As featured on Sassy Mama SG

Every parent wants to give their child the best foundation for a successful future, and it starts in preschool. That’s why Changemakers Explorer stands out for their unique approach to early childhood education, which seamlessly integrates classroom learning with real-life experiences. By helping young learners aged 0 to 6 understand the world around them through the school’s well-rounded multidisciplinary approach, this preschool encourages little ones to fall in love with learning and acquire essential life skills to become curious and confident learners…

As parents, we spend a lot of time worrying about what our children eat. Is it nutritious? Is it safe? And perhaps most importantly, will they actually eat it?

Recent conversations in Singapore have highlighted just how important school meals are. Food is not merely fuel to get a child through the day. It is a source of comfort, a lesson in culture, and a daily touchpoint for safety and care.

At Changemakers Explorer, our approach to food is simple. We believe in serving meals that are familiar, freshly prepared, and balanced. We want mealtime to be a stress-free part of the day where children feel at home.

We believe the best way to ensure quality is to keep it close to home. That is why every one of our centres operates its own in-house kitchen.

We do not rely on external mass catering. Instead, we have a dedicated team of cooks and kitchen staff who prepare food on-site before every meal. This allows us to have direct oversight of the food preparation process from start to finish, ensuring consistency and freshness of every meal.

Our kitchen teams are familiar faces to the children, often affectionately called ‘Auntie’. They understand the children’s preferences and take great pride in seeing clean bowls returned to the kitchen. This human connection ensures that every meal is made with a level of love and care that goes beyond a standard menu.

If you happen to ask a Changemakers Explorer child, ‘Have you eaten?’, do not be surprised if they excitedly tell you about the Chicken Rice or Nasi Lemak they had for lunch. Our menu features these local staples for a reason.

We chose these dishes intentionally. We know that children are more likely to eat well when they recognise the food on their plate. By serving familiar local favourites, we can introduce healthier ingredients without resistance.

Similarly, our Brown Rice Nasi Lemak offers the comfort of coconut rice but pairs it with a baked fish fillet instead of deep-fried wings. We include long beans to ensure a balanced intake of vegetables.

These meals are not designed to be ‘fancy’. They are designed to be comforting, culturally relevant, and nutritious.

Our in-house kitchens do not just serve a cultural menu. Our meals are also packed with nutrients to help kids grow while limiting overall calorie intake. By meticulously planning our meals, we ensure that specific dietary requirements are met and that every dish offers high nutritional value.

Here is a closer look at the science on our plates:

Category	Menu Highlights	Vitamins & Nutrients	Benefits	Recommended Daily Intake*
PROTEIN	• Mixed Grain Hainanese Chicken Rice with Xiao Bai Cai • Steamed Fish with Tomato and Bak Choy • Teriyaki Glazed Fish Fillet	Vitamin B3, B6, B12, D, Omega-3	Healing & Immunity: Supports metabolism, brain function, and immune system.	50 – 120g
FRUITS & VEG	• Xiao Bai Cai, Bak Choy • Cauliflower, Carrots • Fresh Apples, Oranges, Watermelon	Vitamin A, B, and C	Vision & Skin: Vitamin A for eyes; Vitamin C for healthy skin and healing.	100 – 180g
GRAINS	• Mixed Grain Rice • Wholemeal Spaghetti • Brown Rice Vermicelli • Wholemeal Pumpkin Bun	Vitamin B2, B3, & B6	Energy & Brain: Riboflavin for energy production; B-Vitamins for nerve function.	80 – 140g
DAIRY	• Milk • Surprise Yoghurt Parfait	Calcium, Probiotics, Vitamin D	Strong Bones: Calcium & Vitamin D for absorption; Probiotics aid digestion.	200 – 300g

To achieve this balance, we focus on five key pillars:

