Start Small Dream Big (SSDB) – President’s Challenge 2021
Stepping into Sustainable Living - To A Greener World
Agape Little Uni @ Upper Serangoon
“Start small, dream big” is a message with which we wish to impart into every Agape child.
With more advancements in education and technology, protecting the Earth using small gestures can go a long way in keeping the environment healthy and to help it flourishing. As more and more people are educated and committed to protecting the environment, the children of Agape Little Uni. @ Upper Serangoon has also joined the cause.
To introduce sustainable living in our curriculum, we set up a Garden of Agape in our backyard, we incorporated the importance of caring for nature into our class activities. The children were given the autonomy to grow different plants from seeds, nurture them by watering them occasionally and ensuring the plants get sufficient sunlight to grow. Through these little yet daily acts, we wish our children grow up with love and respect for nature embedded in their values.
Even now, the garden is still flourishing well under the care and love of everyone. With hard work definitely comes reward. The planters in our garden has bloomed and yielded results. Our cucumbers, tomatoes and vegetable plants have grown so well and were harvested to be added into our staff meals as additional ingredients. This is the true value of gardening, to yield what we sow!
To commemorate Earth Day and the important message of loving our planet, Agape Little Uni. @ Upper Serangoon started the journey with baby steps. We kicked off our planting season for our Start Small Dream Big (SSDB) - President’s Challenge project - “To A Greener World”, on 28th April 2021 by planting our first two plants into its new home. They became the pioneers of our Garden of Agape, which continued to flourish and nurture under the loving hands of our children.
The act harboured an important message, which is that a plant might seem minute, but it is a great effort into helping promote awareness for nature all around us. This also kickstarts our planting season for our Start Small Dream Big (SSDB) - President’s Challenge project - “To A Greener World”.
During Father’s Day this year, we launched two unique planter sets for the Father’s Day auction.
These planters were prepared with love by some of our K1 and K2 children and they have infused all their thanks for their daddies and granddaddies into the plants and nurtured them with love.
Introducing Set A - Out of the entire set of exquisite plant pots, we have taken out three and placed them together. Each piece is uniquely crafted and painted and the set allows you to either place them separately on their own or mixed together to form a community.
This set contains a large pot housing three different succulents, a dainty pot of Adiantum Maiden Hair Fern and another with a Dracaena Deremensis Curly. Together, they look unique and would be a perfect centrepiece!
Here is Set B - Another unique set that we have placed them together. Same as the others, each piece is uniquely crafted and can be placed separately on their own, or mixed together to your own preference and style.
This set contains a pot which resembles a house, with a succulent placed inside; a tall pot of Lotus Bamboo and another with the vibrant Adiatum Maiden Hair Fern. Together, they create such a wonderful picture and would be perfect placed anywhere in your house!
For the main chapter of our “To A Greener World” journey, the children spent the entire June holidays focused on creating unique and interesting planters to be sold off in our donation drive. To adhere to the social distancing measures in place and to protect our community from the Novel Coronavirus, we launched our sales through our Facebook page.
Below are the unique and creative planters prepared by each and every class in Agape Little Uni. @ Upper Serangoon!
[Infant @ Agape Little Uni @ Upper Serangoon] Gardening provides opportunities for the children to connect with nature and by placing love in what they grow.
It is a great introduction to involve our Infant children in growing plants. In this SSDB project, we used recycled mugs provided by our Teachers to grow succulents. The children were excited to plant their succulents. They were involved in filling the cups with soil and decorating it with pebbles and cute figurines.
多肉植物的花语是顽强、美好，有着招财纳福的积极寓意。和孩子们一起利用环保材料种植多肉植物，连接对未来生活的美好和仁爱。温润的气氛，轻柔的土壤，老师的亲和引导下孩子们稚嫩的小手种植不同品种的多肉植物。孩子们时时观察，呵护地像妈妈对待幼儿。这是世上最纯真的情感，最无私的爱。
[Smart Toddlers @ Agape Little Uni @ Upper Serangoon Crescent] Gardening is a great opportunity for children to learn and explore nature! For this SSDB project we decided to plant succulents in recycled mugs. It was an opportunity for the children to understand the concept of reusing and recycling. Our children were very excited to choose their own recycled mugs and plant their succulent in it. During this process, children had lots of fun feeling and touching the texture of the soil as they planted it in the cup.
