Tag: Study in Singapore

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Making the Most of Your Children’s School Holiday

With the year-end school holidays upon us, it’s time for children to enjoy a well-deserved break after a year of hard work. If you’re a parent of a MILCHELian enjoying this holiday season, read on for tips to make the most of this precious time together.

First of all, children are naturally drawn to gadgets and could easily spend all day on screens if allowed. But you can guide them towards more meaningful activities by planning, suggesting, or even joining in! Every family has different levels of flexibility and availability, so remember, it’s all about balancing your responsibilities at home and work.

The single best tip is to focus on quality of activities over quantity. Quality means asking a few key questions: Will you spend time with your child in person? Will this activity expose them to new learning experiences? Will they have the chance to try or see something new? If so, it’s a great choice.

An overseas trip is a wonderful way to spend quality time together. First, traveling brings the family together in a new setting and encourages bonding. Secondly, it offers new cultural and culinary experiences that expand your child’s view of the world. Finally, whether it’s a first-time visit or a favourite destination, there’s always something exciting and fresh to see.

woman man and girl sitting on snow
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But if a trip abroad isn’t possible, there are many ways to create meaningful memories close to home. For one, you can take your child to a theatre play and introduce them to the world of performing arts. Attend a concert featuring a band they admire and show that you value their interests. Furthermore, you can try a new restaurant together, sharing a new culinary experience, or cook something special at home. Let your kids join in on grocery shopping, meal prep, and even cleanup. Finally, for a cozy option, start a movie marathon or a new series together on your favourite streaming platform.

woman in black shirt sitting beside woman in yellow shirt
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The options are endless, and there’s no shortage of ways to spend meaningful time with your children this holiday season. We hope these ideas inspire you to create joyful and memorable experiences with your family this year-end!

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Guiding Children Toward Environmental Awareness

Many places around the world are heavily affected by environmental changes.  Rainy seasons cause severe flooding in some areas, while summer temperatures reach scorching levels in others.  These extreme weather patterns highlight the pressing need to address environmental issues.  This also puts to the forefront the role of education in preparing our children to respond responsibly.  No child is too young to start learning about caring for the planet.  Even small conversations and simple actions can make a lasting impression.  These can help kids develop an early awareness of the world around them.

group of children collecting plastics
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Here are some reasons why raising environmental awareness in our kids is important now more than ever.  We also briefly talk about  how you can do this in your simple ways as parents and guardians: 

Awareness.  First, even at a young age, children need to see the real challenges our planet is facing.  Issues like pollution, climate change, and deforestation may be difficult for them to fully grasp.  However, even a surface-awareness of such issues opens their eyes to problems they might not have thought about.  If a news pops up on your timeline, talk to your children about it.  That is a good start in planting in them a seed of responsibility for the world they live in. 

Small Actions.  When we teach kids about sustainability, they can start making small, impactful changes like recycling, conserving water, and reducing waste. These are habits that, with our guidance, can stay with them into adulthood.  For instance, explain to your child why you prefer bringing a water bottle instead of buying water in single-use bottles.  This makes them see that they can do something about an issue that seems too big for them to tackle.

Active Participants.  Knowledge empowers kids to take part in simple, efforts like recycling at home, community clean-ups, or tree-planting activities.  When you plan for family charity involvements, consider taking part in activities where your kids can directly participate.  When children are direct participants, they can feel like they are part of something bigger.  From a small act like choosing a reusable drinking water bottle, to a bigger act of joining a community clean-up, children can see the impact that they can make. 

a cleanup community picking up recyclables in the forest
Photo by Ron Lach on Pexels.com

By guiding our children toward environmental awareness, we’re helping them understand the world they live.  We are also nurturing their potential to become responsible, caring stewards of the planet. Each small conversation, action, and shared experience strengthens their connection to the environment.  These build their understanding of their role in protecting it. As parents and guardians, we hold the unique opportunity to plant seeds of awareness, empathy, and action that will grow with them.

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How Doing Charity Work Shapes a Child’s Character?

Here in Milchel, all our activities and programs are anchored on our 7 Milchel Core Values and 5 Key Traits.  One of the major activities we have every year, sometimes even multiple times a year, is doing charity work.  This is guided by our core value COMPASSION. 

We believe that doing charity work does not only help the beneficiaries, but also helps develop our children’s character. 

First of all, when children participate in planning and executing a charity work, they learn empathy.  They get exposed to different life situations and struggles.  Because of that, they understand the challenges that other people face.  They also develop a caring attitude as they see the positive impact of their effort on those in need. 

