Criteria for a Good Childcare Centre

[sharon_sharon]

unbelievable story! You should withdraw your child long time ago once you find they gave too many excuses and irresponsible!

[pandarous]

Hi all,


Some pre-school learning centres say that they are \"MOE Registered\". May I know how can I verify this?

I look at http://www.moe.gov.sg/education/preschool/ but only able to find an excel file for \"Kindergarten Profiles\".

Also, how do I check the license period for these centres?

Please advise and Many thanks in advanced!

Cheers, Pan

[DesertWind]

Oppsgal:

Not going to write the full name in case of some lawsuit whatever...Have to guess what school is that.

Hi Oppsgal,

Have you found a good CCC for your gal yet? Hope to hear good news from you. I am appalled by the safety measures of the previous CCC. Safety is my top priority.
:celebrate:

[mumluv]

hi, need some help regarding this issue…

I’ve requested to look at how the lessons are conducted in a cc (I’ve kinda decided to put my child in), but was told I can only watch through the glass window outside the centre. my intention is to see how the class management skills and whether the teacher is strict or lenient so as to prepare my child for better adaptability to the new environment. the previous cc allowed me to stay with my child for the first 3 days but this cc does not allow. would like to know is it a norm for such practice?kindly advise.

[vanillabean]

mumluv:

hi, need some help regarding this issue...

I've requested to look at how the lessons are conducted in a cc (I've kinda decided to put my child in), but was told I can only watch through the glass window outside the centre. my intention is to see how the class management skills and whether the teacher is strict or lenient so as to prepare my child for better adaptability to the new environment. the previous cc allowed me to stay with my child for the first 3 days but this cc does not allow. would like to know is it a norm for such practice?kindly advise.

Actually different CC operate differently. I've heard of CC which allow parents to observe from glass window only. More common CCs are those that allow parents to stay for first 3 days. Anyway if the teachers know that a parent is observing them regardless of glass window or person herself, they will normally be extra careful and act very good.

[jasmineong]

Problem with staff at Childcare centres are that they often do not see what they do as a long term commitment. I find that for most centres, it is hard to find good staff like what was mentioned earlier. Hence, for me, what is important is that there is open communication with staff and there are clear glass windows to observe what is going on.


I also talked to my kids to find out what went on in school.

[ConcernedDaddy]

Transparency of communications with teachers is critical. My personal experience is that parents themselves will need to set the stage right at the start with the teacher-in-charge. If you start off with a commanding and blaming tone or take the issue straight up to the teacher’s superiors, the teacher will naturally develop an inherent resistance/fear to communicate bad news. Bear in mind from the teachers’ point of view their job/pay is at stake!


My son likes to run a lot so he gets plenty of bruises. When he "earned" his first cut/bruise at school, i sensed his teacher was fearful in breaking the news to me as I am a new parent (just enrolled in the cc). What i did is to reassure her instead that I am fully aware of my son’s love of running around hapzardly and it is inevitable to get injuries. From there, the teacher loosened her "protective shell" and became very open in her communications, as she is aware I am not there to cause her to lose her job with my feedback. Now, I fully trust her that she will not hide any bad news from me, if something unfortunate happens. In fact, she tells me she instinctively pays extra attention to my son now whenever she senses that he is starting to get into his "running" mode.

Imagine if I had shown displeasure, scolded her or complained to her principal or director from the first incident. I am certain I will not achieve this level of parent/teacher trust. Ultimately, by controlling my own instinct to put blame on the teacher at that moment of time, my son everntually benefits from a happier and mutually beneficial teacher/parent relationship.

That said, not every parent will be lucky enough to get a responsible teacher from the start. My point is not to scare off any good teacher, if you are lucky to get one, and unconsciously turn a responsible teacher into a defensive teacher by our own behaviour.

[ksm73]

Hi Concerned Daddy


Thanks for the good reminder to us parents.

[paulineloh]

my son is with merry-kids child care for 2 years already.


so far so good, they have 1 china teacher, and 1 english teacher (indian) for the class of N2.

but one bad news is they are raising the fees from $350 (after subsidy) to $520 (after subsidy), without improving any faciliities or services...

[pair]

In my opening

1. A good reputation
2. Established ground rules
3. A stimulating curriculum
4.A qualified, caring staff
5. Healthy food
6.Clean, safe facilities
7.A current license