幼儿自己动手培育花草，花草也会教育幼儿。种花种菜可以让孩子们懂得，植物就像人一样，也需要食物和水才能成长，才能保持健康。对于孩子来说尤其有益，每天能让小朋友看到自己辛勤劳作给植物带来的改变。照料植物不仅有助于培养儿童的责任感，还可激发儿童的好奇心和想象力。要想和你的宝贝一起玩园艺，不一定非得有个开阔的户外场地。在玻璃罐子或者碗里简单种点儿种子，就能引导你的小孩子爱上园艺。希望爸爸妈妈们能够多多支持我们。
[Nursery 1 @ Agape Little Uni @ Upper Serangoon Crescent] The N1 children took up the responsibility of being little gardeners, exploring & engaging in Aquaponic Gardening. Aquaponics is the combination of aquaculture and hydroponics together in one integrated system, helping each other out.
Throughout the SSDB project, the children watched the interactions between the two and learn to show love and care towards the little lives.
N1的SSDB活动是为了培养孩子良好的生活方式，让幼儿学会照顾自己的植物和动物。在照顾更为弱小动物的过程中，会慢慢学会关注和帮助弱势群体，表现出同情心与爱心。让我们付出爱心和努力，支持我们的SSDB项目，支持弱势群体，付出你的行动。
[Nursery 2 @ Agape Little Uni @ Upper Serangoon Crescent] N2 has caught the hype of growing greens with hydroponics! Using the Catakits provided generously by CATAFARM, the children followed precise instructions through the germination and transplant stage of the Basil plants. CATAFARM also very kindly spared some time to host a Zoom learning session with all our children. During the session, she introduced the concept of Hydroponics and how to utilise the kit to grow our own herbs.
Hydroponics is the cultivation of plants without using soil. It works for the plants as their roots have easy access to water and nutrients hence speeding up the plant’s maturation. It will work for us too as no soil means no dirty floor, nails and no need for daily watering.
Each kit will contain either Red Rubin Basil, Thai Basil, Genovese Basil, or a combination of them.
If you are ready for home-grown basil, grab a kit while it lasts!
N2的小朋友们正在进行一场新鲜的实验—种植水培植物罗勒子。这是一次与以往不同的种植过程，我们采用水培土壤，更加科学健康和环保，在种植过程中小朋友们精心照顾和观察，体验到了收获的快乐，现在就等待果实开放进行品尝啦
以下是水培植物的益处： 1.净化空气、有益健康 2.清洁卫生、病虫害少 3.挥发水分、保持空气湿度 4.美化环境、愉悦心情 5.易维护、易保养
[Kindergarten 1 @ Agape Little Uni @ Upper Serangoon Crescent] It is an individual and collective responsibility to make this world a safer and happier place to live.
K1 children have shown their willingness to contribute as they participate in this year’s SSDB project. It made them become more interested in knowing the purpose and importance of plants in our ecosystem. And allowed them to appreciate even the littlest things that the world has to offer.
K1的孩子们在今年的SSDB活动中表现出了他们的合作贡献精神，这使他们对了解植物在我们生态系统中的用途和重要性变得更加感兴趣。并且在此过程中我们很欣慰看到他们能够欣赏世界上那些最微不足道的东西。
我们每一个人都有责任使世界变成一个更安全、更幸福的居住地。
[Kindergarten 2 @ Agape Little Uni @ Upper Serangoon Crescent] Now it’s time for our graduating cohort of 2021, the K2 class.
As this would be the last SSDB project that the children would be participating in Agape, we decided to make it a unique and interesting experience for them.
The task was for the children to make plant pots from scratch using non-toxic cement. Despite the daunting task ahead, the children stepped up to the challenge and were all eager to participate.
Over the June holiday month, the children mixed the cement, formed the mould of their vases and painstakingly painted down every detail of their design. And truth to be told, the final product looks amazing!
Hope you enjoy watching the children’s creation journey video and scroll through to marvel at the beautiful designs, all thoroughly thought through by the children and uniquely their own.
感谢我们的孩子积极参与SSDB这个活动。这是一个不寻常的活动，充满挑战性，也充分的发挥了孩子们想象力。让我们有了不一样的收获旅程。感恩我们的孩子付出自己的爱心和责任感，支持弱势群体，让我们大手拉小手，让爱远行。
At the end of the sales period, it was with great joy for us to announce that the Fund Raising for SSDB President Challenge Y2021 was a huge success! We would like to once again thank all our children, parents and staff members who contributed their time, efforts, sweat and donations. Through this project, we have shown a strong sense of school community, spirit, and pride. Nothing beats the genuine and kind gesture we have displayed. We hope the planters in their homes continue to thrive under the care and love of our different families and for the important message of Love For Nature to be etched in everyone’s minds and actions.
After that, we consolidate the total amount raised together with 11 of our Agape Little Uni. centres and sent the funds to SSDB President Challenge Y2021.
This event is truly a memorable learning experience for all of us. We hope that this serves as an inspiration to help and continue to serve the communities. (Below is the list of benefitting agencies approved by SSDB President Challenge Y2021.)