Next, children who participate in charity learn responsibility and accountability.  In a charity event, children are assigned tasks.  Then, they learn to be responsible for their roles in order to contribute to the project at hand.  They learn to be dependable when they realize that their contributions are crucial to the success of a charity event. 

Finally,  children learn gratitude and appreciation when they participate in a charity event.  Witnessing the challenges faced by others fosters a sense of gratitude for one’s own circumstances and resources.  They also learn to appreciate the efforts of others, as well as see the value of community support and generosity. 

Throughout the years, Milchelians have extended help to different beneficiaries.  They have helped elderly individuals, orphans, and troubled teens.  They’ve also helped animals, impoverished communities, and religious group, among others.  Their contributions have gone beyond financial support to include their time, effort, and energy for worthy causes. We are proud of all Milchelians and hope they continue to embrace this compassionate attitude as they grow and mature.

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Strengthening English Foundations Through Parental Support

The importance of a strong command of English in a student’s tool kit cannot be overstated.  This is especially so for foreign students studying in Singapore, like Milchelians.  Many parents want to send their children to study overseas to learn English, but the child will face difficulties if they are unready to live in an English speaking society. 

Whether or not the child is already in Singapore, parents can effectively support their children in building a strong English foundation.  Here are some practical tips that parents can try out. 

Create an English-Rich Environment.  Like what we do in Milchel’s English Reading Programme (ERP), we immerse Milchelians in as much English language as possible.  Constant exposure through texts, videos, and music helps students become familiar with the language’s sounds, vocabulary and sentence structure.  Consequently, thus will make learning English more natural and less forced. 

books in shelf inside room
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Encourage Reading.  With as little as 20 minutes a day, students who read gain a competitive advantage over students who do not read at all.  Reading consistently for shorter periods of time (e.g. 20-30 minutes a day) has been found to be better than a once-a-week reading session of 2 hours each.  Space out your child’s reading schedule throughout the week.  It is also very important that you discuss the books with your child.  This practice will help improve their vocabulary and comprehension.  Moreover, this stimulates their imagination and critical thinking.  Remember:  Quality is more important than quantity when it comes to reading. 

parents and their little son reading a book in bed
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Practice Writing.  Encourage your child to write regularly.  Though it’s no longer popular among children and teens nowadays, keeping a journal is a good practice for students who want to improve their command of the English language.  Slowly, they will become comfortable and gain confidence in their daily journal writing.  Later on, this comfort and confidence will translate in writing more complex texts like essays and reports. 

focused students doing homework at home
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It is important to start small when building an environment for your child aimed at building strong English foundation.  “Small and steady, slow and incremental” is the formula you could follow.  It would be unrealistic to expect immense improvement in your child’s English standard in a short amount of time.  Like in any other goals, consistent effort and patience will pay off in helping your child achieve their goals to achieve a good command of the English language. 

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The Essential Role of Vacations for Students:  Balancing Relaxation and Productivity

Our children face today’s fast-paced and demanding academic environment.  After each term of arduous work in school, vacations play a role in ensuring their over-all well-being and development.  Vacations are not just breaks from routine, but an opportunity for both rest and productive non-academic activities.  These times are well-deserved by students, so it’s important that they are spent wisely.

So, why are vacations important for students?

First, vacations are a time for physical rest.  As the same time, they are also a time for mental rest and stress relief.  This helps prevent burnout and allows students to recharge.  This recharging and relaxation are crucial for their mental well-being.  We’ll also see that vacation breaks allow students to have a refreshed mind, which may lead to better academic performance when school re-opens. 

Next, vacations are a great time for social and family bonding.  Catching up with friends and family which are done on vacations strengthens their relationships and creates lasting memories. This social support offers them emotional stability. 

woman and three children playing water
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Finally, vacations are a time for students to explore interests outside school.  They may have a day or two of just lounging around and doing nothing, but it’s good if they do something more productive.  This may contribute to personal growth and development. 

So, what productive things can they do during their holidays?  We are not talking about tuition and catching up on readings, but other fun, productive, less stressful activities. 

Vacations are an ideal time for enriching hobbies that students are passionate about.  These may be playing musical instruments, trying baking or cooking, doing digital arts, and other similar activities.  These can be both enjoyable and beneficial for personal development. 

girl in yellow shirt holding brown cake
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Next, participating in community service or volunteer work can be a great way for students to spend their vacation.  This can be a good bonding moment with family members, too, which allows plenty of teaching moments and opportunities to share one’s insights about life. 

Finally, and probably a favourite of many, travelling to new places can be done during vacations.  Travelling can be an educational experience which exposes students to different cultures.  By travelling, they can both have fun and engage their minds. 

