Did you know? Indonesia’s revised 2025 Foundation Phase guidance describes early learning that connects ideas with everyday life through play and exploration. For parents, this offers a hopeful starting point: a familiar experience can become something a child understands, changes and explains.
eduKateSG · Early years around the world · Parents of children aged 0–6
Find your next learning step
Start with the age range, then follow a family example towards a useful next step. Use the links to move at your own pace.
What the Foundation Phase means here
Indonesia’s official explanation of learning phases identifies Fase Fondasi with PAUD, or early childhood education, and RA. The ministry’s revised 2025 Foundation Phase learning-outcomes guide describes values, knowledge and skills across development. Its published introduction emphasises meaningful experiences and connections with daily life through play and exploration.
This guide uses that broad parent angle. It does not reproduce the full outcome framework, set admission ages for every provider or turn phase-end outcomes into expectations for every younger child.
Within eduKateSG’s zero-to-six branch, begin with the child’s current experience. A preschool invitation may involve explaining a plan; an infant’s contribution may be a look, movement or response during care. The difference matters when choosing a useful next step.
An everyday idea can become visible
Here is an eduKateSG family application for a preschooler. Put a few suitable clothes beside a pretend travel bag. Ask the child where a toy is going and what it might need. Let the child make a plan instead of beginning with a list to memorise.
The mechanism is a practical purpose that connects a choice with a reason. If the toy is visiting somewhere rainy, a suitable item has a job. The child can demonstrate, point or explain why they chose it.
If the child selects everything, reduce the number of options. If the child has an idea but lacks the word, offer a phrase that fits. If packing is physically awkward, hold the bag open. Each support answers a different difficulty in the same experience.
A new situation invites a change in the plan
Continue the eduKateSG game by changing one detail: the toy is staying for another day or meeting a friend. Ask what needs to change. The child can keep part of the original plan and reconsider another part.
- Start with a familiar situation and a manageable choice.
- Invite a reason through words or a demonstration.
- Change one condition so the child can reconsider.
- Help the specific obstacle that appears.
- Notice whether a similar idea is used in a real routine.
A possible progression is from choosing an item to explaining its purpose, then revising the choice. It is not an age checklist. A child might explain a reason clearly while still needing help organising the objects.
Look for understanding beyond the original game
Transfer might appear when the child notices that a real outing needs a different item from yesterday. Another sign could be explaining a choice to someone who did not watch the game. The new situation asks the child to make the idea useful again.
If the child cannot carry the idea across, bring back a helpful cue. Show the difference between the outings or offer two options. There is no need to assume the earlier success was meaningless; the changed situation may contain a new difficulty.
Your observation can stay precise: “She chose the hat after we talked about going outside.” Include the support. That tells another adult more than a broad statement that the child is ready or unready for school.
A family experience can inform the setting
Tell the practitioner about one routine your child understands and one situation that is still difficult. Ask whether the same pattern appears in the classroom. A concrete comparison gives both adults a better starting point.
- How do you connect learning with children’s daily experiences?
- How can a child contribute through actions as well as speech?
- What do you observe before choosing the next invitation?
- Which current Foundation Phase guidance do you use?
- What would help our child during the next transition?
For families comparing Indonesia and Singapore, ask about the actual provider, programme and age group. PAUD is an early childhood label; it does not establish an exact match with a Singapore class or a single experience across all settings.
Questions parents often ask
Does a learning phase mean every child follows the same weekly pace?
Use the phase as a curriculum reference and ask how the setting plans for the children it teaches. Our home progression is a suggested route through one experience, not a national timetable.
What does meaningful play look like at home?
In our example, the child makes a choice for a purpose, tries it and changes it when the situation changes. The adult helps keep the problem understandable.
Should we ask for an explanation every time?
Sometimes a demonstration is the clearer contribution. Follow the action and add a useful word or short phrase when it helps.
What can we try this week?
Choose one ordinary preparation routine. Give the child a manageable decision, offer help where needed and notice whether the idea becomes useful in another situation.
Continue through eduKateSG’s early-years ecosystem
- School of Childhood: the broad childhood journey
- Singapore’s whole-child preschool approach
- Teaching vocabulary to a five-year-old
- Birth to three: responsive care and the first learning world
Official sources and scope
Official sources checked on 6 October 2026. The eduKateSG family examples are suggested applications, rather than official national lessons, developmental assessments or promises of results.