Ohkei

You thought I had Little Minds Big News back then? No, I didn’t.

Every week, we spend some time on current issues and every week, I had to spend some time finding the right article, preparing for it to be used in lesson. Between lesson planning, observations, documentation…reading long news articles is the last thing I want to do.

Then I came across FAST on Channel NewsAsia. I relied on this little hack before Little Minds, Big News existed. By clicking that button, I was able to quickly understand the gist of the article (apart from the headline). I was able to decide if that would be the article I want to look at. I was able to quickly find an alternative if it’s not something that aligns.

After deciding on the article, I’ll just screenshot the headline, the cover photo, and the short summary of the article from FAST. Just enough points to turn into simple conversation for children. Should the children decide to ask questions and learn more it, we can then deep dive into the lengthy article itself (for details). This tide me over my busy weeks because I needed a quick and easy way to plan for what I intend to cover for current issues. And it works!

And I’m sharing this hack with you because…Little Minds, Big News will be taking a short pause. I don’t think I’m able to find time to prepare this weekly for this month. Yes, I do spend quite a bit of time finding the right article, formulating the questions, crafting the narrative, researching for relevant supporting resources, ideating the activity sheet, cleaning up the format.

I know some of you relies on it weekly and I appreciate every download. Because having an audience makes my work meaningful and purposeful.

It’s not goodbye. LMBN will be back for second season when my busy period is over. And I hope this small hack that worked for me before, can help tide you during this period. Otherwise, feel free to download the previous LMBN uploads if you haven’t. Yes it’s free!

How are children contributing to decision-making within your service?

At Play and Learn Bismark Street, their Children’s Council provides meaningful opportunities for children to share their perspectives and contribute to decisions that directly influence their experience at the service.

Children contribute to discussions around their Code of Conduct, relationships, routines and learning environments. Their ideas have also been brought together in the Children’s Council designed “A New Friend’s Guide to Play and Learn”, helping children share what they believe is important for new children joining their service.

Take a moment to reflect:

How are children involved in decision-making within your service?
How are their ideas and perspectives documented?
Can you demonstrate how their contributions have influenced practice or led to change?

Leadership Tip: Children’s voice becomes meaningful when their contributions are considered, revisited and reflected in the decisions and improvements made across the service.

Looking to strengthen children’s voice and continuous improvement within your service?

The Holistic HUB includes QIP templates, critical reflection tools, leadership resources, policies and compliance templates.

📧 [email protected]
🌐 www.holisticmanagement.net.au

Get our bestseller Essential Set at $20 for this National Day Special 🇸🇬 Great for classroom and home! To practice money concepts and for pretend play!

DM me to order ✉️

Promo ends 12 Aug 2026.

Everyone is paying for Spotify Premium.

Meanwhile, teachers are subscribed to:
• uninterrupted background noise,
• live surround sound,
• automatic volume boosts,
• a never-ending playlist called “Teacher, teacher, teacher”

Honestly, the audio quality is excellent.
Too excellent 😂

Home,
for many people in Singapore, it means HDB flats.

Years ago, I saw an installation named Shin Lin’s HDB Life (2014) at SAM 8Q. That one idea stayed with me long after I left the museum.

It was not simply about art, the aesthetic or HDB living per se. It was about the participation and how this concept gels in nicely with the community living of HDB. People were invited to design their own unit with printed stickers, and when all the individual pieces (units) were assembled together, a larger community (a block) emerged. Each unit was different, yet each one mattered to the whole.

As an early childhood educator, I realised how powerful that idea is for children. A child’s drawing does not have to stand alone. It can sit beside another child’s drawing, and together they create something neither could make individually. That thought inspired me to design a Singapore HDB Flat Corridor Template. Every child decorates one corridor, and all the corridors can be connected into a shared HDB block.
Different doors, different stories, different families, different cultures, different imaginations and ONE BIG COMMUNITY.

I used this during Racial Harmony Day. I could use this on the different festive occasions like Chinese New Year, Hari Raya, Deepavali as well. With National Day coming up, I could imagine every child “hanging flags” on their corridor 🇸🇬

If this sounds like an activity you want to do with your class, YOU MAY DOWNLOAD IT FOR FREE from my ko-fi page! Link in bio 🔗

You may wish to print in A5 size on drawing paper so you have enough wall space to feature the “entire block” 😅

And do share with me your class’s work! Would love to see them!