I was browsing the Singapore Motherhood forum and I read this post by an angry mother about her horrible experience with her childcare center. It saddens me.
Frankly, I dislike childcare center due to my previous ‘not-so-pleasant’ experience with an infant care center. I was constantly worrying about Edison’s well-being, safety as well as adequate care when he was at the infant care center for four months. As a result, I can’t focus at work and Little Edison wasn’t in his pinkest of health due to frequent virus outbreaks at the center.
Don’t get me wrong though. Not all childcare centers are bad. Some childcare centers are highly reputable, have a long waiting list, excellent teachers and programs for the children. Thus, if we decide to enroll our children with a child care center, picking up the right center is of paramount importance. Research, survey, interview with the school principal and make the final decision is no easy task.
Before we begin our big search for childcare center, we must define our requirements, i.e. our budget, location, food, mother-tongue, teacher-to-child ratio, aircon or non-aircon etc. We can also request for an orientation at random times of the day. Are the children supervised? What is the teacher-to-child ratio? Is the play structured? Are the procedures followed? How they discipline the children? Do they put enough emphasis on cleanliness?
Most important, watch out for the teachers and children. Do the teachers appear overwhelmed or in control? Do the children look happy and contented? If you have a concern, speak to the teachers or the principal. If the center does not address your concerns immediately, you can escalate the issue to MCYS. Last but not least, if the center is not suitable for your children, do not hesitate to change.
Picking up the right childcare center is important to our children’s health and development. I made the wrong choice once. But I’m glad that I have taken sufficient actions to highlight my concerns and made a critical decision to withdraw Little Edison from the infant care center.
Do you have any good or bad experience with childcare center that you want to share? I love to hear them!
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