Childcare or no Childcare?

[kidsfirst]

Hi,


Would like to know what is the biggest drawing point in sending your kids to the childcare centre? It seems that many parents simply send their kids to childcare centre because they believe that this is the trend of the working parents in Singapore.

[schellen]

kidsfirst:

Hi,


Would like to know what is the biggest drawing point in sending your kids to the childcare centre? It seems that many parents simply send their kids to childcare centre because they believe that this is the trend of the working parents in Singapore.

I sent my DD when she was 4. Before that, she had already experienced short sessions like playgroup. My DH and me just wanted her to interact with peers since she's an only child and the first grandchild. I was starting to return to work part-time and I also noticed that her grandparents doted on her too much. So I chose a full-day CCC for her.

We refused to get a maid or send her to a nanny as me and my sis went through that with disastrous results. (I'm not against all maids as my cousins were lucky to have good ones when they were growing up.) My DH grew up with his maternal grandma but grandparents are older and have limited resources in certain areas.

We chose a CCC since it has to comply with laws and regulations and the yardsticks are there. Of course, CCCs are not all good. We transferred our DD from one to another at the end of K1 due to dissastisfaction with the previous one and luckily, we chose right the second time. By the time she went to P1, she was socialising well with peers and adapted to school life. Her transition to P1 was rather smooth and uneventful.

[maisy]

kidsfirst:

Hi,


Would like to know what is the biggest drawing point in sending your kids to the childcare centre? It seems that many parents simply send their kids to childcare centre because they believe that this is the trend of the working parents in Singapore.

Months ago, I struggled with this thought as well....
i heard conflicting views ...such as, the child will develop social skills , learn to be more independent and will be more outgoing in CCC... while \"the other camp\" will tell me that kindergarten is better as the curriculum is more structured and that social skills can also be picked up in 3-hourly kindergarten / playgroup setup.


In my case, my boy is being taken care of my maid with granny popping over in the afternoons for supervisory glance and i have been urged to send my kid to school as it wasn't ideal for the kid to be with the maid all day..... and i contemplated CCC earlier as honestly i didn't know the underlying differences between CCC & kindergarten then... and it didn't make much difference to me since i know i will only send my son to half-day CCC (if i ever send) ... furthermore, i knew i wanted a \"preschool which is within walking distance from home\" so that my maid can walk the kid to school instead of taking school bus.... and there is no kindergarten which is within walking distance ard my place except for 1 childcare centre.... hence the idea of sending my boy to CCC crossed my mind ...however i encountered \"quite an unpleasant incident\" during the day of my visit which made me reconsider my intention and finally , i decided to enrol my boy in a kindergarten instead (no choice i will drive him to school & he will take the school bus home).


I guess as with all other issues in life, there will always be \"2 different schools of thought\" ....for example, i know of some parents swear by CCC while some will advocate kindergarten instead of CCC. I have frens who advised me to send my kid to CCC only if i cannot arrange for alternative \"child-minding\" arrangements... eg no grandparents, no trusted help etc... And i must say that I am now somewhat a \"convert\" (hahaha)... ie i prefer the kindergarten route over the CCC route

BUT, To each his own. So, do consider your needs and requirements carefully, and choose the preschool according to your needs & requirement - most importantly , follow your instinct i guess

[kidsfirst]

Hi maisy and schellen,



Thank you for sharing the insights!

On the same note, I have two more questions:

Since we can now choose between sending kids to CCC or the ‘conventional’ kindergarten schools, how will each decision impact their primary schools admissions?

I understand that for the more ‘popular’ primary schools, they have a lot more stringent rules in assessing the kids abilities before enrolling them. In that case…would either route (CCC or kindergarten) gives more advantage over the other?

[foreverj]

kidsfirst:

Hi maisy and schellen,



Thank you for sharing the insights!

On the same note, I have two more questions:

Since we can now choose between sending kids to CCC or the 'conventional' kindergarten schools, how will each decision impact their primary schools admissions?

I understand that for the more 'popular' primary schools, they have a lot more stringent rules in assessing the kids abilities before enrolling them. In that case..would either route (CCC or kindergarten) gives more advantage over the other?

hi kidsfirst, i've never heard of primary schools assessing students for admission since all parents have to go thru the phase 1,2a,2b,2c etc admission. what examples do u have?

i believe there are merits to both ccc and kindergartens. it really depend on the circumstances and needs of the family.

in case of kindergartens, by virtue of the sheer size of each class and the history of the schools (eg. some kindergartens have been around for like 40 years????) they really emulate a primary school setting and their teachers r quite experienced, having taught in the schools for many years.

for wking parents, ccc are preferred choices as they provide more specialised care and reduce the need to park the kid in front of the TV during the afternoons just to occupy them.

[sleepy]

My personal choice


I tend to prefer kindy. 3- 4 hours daily for the child to interact & pick up interpersonal skills
Then supplement with enrichments outside kindy hours. Depending on the child’s interest, can be drawing, ballet, music or academic ones such as abacus, phonics

Childcare center is usually a last resort, when there isn’t any other reliable or suitable caregiver to bring the child to/fro kindy or babysit outside kindy hours

[sleepy]

kidsfirst:

Since we can now choose between sending kids to CCC or the 'conventional' kindergarten schools, how will each decision impact their primary schools admissions?

I understand that for the more 'popular' primary schools, they have a lot more stringent rules in assessing the kids abilities before enrolling them. In that case..would either route (CCC or kindergarten) gives more advantage over the other?

1. No impact on primary school admission. Registration is based on eligiblity in each phrase

2. No assessment before enrolment. After a place is confirmed for the child, there would be a test to identify who needs learning support

[JGMum]

foreverj:

ccc are preferred choices as they provide more specialised care and reduce the need to park the kid in front of the TV during the afternoons just to occupy them.

Probably not in all CCCs - one CCC I visited had 5 hours of TV listed in their daily timetable.

[foreverj]

JGMum:

foreverj:

ccc are preferred choices as they provide more specialised care and reduce the need to park the kid in front of the TV during the afternoons just to occupy them.

Probably not in all CCCs - one CCC I visited had 5 hours of TV listed in their daily timetable.

what? what kind of cc is that? i'm surprised they are stil in business :!: i'm not speaking for all ccc. there wil be some that are better, some that are not so good, just like there wil be some kindys that are more established and hence run their business better while there wil be others who are stil finding their feet...

like sleepy says, if the kid attends 3 to 4 hours of kindy, then stil gotta transport here and there for enrichment. i opt for cc where they have outsiders come in and teach enrichment and then i pay for it. if i'm not working, i would prefer kindy too, then can spend more time with my dd mah :love:

[schellen]

foreverj:

like sleepy says, if the kid attends 3 to 4 hours of kindy, then stil gotta transport here and there for enrichment. i opt for cc where they have outsiders come in and teach enrichment and then i pay for it. if i'm not working, i would prefer kindy too, then can spend more time with my dd mah :love:

Yup, if I'm not working, I would've sent my DD to a kindy since there are a few nearby, including PCF. Not only do I want to spend more time with her, it's also a cost-cutting method since we'll be relying only on one income. If I can teach her on my own, why not? Only if I really cannot teach it, e.g., ballet (which CCCs don't provide, as far as I know), then I will consider sending her for enrichment.