Recommend childcare centres Archives

This is a repost from our old blog. Selecting a childcare centre always cause parents anxiety. Yes, it all starts before Primary 1 :p

The only thing difference between then and now is the longer waiting time. 8 years ago, we already need to reserve a spot 3 months in advance, we can imagine the demand nowadays.

Daddy suspects the selection criterias are still the same.

1) First, list down your criteria , and priority.

– Conducive environment for child to learn?
– Clean environment? Do children fall sick frequently? How does school implement isolation policies (HFMD etc)?
– Patient and passionate teachers?
– curriculum ? More play, crafting or structured work?
– Within your budget?
– What is parents’ expectations?

For us, we just need our kids to learn :
– independence
– socialising
– sharing in a “group”

2) Secondly, shortlist schools and make ground visits
– http://www.childcarelink.gov.sg/ccls/home/CCLSHome.jsp

– go for interviews with Principal (you can gauge how a school is run by chatting with him or her)
– we believe in affinity 缘, teacher-child bonding is crucial to a happy child 🙂

3) Lastly, get reviews/brickbats on preferred childcare centres, from parenting blogs or forums. Just Google.

Most important tips which we give to parents is to manage adults’ own expectations.

– It is very normal for us to worry about how our kids will cope in new environment.
– Or we could be expecting the Sky, but only willing to pay peanuts?
– Let your little ones survive the new environment, and see them adapt.

We did not have much choices to start with, no helpers, and parents working. So we have to chuck kiddos into schools from an early age.

Two of them started from Infant care (2 months old), and we are glad everything has turn up fine 🙂

More Childcare stories :
– Thank you to our teachers
– Biting stories

Our kids are precious, we want the best for them.

We can understand why everyone is angry at that particular teacher (from NTUC My First Skool) who mishandled the child.

Daddy hopes the teacher who had over 10 years of experience, did not have a malicious intent when she handled the boy. She might have lose her cool, or might have been triggered, but whatever the reason, there is no excuse for hurting the child.

Emotions are running high. The public do not want a repeat episode, they want to see justice served. Meanwhile, investigation is underway.

~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~

Take a step back, breath IN breath OUT, then ask ourselves. When was the last time we say Thank you to our teachers for taking care of our kids? How many of us have genuinely show our Appreciation towards the teachers?

All our kids have gone through the childcare path, two of them started with infant-care from 2 months onwards. We had 4 schools over the years, and we even blog about our own childcare shortlisting experience.

It is not easy to be a childcare teacher.
Some parents really treat childcare teachers as baby sitters, and always pick up the kids a few minutes before school closure. And when things do not go well, parents raise their voice and question the staff, sometimes in a demeaning tone.

For smaller childcare centres, manpower crunch is always an issue, aggravated by high turnover rate. We encountered a centre where the teachers were resigning every two months, imagine the kids’ trauma at seeing “new” faces again. Existing teachers have to shoulder more responsibilities, leading to morale issues.

Granted, childcare teachers are driven by passion, they love to work with kids, but teachers are human too. Everyone will have our good and bad days.

Imagine a childcare with screaming kids, little monsters running around, even Daddy’s blood pressure will raise. Our kids encounter their fair share of biters, scratchers, and bullies. We are guilty of pressuring the teachers to reveal the “culprits” too :p
(without success)

We have 4 little monsters at home, imagine a childcare teacher who has to face up to 10 kids for a full day. We salute the teachers for their patience and resourcefulness.

Being a childcare teacher is tough, and teachers need more than passion to carry out their job. When parents partner teachers, a child will likely enjoy a more enriching environment.

How many times have we Thanks the teacher for taking care of our kids? It is easy to find a childcare teacher, but it is harder to find one who cares.

Show our appreciation and gratitude when it is due.
Thank you Teachers, for taking care of the Lee siblings 🙂

–> Click to read our Childcare selection tips