyable
and positive experience. If you
visit the classroom you mightsee children sharing a book
together or a group of readershuddled around their favourite

Guided reading at EtonHouse has been designed
to support all abilities. It is a program which we usefrom Reception to Year 6 in order to develop andextend comprehension levels. Guided Reading
literally means to be ‘guided’ and it is a session
where small groups of readers work with either theteacher or the teaching assistant on one specifictext or chapter. It takes place
four days out of five at Wuxi
and is planned carefully byeach class teacher. Eachchild is placed within a groupof similar reading ability. The
younger children receivea different book weekly;
however older children using

chapter books may study the same book for a few
weeks. Guided reading is not used to simply readthe ‘word’ on a page. It is about drawing meaningfrom the words and developing deeper levels of
understanding. Alongside the development ofcomprehension skills we focus on vocabulary,spellings, sentence structure and grammar. Eachtext is used to support and extend this learning.
When these books come home your child shouldbe able to read them fluently and they should be
able to answer all your questions about the text.

Literacy, a day-to-day Approach
EtonHouse @ India
Reflecting the earlyyears pedagogyof ‘Inquire, Think,
Learn’ developedby EtonHouse,
VIVERO and SERRAInternational Preschools, actively
promote literacy byengaging children
in a range of dailyexperiences thatencourage experiences
instead of activities.
Play has a crucial role in achild’s development and at
SERRA International Preschool Aundh, Pune it serves
as an opportunity to integrate
literacy into dramatic play.

Children use open ended
materials like buttons, beads,
shells, pebbles, dough etc.
as they collaboratively create
spellings through social
interaction. Literacy is also
integrated into day-to-day
experiences, like the dailyexperiences, where children
learn not only to read nametags, spell and write their own name, but also
identify and create the names of their peers, themonths of the year anddays of the week.
A journal serves as agreat tool to chronicle
every day events andactivities. At VIVERO
International Kalyani
Nagar, Pune, children- 10 -

in K1 and K2 are encouraged to maintain adaily journal. They are asked a number of open
ended questions, based on the curriculum or
current events, to which they creatively express
themselves in their journals through pictures
and words. The journal, besides serving as aportfolio of their progress in writing skills, also
reinforces their learning of phonetics and sightwords - plus children love sharing their journals
with peers and teachers.

E ton Hous e in J ap an/ Malaysia

Explorations in Literacy
EtonHouse @ Tokyo
by Peter Ackerman, Director, EtonHouse International School, Tokyo

At EtonHouse Tokyo we believe that young
children eagerly choose to read, write, andconverse with others
as they have significant
and meaningful things
to communicate. Youngchildren have an innate
desire to use language.
We
endeavourtoprovideopportunities
for our students to
use and develop theirlanguage and literacy

skills through social interactions in a literacy
rich environment. In order to achieve this, wehave strived to create safe, comfortable, printrich classrooms that support relationships andinvite exploration. Language and literacy learning
occurs within our projectbased emergent curriculum
as opposed to the morestructured methods andsystems of teaching early
literacy. To paraphrase
Carlina
Rinaldi,formerDirector of the Municipal
Early Childhood Centres
in Reggio Emilia, whenteaching literacy it is preferable for teachers to usea road map rather that a train schedule. A roadmap clearly indicates where you have started
from, where you are going, as well as essential
and beneficial routes and landmarks along theway. However, what is evenmore significant is thathaving a road map allows
you to make detours forinteresting explorations. A
train schedule does not givethe option of taking exciting
detours and to spend time
exploring.

Literacy - The “Hundred Languages”
EtonHouse @ Malaysia
by Claire Blake, Pre-School Director, EtonHouse Malaysia

At EtonHouse Malaysia
we create an environment
filled with diverse, everyday
literacy experiences.
The children come tounderstand its value andmeaning and are theneager to decode andreproduce these symbols
in their world.
Young children need to see
first-hand the function of
print and how it can be useful and pleasurable
to read and write. Simultaneously, they deserve
to have other forms of symbolic representation
respected and nurtured so that they can continue

to develop as creative flexible
thinkers and communicators.
As early childhood educators,
our first task is tostrengthen our own
understandingsofsymbolic
representation
andliteracydevelopment.
Clear thinking willlead to planning amore conducive environment for theexperiences of decoding symbols
and for the physical, emotional andcognitive development that leads- 11 -

to reading, writing and creative representations.
Our efforts to provide for literacy development
should include a bilingual education as well as
visual literacy
and imagem a k i n g ,learning toread andexpress what
the educatorsof Reggio
Emilia referto as the“hundredlanguages”.

Eton House in Ind onesia/ Korea

Communication, Language and Literacy Development
EtonHouse @ Jakarta
by Sonya Marie, Nursery 2 Teacher, EtonHouse International Pre-School,Jakarta

exams and are working closely as
partners in their child’s education
process, inculcating a love oflearning through an inquiry
based method of learning, andnot merely preparing them forexam purposes. We believe thatliving is learning and learning is alife-long process.

Most parents today arepushing their children to read
and write at a younger age
because many international
primaryschools
requirethe children age 5+ years
to sit for an entrance exam
which focuses on language/
literacy and mathematicalunderstandings.

At EtonHouse we believe that
exposing
young
children early to books, paper andcrayons and with adults around, rolemodelling the love of reading andguiding their learning, helps support
young children’s language andliteracy development. We provide

lots of opportunities foryoung children to explore
books, listen to stories,
sing
nursery
rhymes,role-play characters frombooks, engage in art andcrafts related to books,
conduct class projects
using science, maths,
cooking, and build on
vocabulary, make learning
meaningful to young children. These hands-on
activities involve children in an active learning
process that helps them see connections and add
to their previous knowledge and experiences.

Here at EtonHouse Jakarta,
we understand completely ourparents’ anxiety in preparing
for their child’s entrance

Strengthening Foundations in Literacy
EtonHouse @ Korea
by Lorena Lytle, EtonHouse International Pre-School, Dongtan

In
South
Korea,
literacydevelopment is a high priority
for families. As such, we havebeen looking for opportunities tointegrate literacy into our inquiries.
So, when our children expressedinterest in writing letters home
to mom and dad we decided todevelop our inquiry around writing
and posting letters.

First, we brainstormed common
words and phrases the children
wanted to write, and createdsentence strips that students
could use to form messages
before they began writing their
letters.

For the culmination of ourletter-writing inquiry, we went to
the local post office to mail ourletters. After that, the post office
After deciding we needed a postbox
became a permanent fixture in
to mail our letters, the children
examined pictures of postboxes Yulin composes a letter to his mom the classroom where students
before he starts writing.
could continue to practise theiraround the world, picked theirwriting. Children who initially had little interest infavorite traits, and then worked together to build
writing clogged our class post office with letters totheir own class postbox. Then, we started writing.

- 12 -

family and friends, because posting letters allowed
them to practise writing for an authentic purpose.

Waiting for everyone to stamp their letters so we can gooutside and mail them!