Childcare or no Childcare?

[Monster Mummy]

Hi,


We understand that if children does not want to part with parents when they are in new environment. For this, I will say that as a mom I will still let them try out and observe. But if it is really after few months, the child is getting more reserved, we will say that there might be something that they does not like or environment does not suit them. Then I will say that we will need to start to look for new pre-school for them.

[gaffy]

Sigh...childcare or no childcare? This is the question I have right now... and it leads me to this thread...


The relatively good CCCs are very popular so they have no vacancies already. The ones remaining are either newly opened or not popular for obvious reasons. So there are not many choices left.

If no childcare, then gotta find a preschool and get someone to help take the child to and from school. Same thing, the relatively good preschools are full so not many choices left again.

Sigh... :sad:

[beanbear]

Hi Gaffy,


I’ve 3 kids and have tried half-day CC, Full-day CC, and preschool. For my 2 older ones, they started half-day CC when they turned 2 years old and then I switched them to full-day CC when they were K1-K2.

For DS3, he went to half-day CC for one year and then switch to preschool for 3 years.

For my 2 older ones, they went to Montessori-based CC.I had to switch DS1 when he was in K2 because I discovered he was still struggling to read after 3 years of doing phonics!! I realized it’s not so much the system of teaching but the Principal & teachers do not take my feedback seriously - kept thinking I’m over-reacting. I finally bite the bullet and switched to another CC - one that was willing to work with me to help my children. So at the next CC, my priority was finding a CC with a good reading system and Principals & teachers who are willing to listen to parents & work with you. This was Faith Montessori at Bukit Timah. Initally I was full of doubts about how I might find a CC that would take my kids at K1 & K2!! But I realized if I had chosen this path, then the path will open up for me and I just need to be persistent in my search.

My DS3 went to Faith Montessori for 1 year but kept falling sick because of his severe rhinitis and doctor said he needs to be in a non-aircon environment. I made the painful decision once again to switch DS3 to a non-aircon pre-school so that his immunity will not be compromised severely. He’s been with Arts Kidz at Tiong Bahru for 3 years and hardly falls sick there and academically he has blossomed very well. For the first 3-4 months, he hardly spoke a word in school and was so shy but he’s grown so mature & confident since then.

From my experience with my 3 kids, I found that my decision-making was guided by the developmental needs of my children. The 2 older kids needed more help in terms of reading and academics and Faith Montessori was flexible enough to meet my needs. For eg, for K1-K2 kids, children don’t need to nap and they also have a time-slot for more traditional classroom teaching so that the kids can transit to Primary school more easily instead of the "free-flow" classroom in a Montessori environment - I like that blended approach. They also had a good English & Chinese reading system in place.

For DS3, I was guided by his Health needs and so my Criteria shifted to non-aircon environment being the top priority while academic became secondary. If a child is sick often, he can’t absorb much learning. I’m glad i made this decision because DS3 has become so much stronger and healthier because the home & school environment was conducive for his immunity.

In short, consider what are your primary criteria and what are your secondary criteria and each child will have their own unique needs and let their needs guide your decision.

[gaffy]

Hi beanbear, thank you very much for sharing! Really appreciate it! Hope things will work out okay for me and my child eventually. :xedfingers:

[decollette]

Hi,


i need some advise… My son is now into his second month of attending half day cc.

He has become more confident and chatty and his separation anxiety stopped on the third week. However he still refused to eat his lunch. As most parents know, cc portion is already quite little. The most he managed is two spoonfuls and the teacher has to feed him.Sometimes he wont even eat. Initially i thought i will not face this problem… as he will try to follow what his friends are doing, and feed himself.
Now the teachers are working with me on this, but he would struggle to get away after 2 spoonfuls. To be honest, i think the food is not appealing to his tastebuds and that he is getting picky. But Im quite upset cos he used to be a good eater. When he comes home, he is able to eat though.
In a few months, i plan to put him on full day cc. But im so worried he will go hungry.

Pls help, suggestions anyone? Thank u so much!

[cherrygal]

DD was like that too in the beginning. What I did was to take along a thermal flask with the porridge I cooked.


As my food was non-halal, I also brought along my own bowl and spoon. The teachers will give her the porridge and rinse the bowl and spoon for me. We maintained this practice for 2 months and she soon started to see the \"variety\" that school food presented, instead of my boring porridge. So one fine day, she decided to refuse my porridge and accepted school food. The teachers tell me that she loves school food now - even takes 2 bowls for lunch. From there, I was also able to introduce newer types of food for dinner as well. So I gotta thank the school for this training.

So, feel free to work with the teachers, and prepare your own food for him. But make sure you don't make his home cooked lunch too interesting so he will learn to accept school food soon.

