SINGAPORE - Pre-school children learning Tamil can now have fun embracing the language at the River Safari, through storytelling and singalong sessions as they learn about the physical attributes, eating habits and lifestyles of animals.
The Tamil Language Learning and Promotion Committee (TLLPC) and Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS) collaborated to launch the Tamil edition of the Wow Wild Learn (WWL) programme on Wednesday (July 18). It follows positive responses to the Chinese and Malay language editions introduced in 2016 and May this year respectively.
The programme comprises a series of activities for pre-school children, and training workshops for pre-school Tamil language teachers.
Sixteen teachers from 14 pre-school centres will be participating this year, with the centres receiving subsidised funding.
Before the learning journey, teachers have to attend a one-day training session at the River Safari to prepare them and the children a one-hour interactive programme by WRS to learn about pandas.
Teachers will also design parent-child activities so that the children are able to involve their families in the learning journey. This can include parent-child performances using the Tamil language, as well as interactive activities covered in supplementary readers.
TLLPC will sponsor two supplementary books or readers on related topics for every participating child, which will also be used as teaching material during Tamil language lessons. Pre-schools participating in the programme will also receive a a CD of songs based on the nursery supplementary book.
Chairman of TLLPC, Mr Vikram Nair, said: "Children usually love going outdoors, and the WWL programme will encourage young children to learn Tamil by making such learning fun and interactive - relating it to activities they will enjoy."
Ms May Lok, director of education for WRS, added: "Bilingualism is one of the key strengths educators try to inculcate in our students, and we believe that the mother tongue will strengthen each child's values and sense of cultural belonging."