• Protein: Our lunches feature chicken and fish prepared in healthier ways such as braising, steaming, or in soups. Chicken provides Vitamin B3 and B6 for metabolism and brain function. Fish offers Omega-3, Vitamin D, and B12 for immunity, healing, and nerve health.
• Dairy: We serve milk at breakfast and yoghurt at tea to provide the necessary calcium for strong bones. Our yoghurt also supplies probiotics for healthy digestion.
• Fruits and Vegetables: Daily servings ensure a robust intake of Vitamins A, B, and C for vision, brain and nerve development, and healthy skin. They also provide essential fibre for digestion and serve as a healthier alternative to sugary or processed snacks.
• Grains: Making up roughly 50% of our meals, our grains are mainly wholemeal. This includes wholemeal bread at breakfast, wholegrain pumpkin buns at tea, and brown rice or wholemeal spaghetti at lunch. Whole grains help regulate blood sugar and improve focus.
• Variety: Our meals are appetising and diverse. We include Chinese, Malay, Japanese, Vietnamese, Italian, and Western cuisines to foster an early appreciation for different tastes, textures, and aromas.

Source: Nutrition for kids: Guidelines for a heathly diet. Mayo Clinic. 16 April 2025

Preparing food for growing children requires specific skills. We are proud that our menu is Health Promotion Board (HPB) compliant, but we also want it to taste good.

Finally, we view food as an opportunity for learning. For our toddlers, mealtime is about building independence. We introduce food transition plans with manageable portions to help them practice self-feeding.

For older children, food connects them to the wider community. At our Downtown East centre, as part of our inter-generational programme, children have worked with seniors from the Residents’ Network to harvest ingredients and prepare meals together. These activities teach patience, teamwork, and respect.

At Changemakers Explorer, children practise pronunciation through an app that listens as they read Chinese words aloud, provides instant scoring, and adjusts their learning pace if needed. This approach blends learning with play, while inspiring creativity through thoughtfully-designed learning environments.

Since its launch in 2025, the app has been used by approximately 800 children. To manage screen time, each session is limited to five minutes and is used once a week during Chinese lessons. The app currently includes 300 vocabulary words.

Coreen Soh, Chief Child Development and Support Officer at NTUC First Campus, explains the benefits:

AI supports children’s independent practice and learning by providing immediate feedback on their pronunciation. The platform also helps teachers track children’s learning progress and identify which words need more reinforcement in class, or which children need additional support.

This approach is winning over parents, too. Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, with every parent we surveyed agreeing that the app complements traditional classroom learning. The data backs up the sentiment, with parents giving an overall satisfaction rating of 7.6 out of 10.

But beyond the numbers, the impact is heard as much as it is seen. Over 60% of parents say their child has better pronunciation and an increased interest in the language. By bridging the gap between play and pedagogy, the programme is not just teaching a language, it is fostering a lasting confidence in young learners.

Our intentional pedagogy and premium offerings are thoughtfully crafted to empower every child to stretch their potential, embrace new challenges, and thrive in an ever-changing world.

We are conveniently located across Singapore. Visit us to see how we bring this vision to life and find the perfect environment for your child’s journey.

• Delta House (Alexandra)
• Devan Nair Institute (Jurong East)
• Downtown East (Pasir Ris)
• One Marina Boulevard (Raffles Place)
• Leisure Park Kallang – Relocating from Mountbatten Square in March 2026 (Mountbatten)
• Tampines Junction (Tampines)

Originally published on BYKidO.com

Changemakers Explorer, a new chapter from the esteemed creators of Little Skool-House preschool, is redefining early childhood education for families who believe that learning should be connected, meaningful and future-ready. Designed to nurture confident, curious learners from the earliest years, the school prepares children not just for primary school, but for life in a globally connected world.

At the heart of this philosophy are their signature experiences: the Symphonic Learning™ approach, which connects Science, Arts and Language through child-led inquiry, and curated overseas immersion experiences, which bring learning far beyond the classroom walls.

At the core of Changemakers Explorer’s curriculum is its signature Symphonic Learning™ approach, where learning is thoughtfully connected across disciplines and guided by children’s natural curiosity.

Every day questions such as “Why are the ants carrying food together?” ignites discovery and evolves into investigations on insect communities, plant life cycles or environmental patterns, depending on what captures the children’s interest. Educators are expertly trained to observe, listen and extend these inquiries, guiding children through bilingual, hands-on projects that deepen understanding and problem-solving skills.

