How We Teach English

The ChildFirst Approach

Learning English is more than learning to read.

For a young child, language is the foundation for communicating ideas, understanding other people, imagining possibilities and eventually expressing original thoughts.

That is why we do not stop when your child can decode words on a page.

At ChildFirst, our approach develops English progressively — from listening and speaking, to phonics and reading, to literature, creative expression and communication.

And when your child is ready, we introduce AI as a creative partner, helping him/her use technology to extend rather than replace his/her own imagination.

Listen → Speak → Read → Write → Think → Create

1. Start with Spoken English

Before your child learns to read, he or she needs something worth saying.

Your child during infancy begins by hearing the sounds, rhythms and patterns of language through songs, stories and everyday conversations. They respond through eye contact, facial expressions, gestures, babbling and early vocalisations, building the foundations for communication. At ChildFirst, we nurture early language development through warm, responsive interactions, songs, stories, conversations and plenty of opportunities for infants to listen, observe and respond.

When your child is around 18 months to three years old, we focus first on listening, speaking and vocabulary.

Your child will learn through show-and-tell, role play, music and movement and everyday interactions with teachers and classmates.

The aim is not simply to teach him/her more words.

It is to help him/her become comfortable using English to communicate.

As your child develops, activities such as Little Announcer provide opportunities to speak in front of others and build confidence in public communication.

Little Announcer

Language becomes something children use, not something they merely study.

2. Build the Foundations of Reading

Phonics will give your child the key to unlock written English.

From around four years old, your child will begin our structured phonics and reading programme.

Your child will learn the relationship between spoken sounds and written letters.

Once your child understands that relationship, he or she can begin to decode words they have never seen before.

This is an important foundation.

But it is only a foundation.

A child who can decode words is not necessarily a child who understands deeply, communicates confidently or loves reading.

That is why we deliberately go beyond phonics.

Show and Tell

3. Go Beyond Reading

Literature will give your child a richer language to grow into.

All good preschool programmes should teach children to read.

At ChildFirst, we ask a further question:

What are we asking children to read?

A child can become technically fluent by reading simple sentences and familiar stories. But language becomes much more powerful when children encounter rich vocabulary, complex sentences, different perspectives, humour, rhythm, beauty and ideas that stretch their current understanding.

This is the purpose of our Literature Alive curriculum.

Your child will encounter classic literature and different literary genres. He/she will discuss stories, reflect on characters, explore ideas, role-play scenes and eventually create his or her own writing.

Your child will encounter poems and different poetic forms, and as he/she progresses to K2, he/she will have opportunities to write their own poetry.

Literature does something phonics cannot.

It gives children a larger world to think about.

4. Why Shakespeare at Preschool?

Some parents ask: Isn’t Shakespeare too difficult for a five-year-old?

I understand the question.

When I tell parents that ChildFirst introduces Shakespeare to five and six-year-olds, the reaction is often: “Shakespeare? At five?”

Yes.

And not as a gimmick.

The purpose is not for a five-year-old to understand every word of Shakespeare.

It is to expose children to language that is richer and more complex than the language they already know.

A child may not understand every sentence. But the brain is still encountering the rhythm of language, unusual vocabulary, complex sentence structures, characters, emotions and multiple layers of meaning.

Your child will learn that words can do more than simply name things.

They can create images.

They can express emotions.

They can tell stories.

They can make us laugh.

They can make us wonder.

They can make us see the world through someone else’s eyes.

Such linguistic exposure helps build the cognitive scaffolding children will draw upon as they encounter increasingly complex reading and writing later in school.

That is why Literature Alive runs alongside phonics, not after it.

Your child will encounter Shakespeare, Hans Christian Andersen, poetry and other forms of literature. He/she will role-play scenes, discuss characters, imagine alternative endings and dramatise stories he/she loves.

The goal is not to turn every child into a literary scholar.

It is to give the experience of being in a place where language is treated as something beautiful, powerful and worth their attention.

5. From Reading to Creating

We don’t want your child only to consume stories.

We want him/her to create them.

Your child will write his/her own stories, poems and imaginative pieces.

He/she might create a character, imagine an alternative ending, dramatise a scene or write a poem.

This matters because writing requires children to do something different from reading.

They have to decide:

What do I want to say?

How do I want to say it?

What would make this interesting to someone else?

They are no longer simply decoding someone else’s ideas.

They are learning to express their own.

6. English in the Age of AI

What happens when AI can write for a child?

This question has become much more important.

AI can already generate fluent English, produce stories, suggest ideas and create illustrations.

So should we protect children from AI?

We think the better question is:

How can your child use AI without giving up his/her own creative voice?

At ChildFirst, we treat AI as a creative tool, not a worksheet machine.

Importantly, most of our learning remains off-screen. Your child will learn through conversation, books, hands-on activities, play, physical movement, collaboration, drawing, making and real-world experiences. Technology is introduced when it adds something meaningful to the learning experience — not simply because it is available.

This is especially important when developing English. Children need to listen to real people, speak with others, read books, write with their own hands and think about what they want to say. These experiences build the foundations of language and communication.

AI can then provide new possibilities for children to express and develop their own ideas.

For example, our children have used generative AI to create original stories. They contribute their own ideas and writing, draw their own characters, and then use AI to generate or enhance illustrations and carry out some of the mechanical work.

One of our children’s stories famously imagined a future with five seasons – summer, spring, autumn, winter and candy. The unusual idea came from a child; AI merely helped bring the idea to life.

In another project, The Great SG60 Ice Kachang Disaster, our K2 children created their own imaginative story and used AI to help turn their ideas into a richer multimedia experience. The technology expanded what they could create, but the imagination began with the children.

The principle is simple.

AI can generate. Your child should imagine.

AI can execute. Your child should create.

AI can suggest. Your child should decide.

That is how we want your child to encounter AI: not as a replacement for real-world learning or his/her own creativity, but as another tool he/she can use when it genuinely adds value.

7. What We Are Really Teaching

The deeper purpose of teaching English is therefore not simply English proficiency.

It is developing children who can:

Communicate clearly.

Understand deeply.

Imagine freely.

Express themselves confidently.

Appreciate language.

Think critically.

Create something of their own.

And ultimately, use increasingly powerful technologies without losing the ability to think and speak with their own voice.

The ChildFirst English Learning Journey

1. Listen

Your child will hear rich spoken English through everyday interactions, stories, music, movement and conversation.

2. Speak

Your child will use English to communicate, explain, perform and express themselves.

3. Read

Phonics will give your child the tools to decode written English and become an independent reader.

4. Write

Your child will learn to put his/her own thoughts, ideas and imagination into words.

5. Think

Literature and discussion will expose your child to richer vocabulary, complex ideas, different perspectives and language that stretches his/her thinking.

6. Create

Your child will use language to imagine, invent, write, perform and eventually work with AI to bring his/her ideas to life.

Language creates the foundation. Literature expands the mind. Creativity gives your child a voice. AI gives that voice new possibilities.

English Is More Than Literacy

We teach English because children need to read.

But we teach rich English because children need to think.

We expose them to literature because they need to encounter ideas beyond their own experience.

We ask them to write because they need to develop a voice of their own.

And we introduce AI because the future will require them to work alongside increasingly capable technology without surrendering their imagination or judgement.

A child who learns only to decode words can read what is put in front of them.

A child who learns to love language, think about it and create with it can do something much more powerful.

They can use language to make sense of the world — and eventually to change it.