Raintree International School – Kindergarten Classes

Find more information about Nursery classes (Age 1 to 3) here.

At Raintree, we pride ourselves on offering one of Bangkok’s best early years international kindergarten for 3-5 year olds. Our British curriculum kindergarten classes, usually comprise of 12-15 children, are led by a qualified and experienced kindergarten teacher and 1-2 assistants.  Working closely with our kindergarten teachers, our specialist teachers, including Music, Languages and Physical Education, provide their expert knowledge to ensure our children have a wide variety of learning experiences.

The latest research shows there are significant benefits to mixed aged children studying in the same class, and this collaborative learning environment is considered to be the best practice for kindergarten learners. By combining Kindergarten 1 (children aged 3-4 years) and Kindergarten 2 (children aged 4-5 years), it provides a positive effect on learning for both older and younger children. At Raintree, our highly dedicated and trained teachers have the ability to cater for the learning needs of each child, bringing out their full potential.

Here are some key benefits of composite kindergarten classes:

• Older students are able to practice and reinforce their own skills as they teach them to the younger students as mentors and experts.
• Older students provide a model of appropriate behaviour for the younger students, and in successfully becoming good role models they gain confidence and empathy. These are skills that are essential in our modern world.
• Younger students are able to seek help from a wider range of people rather than relying on the teacher to help them all the time. Young children learn very effectively from their peers, and this learning through collaboration can help the children to feel more included in the learning process.
• The focus of learning is on individual personal best, and leads children to value learning and the learning process.
• Students develop a greater respect for individual differences and diversity.

At Raintree, the students and their learning needs are at the forefront of our decision-making process. The modern world is changing rapidly as the way we think, process information, and work evolve. Raintree is constantly exploring new practices to enhance the learning experience for our children. Our teaching reflects international best practices with particular inspiration from the Reggio Emilia approach.

Typical Day of Our Kindergarten Class

Our kindergarten class starts at 8.40 and finishes at 13:45. Children are dropped-off and collected from their classroom, providing parents with daily communication with the teaching team.

A day in the life of Leon – our Kindergarten 1 (Miss Rebecca’s class).  Leon is American/Thai and enjoys learning languages and photography.  Living in the Sathorn area, Leon often car pools to school with other Raintree students living in the same building.

8:30
Arrival and garden play.

Kindergarten children arrive at Raintree International School and it’s time for them to play with their friends from different year groups and for parents to engage with other parents and teaching staff, fostering our Raintree community. At 8.40, the bell rings and we do a morning dance together before going to the classroom.

9:00–9:30
Welcome time.

Kindergarten welcome time at Raintree International School. Together on our carpet area, we sing a welcome song, greet our friends, and then discuss the day ahead. Today is Proud’s birthday so we talk about how we are going to celebrate her big day!

9:30–10:00
Integrated studies

Integrated Studies time at Raintree International School provides Kindergarten children with access to a wide variety of activities for them to explore and learn from. Our carefully selected resources are designed to engage and challenge them and are readily available, enabling the children to become more independent and able to direct their own learning.

10:00–10:15
Snack time

It’s time for snacks at Raintree International School for our kindergarten class. We provide healthy fruit and milk to ensure the children have a balanced diet and the energy to remain engaged throughout the day.

10:15-11:00
Integrated studies

This time provides the kindergarten children with access to a wide variety of activities as they are encouraged to move around to explore and experiment. Children work independently or collaboratively in small groups. Some days this time will include specialist classes such as Music, P.E., Languages, or Library time

11:00-11:30
Outdoor play

The kindergarten children love to explore our natural outdoor area. Our curated treehouse play area is particularly popular and they love to climb, scramble, slide and run around the garden. Our best practice learning programme places a strong emphasis on offering large green spaces for children to explore, and develop physical and problem-solving skills.

11:30-12:00
Lunch.

At lunch the children sit together and eat with their teachers, allowing the teacher to model good meal-time behaviour. Children are encouraged to try new foods as they see their friends enjoying them. This provides a great opportunity to encourage a positive relationship with food and often involves lots of conversations about food and making healthy choices. All of our meals are carefully planned to ensure that the children have a varied and healthy diet.

12:00-13:30
Integrated studies/Specialist classes

Time for the children to further explore different activities set up by the teacher. Children with Chinese language priority are invited to join the Chinese corner in small groups where they will engage in language–rich activities such as playing games, reading books, singing songs and interacting with the teacher and each other in Chinese.

13:30-13:45
Circle time

Kindergarten circle time at Raintree International School enables the children to say goodbye and prepare for home time. Just before the end of each day, the children come together on the carpet for a final circle time. We talk about things that have happened that day, what sort of fun things we might be doing tomorrow and share any exciting news or stories. We then sing our goodbye song and collect our bags, ready to greet our parents or caregivers. Each day the children are collected from the class teacher, allowing the parents and caregivers to discuss what the day has involved.

13:45-14:45
Afterschool clubs (optional).

Raintree offers a variety of clubs depending on terms such as gardening, yoga, creative movement and cooking.

Our Kindergarten Curriculum

Raintree’s progressive international kindergarten curriculum in Bangkok is designed to best support your child’s personal, social and emotional development as well as their academic success. We place great emphasis on fostering creativity and communication while involving parents as much as possible to make sure you’re just as much a part of the Raintree experience as your child. At the kindergarten level, we build upon your child’s prime areas of learning as defined by the British Early Years Foundation Stage and extend this further to include the specific areas of learning such as Mathematics, Literacy, Expressive art and Understanding of the world.

At Raintree in Sathorn, children learn through purposeful play, allowing them to explore through hands-on investigation and to direct their own learning. Children have a natural sense of curiosity and eagerness to learn. Teachers at Raintree use carefully selected resources, observations, and meaningful interactions to help guide children through the learning process. As learning is guided by the children’s interests, they are more engaged in the process and much more open to challenging themselves. This helps children to become more confident, independent thinkers.

For example, after discovering caterpillars in our garden, children may start to develop a particular interest in insects. Our teachers observe this interest, and set up a focus area on insects including figures for them to explore, role play with, and mock habitats. The teachers may further notice that your child has a particular interest in butterflies and suggest to him/her to research this insect in a book, thus promoting literacy. Another child might show interest in a different insect, and the teachers may suggest to the child to draw or create a model of the insect using play dough or clay and “loose parts”. While the child does this, the teachers would scaffold their learning by asking about the insect’s defining features or encouraging them to count certain body parts which helps to develop an early understanding of mathematics. 

If a few children became interested in insects, then the teacher would arrange for them to go on a bug hunt around the school grounds or perhaps they would catch a few insects and put them in a terrarium in the classroom for the children to observe and study. Believing each child is unique and different, Raintree individualises their learning to support every child’s developmental needs.