Playgroup to UKG
A curriculum you can see working, not just read about.
Our approach to the early years is tailored to international standards for the developmental needs and readiness of a child at every stage — and it is delivered entirely through play. Nothing here arrives as a worksheet before the child is ready for it.
The five pillars
What we are actually building, underneath the play.
Motor skills
Fine and gross motor work that gives a child the physical dexterity needed for writing and coordinated activity.
Communication
Clear articulation sits at the heart of the curriculum — being understood is the first academic skill.
Cognitive skills
Interactive experiences that stretch memory, attention and early critical thinking.
Social skills
Cooperative play that teaches teamwork, sharing and genuine empathy for another child.
Emotional growth
Self-control, patience and the ability to recover — nurtured deliberately, every day.
The first goodbye at the gate.
Indicatively 1 year 8 months – 2.5 years
Playgroup has one real job: to convince a very small person that leaving your arms is survivable, then enjoyable. Everything else — the songs, the sensory trays, the paint on the smock — is in service of that.
A typical morning
- Welcome circle, names and songs
- Sensory play: water, sand, dough, rice
- Music and movement
- Snack, then free play
- Story on the mat, then home
What you will notice
- Steadier walking, climbing, balance
- New words arriving in bursts
- Sitting for a whole story
- Playing beside other children
- A morning routine they can predict
Curiosity gets a shape.
Indicatively 2.5 – 3.5 years
This is the year a child moves from playing next to other children to playing with them — and starts putting names to the world. Colours, shapes, sounds, and, crucially, feelings.
Focus areas
- Phonic sounds and letter recognition
- Counting, sorting, matching, patterns
- Pre-writing strokes and grip
- Crafts, painting and early pottery
- Sharing, turn-taking and empathy
What you will notice
- Sentences replacing single words
- A named best friend
- Willingness to wait a turn
- Stories retold at the dinner table
- Independence with shoes and bags
The year the questions get harder.
Indicatively 3.5 – 4.5 years
Projects start running across several days. Children begin explaining their reasoning out loud, testing ideas against each other, and discovering that being wrong is not fatal.
Focus areas
- Blending sounds into words
- Number sense through materials
- Multi-day project work
- Multi-sport fundamentals
- Mindfulness and quiet time
What you will notice
- Reading the first few words alone
- Longer, more detailed drawings
- Arguments settled with words
- Real stamina in physical play
- Pride in finished work
The bridge to big school.
Indicatively 4.5 – 5.5 years
Our UKG year is designed specifically to close the gap to primary school. Not by drilling children through a Grade 1 syllabus a year early — but by building the soft skills, clear articulation and public speaking confidence that decide how a child’s first year of big school actually goes.
Focus areas
- Public speaking and show-and-tell
- Clear articulation and listening
- Independent, sustained work
- Reading fluency and early writing
- Classroom habits and self-management
Leaving AniBee with
- Social confidence in a new room
- A solid academic foundation
- The ability to ask for help
- Stamina for a full school day
- A genuine appetite for learning
Side by side
The whole path, on one screen.
| Programme | Indicative age | The heart of the year | Session |
|---|---|---|---|
| Playgroup | 1y 8m – 2.5y | Settling in, sensory play, first words and routines | Half day, daycare optional |
| Nursery | 2.5 – 3.5y | Friendships, phonics, number sense, pre-writing | Half day, daycare optional |
| Lower KG | 3.5 – 4.5y | Project work, reading readiness, multi-sport | Half day, daycare optional |
| Upper KG | 4.5 – 5.5y | School readiness, articulation, public speaking | Half day, daycare optional |
Age is a guide, not a gate. In line with current NEP thinking, we place each child in the programme that matches their developmental stage rather than their birthday alone. We work that out together, at your campus visit.
Not sure which year is right?
Bring your child in. Twenty minutes in the room tells us more than any form — and you get to see how the day actually runs.