Start Small Dream Big
Community Service: Not Just for Grown-Ups
What is Start Small Dream Big?
Start Small Dream Big invites the youngest members of our community to give back in their own little ways!
Every year, the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) engages preschools (kindergartens and childcare centres) to take part in community projects for a period of six months.
Schools identify their own community projects and give back to their communities creatively through volunteerism, crafts, fundraising, and many more!
Start Small Dream Big (SSDB for short) began its journey in 2015 with a humble participation of 150 preschools and doubled its numbers to over 300 schools the following year itself! This year, it boasts more than 500 preschools and kindergartens, and it looks like it will only keep growing!
No one can do everything but everyone can do something!
Start Small Dream Big was launched to celebrate SG50 and the 15th year of President’s Challenge. Year after year, President’s Challenge has been encouraging nationwide movements to raise funds and boost volunteerism for beneficiaries selected by the President’s Office. Start Small Dream Big opens the window for preschoolers to contribute their part to the movement.
Through Start Small Dream Big, we’re:
- teaching our children to identify problems that they see around them and,
- guiding them to solve or alleviate those problems.
To us, this is a demonstration to children that they do not need to wait for “one day when they’re grown up” to be able to influence the community around them. Helping our preschoolers realise their potential to create change in the lives of their peers, family, and community can be a powerful lesson that will stay with them as they grow up to become our future.
Start Small Dream Big Online
To help bring Start Small Dream Big digital, LittleLives has partnered with ECDA to create an online portal and mobile app for schools! Educators will upload pictures of the preschool at work and post blog entries on the progress of their ongoing projects throughout the duration of these six months! What’s more, educators can update Start Small Dream Big on the go with our mobile app, Little Stories!
Onboarding 500 plus schools is no small feat! Our team has poured months of hard work into designing the platforms and onboarding users from each school. And it doesn’t end with the launch! We’ll likely be fielding email support questions from about 10% of these users in the months to come.
All this hard work begs the question, why go digital?
It’s Environmentally Friendly
Many of the preschools participating in Start Small Dream Big are exploring environmentally friendly habits. To do our part to support this meaningful cause, we’re putting up schools’ profiles and projects online to save thousands of pages of paper!
We Get Frequent Updates
Going digital (and mobile!) will allow educators themselves to update us with photographs and stories of the students at work!
From brainstorming with their little ones, to planning for their project, to their project day story, to reflection with the class, all these wonderful moments captured and shared.
This means more details, more insights, more heartwarming stories, and meaningful sharing among preschools. You’ll be hearing from teachers on the ground, and get to read about the care and work that goes behind each project!
Bonus: you won’t have to wait a whole six months to learn about what the kids have been up to. The webpage is also available for people around the world to view, so everyone gets to go on community service journeys with the little tots and be inspired by their work!
We Can Improve It Along the way
Schools will soon begin using the first versions of Start Small Dream Big and Little Stories. But it doesn’t end there; we’re hoping to constantly improve our app and introduce cool, new features for our users! So give us your honest feedback and we’ll be there to address it!
Coming Up Next
Over 500 schools strong, Start Small Dream Big officially launches on 3rd April with a big bang of a launch party. Like its platform, the Start Small Dream Big launch party is also going digital! Come 3rd April, preschools from all over Singapore will be live-streaming their very own launch parties from their schools. Catch the celebration on Facebook!
Back here in LittleLives, we’ll be celebrating by looking at some of the Start Small Dream Big projects that schools have already started on! Here’s a sneak peek of what’s to come…
TwinkleKidz Academy@Siglap
Children auction off their artwork to raise funds for their friends at Singapore Children’s Society.
Learning Vision@NYP
The children show their gratitude to everyday heroes such as their cleaning uncle or cooking auntie by designing EZ-Link cards dedicated to them.
Pat’s Schoolhouse@Aroozoo
The kids explore sustainable gardening practices by getting their hands dirty!
These are just a few of the amazing preschool-driven community projects that you can expect to see on Start Small Dream Big and on the LittleLives blog, so stay tuned!
Visit the ECDA website for important dates and more information. While you’re at it, like ECDA and LittleLives on Facebook so you don’t miss any updates or adorable pictures!
