About Pumpkin House
Our Beliefs
- We believe that children must be respected, as we adults expect the same from them.
- We believe children can learn well when they are being cared, listened and talk to.
- We believe that children should be surrounded by materials that inspire
- We believe school as a place for research, experimentation, exploration and invention.
Our Missions
- To promote an encouraging school environment that reflects high level thinking.
- To enable children being a curiosity and creativity problem-solver.
- To provide an opportunity for teachers to study children’s various learning styles and thus being professional educator
- To educate and gain supports from parents and families in educating young children.
Our Philosophical Approach
Our philosophical approach is supported by the theory of Piaget (1972). According to Piaget (1972) play can serve many purposes and since children learn more effectively through activity rather than instruction, play provides an excellent vehicle for learning. During the first five or six years it is the child’s own sense of exploration that puts him in contact with outer reality (Frank, 1979). Through play the child’s life-encounters can be restructured, dramatised and symbolised so that the elements of his environment can be evaluated, comprehended and assimilated. Through fantasy the child will fill in gaps of information or distort reality for his own inner needs and satisfaction, or when reality becomes unbearable or too threatening he may retreat into his own exclusive world of fantasy.
Our approach is also supported by the theory of Howard Gardner. This theory provides eight different potential pathways to learning. According to Gardner, each individual is differ in the strength of of intelligences and also in the learning style. He suggests that teachers should use several other ways in which the material might be presented to facilitate effective learning to children.
Finally, " Scribbles method" is incorporated into our curriculum framework. According to Scribbles, children should be given an opportunity to express their ideas and feelings, but NOT to produce a product that is impressive to adults. Scribbles leads children to be creative thinker and guide children to learn and enjoy in the doing process.