We hope Milchelians are having a fun and productive mid-year break so that they all come back refreshed to start another term! 

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Harnessing the Internet: How Our Children Can Use the Internet Productively

In our previous post, we talked about some of the dangers that our children face online. Now, let’s talk about some of the productive ways our children can use the internet. With our guidance, they can maximize the power of the internet and use it to their advantage in our highly digitally interconnected world.

First of all, the internet is a great educational resource. Our children can access online courses on sites like Khan Academy and Coursera. They can also use educational games and apps to enhance their learning. Online resources can help them improve their math skills or learn a new language. Websites like Google Scholar, National Geographic Kids, and Britannica Kids are excellent options to explore.

mother helping her daughter with homework
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Secondly, the internet is a place where children can enhance their creativity and self-expression. Canva for Education and Wattpad are great sites for creative activities. They can create and share their digital art, writings, and multimedia projects. Starting a blog or YouTube channel can also be a fun way to express themselves. However, adult guidance is still needed for this endeavour.

Thirdly, the internet has made social connections faster and easier. Our children can stay in touch with family and friends. It’s important that they are supervised while using social media and messaging platforms. From Google Hangouts to Zoom, Facebook to Instagram, there are still dangers, so parental supervision is necessary.

photo of child smiling while using tablet computer
Photo by Julia M Cameron on Pexels.com

Finally, children can use the internet for career exploration. They can research various career paths and understand the skills required for different jobs. A simple Google search can direct them to numerous helpful sites that provide valuable information about their future careers.

With the right guidance, our children can use the internet safely and productively, turning it into a powerful tool for learning, creativity, connection, and career exploration.

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Responsible Digital Citizenship in Children 

Nowadays, internet is a ubiquitous tool in our lives.  It is widely used in areas like communication and social networking.  It is also used in education, e-commerce and shopping, entertainment, and work and productivity, to name a few.  For both us, adults, and our kids, the internet is a useful tool. 

As such, the world of the internet is also an area where kids need guidance as they use and explore.  The term “responsible digital citizenship” is now being commonly used.  It refers to responsible and ethical online behaviour that we all must practice.  Doing this helps us to have a healthy and safe experience in the digital world. 

There are many reasons why we parents should teach our children responsible digital citizenship.  In this article, we will talk about the most cause of concern for growing kids. 

First, addiction to gadgets and the internet is a major concern of many parents.  Excessive screen time affects children’s sleep, academics, and over-all habits, so this is a foremost concern that parents must address.  If left unchecked, this could lead to addiction that is much difficult to correct.

person with smartphone standing in projection of zeros and ones
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Second is the spread of misinformation.  Without our guidance, children can access volumes of information online that may be untrue or just plain harmful.  It is our responsibility as adults to block suspicious sites and sources of information.  We must also teach our kids to be discerning in what they see online.  Keep an open communication so your child knows to ask you for things that they find out online.

photo of woman tutoring young boy
Photo by Julia M Cameron on Pexels.com

Finally, children must know that their actions online leave permanent digital footprint.  Educate them about the consequences of their online actions that may harm themselves or others.  A seemingly harmless post today may have consequences in the future.  Because of this, we must always remind our children to “think before you click”.

These are just some of the dangers awaiting our children online.  These are also why we should take a proactive role in educating our kids about responsible digital citizenship.  Sometimes, we parents become too relaxed in our children’s access to the internet.  This is a very serious matter that demands our watchful guidance.  Take no chances and make sure that you educate your child on how to become responsible digital citizens.   

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Why Is Self-Awareness Important?

The idea of self-awareness has been gaining popularity recently, appearing in many articles, videos, and social media content. This interest is well-justified, as self-awareness is crucial across all stages of life. It plays a significant role in adults’ work, family life, social interactions, and personal growth. Similarly, self-awareness is essential for teens as they mature and build their identity, as well as for school-age children who are learning values and habits that will shape their lives.

To begin with, why is self-awareness important? Imagine a baby crying, and you don’t know how to soothe them. You can’t calm the baby because you lack awareness of what they need—are they hungry or in pain? This scenario illustrates how awareness is vital for addressing a situation effectively. Similarly, if you don’t know which of your behaviours need improvement (having awareness), how can you improve?

Let’s apply this to students. If a teen is unaware that their poor eating habits are causing physical issues, how can they improve? How will they be motivated to change if they don’t recognize the problem? The same applies to students who are unaware of their unhealthy attachment to gadgets leading to poor school performance. Without awareness of the issue, they won’t take steps to address it.