I took the short cut by preparing the porridge at night, put in the fridge and just heat up in the morning. Better than waking up so early to cook. Buy a thermal food container to keep the food warm.

[decollette]

cherrygal:

DD was like that too in the beginning. What I did was to take along a thermal flask with the porridge I cooked.


As my food was non-halal, I also brought along my own bowl and spoon. The teachers will give her the porridge and rinse the bowl and spoon for me. We maintained this practice for 2 months and she soon started to see the \"variety\" that school food presented, instead of my boring porridge. So one fine day, she decided to refuse my porridge and accepted school food. The teachers tell me that she loves school food now - even takes 2 bowls for lunch. From there, I was also able to introduce newer types of food for dinner as well. So I gotta thank the school for this training.

So, feel free to work with the teachers, and prepare your own food for him. But make sure you don't make his home cooked lunch too interesting so he will learn to accept school food soon.

I took the short cut by preparing the porridge at night, put in the fridge and just heat up in the morning. Better than waking up so early to cook. Buy a thermal food container to keep the food warm.

Thanks cherrygal.

But its more like he has no interest in the food, and all he wants is play when at the cc. So he really didnt care for the food. In the morning, all he has is bottle of milk, so i expect him to be hungry at lunch but no.
They suggest me to bring his own bowl n spoon which i did but it didnt help one bit. But he will want to eat after i fetch him home. Do you think he is purposely holding back on food to come home and eat instead? (cos now he is on half day)

Although the cc food does not look appealing, but he is also getting into a picky phase.

The plan was to switch him to full day after some time. But the other day, he gave both of us a wistful glance before walking in to cc.. and his daddy later said maybe its better for me to stay home with him, jus have him for half day learning hahahah! COs his non eating is a problem if he is on full day.

kids nowadays... :heresmyfish:

[cherrygal]

So you have tried bringing your own food or just his own bowl? If he’s picky about food, then he should have no problems eating the food you cooked. Unless as you have said, he could be waiting to go home for lunch.


If you have the choice to stay home, then continue with the current arrangement lor. You won’t be so heartpain.

But really, if you send him full day, he won’t starve himself one… Kids get fussy becoz we parents (and grandparents) provide too many alternatives…

Dun want rice, eat bread / cereal
Dun want meat, eat pork floss, nuggets
Dun want milk, drink yoghurt drink… the list goes on

So the kids know and manipulate us. Baby books all say that if the kid refuses to eat what we give, we should just take away the food and not provide alternatives. Then offer the same food again a while later. That method worked for my fussy DD. I would take it away nonchalantly and start eating my dinner. DD would look at me and say "Mummy, I want to eat!"

[ahbombom]

Hi, I’ve recently sent my 18 months DD to half day child care. I noted that one of her teachers is really fierce. DD was whining to be carried and the teacher raised her voice at her "stop it! xxx, stop it! 123 stop it!". She’s just 18 months and new to school. On another occasion, she shouted at a child "xxx, the chair is not for standing!" when she climbed on the chair and we could hear it from a distance. The 2 teachers also looked overwhelmed with crying kids (3 new kids in the class) even with a reasonably low 2:12 ratio and there seemed insufficient teachers looking after the children at the playground after drop off. We saw older toddlers playing with dustbin lids and water pipe near the playground. The principal does drop by the playground and class to help out occasionally, and the cleaning lady helps out at lunch time.


DD as expected cried quite a bit during these few days in class and also became very clingy to us after she started school and kept wanting to be carried, including having to carry and rock her to sleep when she used to be able to fall asleep on her own.

Seeing her cries, changed behaviour, perceived inadequate level of staffing, being scolded fiercely by the teacher, we are thinking of withdrawing her. I would say the latter being the main reason but not sure if we are being too protective and if the situation will be better after all the kids settle in. We are also worried about getting sick often and if she is too young to be exposed given lower immunity level. We do have alternate care available for her that we are comfortable with. Our purpose of sending her to half day child care is for her to socialize, learn both languages (we do not speak mandarin at home and the centre has language immersion programme) and be independent. We have feedback to the principal who assured us that she will remind the teacher to be gentler. She also provided solutions to resolve other minor issues.

It wasn’t easy for us to get a place in the childcare. As we have no prior experience with childcare centres, we also do not know what is acceptable and what is not, including what to expect from DD’s behaviour being in a new environment and coping with separation anxiety. We are still rather undecided and would like to know what you would do in our shoes. Thanks.

[1amber]

Hi all,


I started sending my only kid to childcare centers when she turned 18mths just to learn to socialize. Do check out the places. Some places are a nightmare. If you have screaming teachers, stay clear.