By Lim Pow Hong

A KINDERGARTEN at Block 125, Serangoon North, will become the 12th and latest in the PAP Community Foundation (PCF) network to add speech and drama classes to its curriculum, and the first to extend it to four-year-olds.

The kindergarten, which goes by the name Spice@Serangoon, will from next month run what is known as the Spice programme - one that develops children's Social, Physical, Intellectual, Creative and Emotional abilities.

At the core of Spice is a weekly speech and drama component taught by teachers certified by the Julia Gabriel Centre for Learning.

Spice is also available at 11 other PCF centres islandwide, though at those centres, it is run for five- and six-year-olds.

A typical hour-long Spice lesson includes getting children to learn how to pronounce words and make sounds. To hone their drama skills, teachers present a scenario that the children then build on.

The parents of the four-year-olds at Spice@Serangoon pay $110 a month to be on the programme; if they want their child to be taught by instructors from Julia Gabriel, they pay $170 each month.

Early childhood education specialists believe that children can benefit from speech and drama lessons even at the age of 18 months.

Mrs Lucy Quek, an early childhood education lecturer at Ngee Ann Polytechnic, said: 'A child will always benefit from speech and drama lessons. It helps in their social, cognitive and emotional development.'

Such lessons boost the child's self-confidence, which encourages him or her to interact more with others.

Spice@Serangoon's principal, Ms Moon Tan, 30, said her school launched the programme to bring speech and drama classes to heartlanders at an affordable price.

Mrs Lim Hwee Hua, the MP for the Serangoon ward in Aljunied GRC, added: 'With more parents placing emphasis on early childhood learning, we want to offer this premium choice of pre-school education taught by qualified professional teachers at a reasonable cost.'

Even children from families earning $2,000 or less every month can benefit from the Spice programme - with help from a financial aid scheme run by PCF.

With $1 million in its kitty, the fund gives such families a one-off handout of $100, to be distributed in two lots of $50 each next month and in June. The money can be used to offset the child's monthly school fees or enrichment classes.

PCF runs 252 education centres. Its tie-up with Julia Gabriel resulted in speech and drama classes being introduced in 2001 at its Pasir Ris and Tampines centres.

Monthly fees for the Spice programme with basic kindergarten curriculum at these centres range from $150 to $175.

Similar sessions taken at Julia Gabriel centres cost nearly twice that: A course of one-hour lessons costs $295 on weekdays and $320 on weekends.

Stand-alone enrichment classes without the basic kindergarten curriculum at other centres, such as Cherie Hearts childcare centres, can start at about $150 for English speech and drama lessons.

This article was first published in The Straits Times on Nov 18, 2008.