In simple terms, self-awareness is the starting point for any positive behaviour change. This is why AWARENESS is the first of Milchel’s 5 Key Traits (Awareness, Discipline, Responsibility, Perseverance, Confidence).

Children and teens may not always have high self-awareness, so adults should step in and guide them when their lack of awareness affects them. By nurturing self-awareness in the younger generations, we pave the way for them to develop healthier habits and a better understanding of themselves and their surroundings. In turn, this creates a more mindful and compassionate society for all. As adults, maintaining high self-awareness not only helps us lead by example, but it also allows us to navigate our own lives with greater clarity and purpose.

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The Importance of Tradition for International Students

In MILCHEL, we believe in the importance of maintaining traditions, especially for our diverse community of international students. We celebrate festive occasions like Christmas and Chinese New Year.  We also celebrate cultural activities like Songkran for our Thai residents.  But why is this so important, and what are the benefits of these traditions beyond mere celebration?

Participating in these traditions plays a role in relieving homesickness among international students. Being far away from home can evoke feelings of longing, especially during cultural holidays and events. By recreating familiar customs and celebrations in the hostel, Milchelians find comfort in the company of their peers. These traditions provide a sense of connection to their home cultures.  It eases the pangs of homesickness and fosters a sense of belonging in their new environment.

Moreover, maintaining traditions fosters a sense of community among our Milchelians. Regardless of nationality or background, coming together to celebrate shared customs creates bonds. These shared experiences promote understanding and mutual respect among Milchelians of different nationalities.

Furthermore, embracing traditions is an opportunity to appreciate diversity. As Milchelians learn about and engage with the customs and traditions of their peers, they develop a deeper appreciation of cultures that make up our home community. For one, this celebration of diversity promotes tolerance and acceptance.  Also, it cultivates a spirit of inclusivity and unity among Milchelians.

The importance of maintaining traditions for international students cannot be overstated. Beyond the joy of celebration, these traditions helps to ease students’ homesickness.  They help develop a sense of community among Milchelians despite their different cultures.  Finally, it makes them learn tolerance and inclusivity that contributes to a harmonious living environment in the hostel.  As we continue to maintain a welcoming and inclusive environment for all Milchelians, we celebrate the richness of diversity and the beauty of culture and tradition.

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Benefits of MILCHEL English Reading Program

Fondly referred to by Milchelians as ERP, the English Reading Program is an integral  part of our Academic Services here at MILCHEL.   Over the years, ERP has evolved but our core objective remains the same:  increase Milchelians’ exposure to English-language texts. 

At the heart of ERP lies an approach that goes beyond conventional methods of language instruction. Through carefully curated group sessions, we strive to improve English proficiency.  Moreover, we strive to foster a deep appreciation for the written word among Milchelians.

Every Monday through Thursday, Milchelians gather virtually on Zoom.  They form groups based on their English-speaking standards. Guided by a dedicated facilitator-teacher, each session unfolds with a sense of anticipation of the texts for the day.

The format that ERP takes on is simple yet effective.  Students take turns reading passages from selected texts, while the facilitator provides real-time feedback and guidance. Pronunciation errors are corrected, complex passages are simplified for comprehension, and unfamiliar vocabulary is explained.  This way, we ensure that every participant gains a thorough understanding of the material.

Furthermore, ERP is more than just a reading program.  It hopes that through engaging discussions and interactive activities, Milchelians not only enhance their language skills but also develop critical thinking abilities and confidence in expressing themselves in English.

One of the most remarkable outcomes of ERP is the newfound confidence that Milchelians develop. As they conquer linguistic challenges and navigate complex texts, they discover a sense of self-assurance that transcends language barriers.

Moreover, ERP serves as a gateway to a lifelong love of reading. In a world where digital distractions abound, instilling a passion for literature is more important than ever. By immersing students in a wide array of English-language texts, ERP ignites in Milchelians a curiosity for learning. 

Finally, perhaps the greatest testament to ERP’s impact lies in the transformation it brings about in Milchelians.  We take so much delight when Milchelians, after a holiday break, asks us excitedly, “When will ERP start?” From hesitant readers to avid learners, participants emerge from the program with a newfound appreciation for the power of language and the joy of discovering new worlds through words.

In closing, as we continue to uphold our commitment to excellence in Milchelians’ academics, ERP stands as an example of dedication. By providing a nurturing environment where Milchelians can make mistakes and learn, we allow them to thrive and develop a healthy interaction with the English language.  Such will help them reach their full potential in this vast society where the ability to communicate is one’s greatest asset.