This approach ensures learning feels purposeful and engaging, fostering interest-based motivation while helping children make meaningful connections across Science, Arts and Language.

All classrooms are intentionally designed around their Zone-in-Zone enhanced learning environment, featuring five thoughtfully curated areas: the Maker Zone, Language Lab, Art Den, Puzzle Den and Tarata Play.

Each zone offers developmentally differentiated activities, allowing children to work at their own pace while stretching their potential. Before entering a zone, children are encouraged to set personal learning goals, supported by clear visual cues that promote independence and task completion.

As children progress from N1 to K2, the zones evolve with more advanced materials and challenges. Throughout the day, children move freely between spaces, following their interests and deepening engagement through meaningful interaction with their environment, building executive function, confidence and ownership over their learning.

Imagine your preschooler stepping into a renowned, partner preschool overseas, learning alongside peers from another culture, hearing a new language spoken naturally, and experiencing the world with confidence and curiosity.

Changemakers Explorer brings this vision to life through thoughtfully curated overseas immersion trips. Their inaugural exchange is a collaboration with Fengtai First Kindergarten (丰台一幼), a renowned preschool in China, offering children authentic exposure to Chinese language and culture in a real-world setting. This choice reflects the school’s deep commitment to bilingualism not as an academic goal, but as a lived experience.

Beyond China, Changemakers Explorer continues to explore meaningful global opportunities for its young learners. These shared experiences broaden children’s perspectives while nurturing empathy, cultural awareness and adaptability – qualities increasingly essential in today’s world. For parents, it offers reassurance that their child is developing the confidence to navigate beyond familiar environments with ease.

Building upon their proven excellence and strength in Chinese Drama Pedagogy, Changemakers Explorer now extends this strong approach into English language and literacy learning through their specialised Bilingual Drama Pedagogy. This unique methodology seamlessly integrates English literacy with dynamic dramatic expression, moving far beyond traditional rote learning or phonics drills to transform language acquisition into an immersive, joyful experience.

Through drama, children learn to embody characters and narratives, encouraging them to use new vocabulary and sentence structures relevant to each scenario. The accompanying movement, gestures and actions help them grasp the meaning of words more intuitively, significantly enhancing comprehension and retention.

Drama also creates a rich, interactive environment where teamwork and collaboration are essential. As children work together to build stories, roles and scenes, they naturally strengthen their conversational abilities, negotiation skills and social confidence.

The result is a child who is not only articulate and expressive, but also a confident and competent communicator in both Chinese and English, supported by an engaging, proven pedagogy that brings language to life.

However, the benefits extend beyond language mastery. As children prepare for their performances—from negotiating roles and leading discussions on staging to developing comprehension and writing as they prepare their scripts—they simultaneously hone essential life skills. This holistic development ensures they are ready for complex, real-world interactions, going far beyond the standard curriculum.

Parents should also note that the school offers infant and child care services to support children from their earliest stages of development.

As a premium early childhood brand, Changemakers Explorer provides parents with peace of mind through a curriculum designed for depth, balance and holistic development:

• Neuroscience-Backed Enrichment – Specialist-led programmes in Music & Movement, Cognitive Thinking and Outdoor/Sports Enrichment are all included within the curriculum, supporting both cognitive and physical development.
• Fresh, Healthy & Diverse Cuisine – Each centre operates its own in-house kitchen, preparing warm, fresh meals daily to ensure nutritional quality and care.
• Technology-Enhanced Language Learning – An AI-enabled Chinese pronunciation app supports personalised language development, offering instant feedback for educators to track progress and celebrate milestones of children.

Changemaker Explorer’s beautiful centre design, intentional pedagogy, and premium offerings are all designed to support the children in learning, exploring and thriving every day. You can find a school at the following locations across Singapore:

• Delta House (Alexandra)
• Devan Nair Institute (Jurong East)
• Downtown East (Pasir Ris)
• One Marina Boulevard (Raffles Place)
• Leisure Park Kallang – Relocating from Mountbatten Square in March 2026 (Mountbatten)
• Tampines Junction (Tampines)