Christy @ Kidsrsimple, Author at Kids 'R' Simple

What to consider when choosing a childcare centre

The first time I decided to put my girl, XX, in a childcare centre, I had lots of mixed feelings. On one hand, I know she gets to interact with new friends of her age, she gets to learn new things, learn to share and build up social skills, enjoy art and craft, speech and drama and music lessons among other things.

On the other hand, I couldn’t bear the thought of sending her away from the house for such long hours, couldn’t bear to imagine she had to bathe and sleep there together with other kids on the floor mattresses. It just seemed cruel and sad. Or maybe I should have just left her at home with the grandparents.

But, I knew and we all knew, if she had stayed home, she’d probably do nothing much and watched tv the whole day without me in the house to play with her or guide her in learning. She would have wasted time and learnt nothing. Since I had to work full-time, I had little choice but to enrol her in a childcare centre where she would have plenty of adult and children interaction.

Choosing the centre was rather easy. There weren’t much choice in my neighbourhood. There were only 2 to choose from. I wanted somewhere near our house. So, kel and I went to check out both centres together one day.

There’s a few things that we looked out for to determine which centre is suitable for our dear princess.

1. Distance
Proximity to our house is top priority. I have to think of the person who’ll be fetching her to and from the centre everyday rain or shine.

2. Speak to the principal
This is important to check out what are the principal’s direction and beliefs. The principal is the one who steers the school to its mission. We have to judge if that is in line with our expectations. We asked many questions including teachers and staff experience, curriculum, the daily meals and even asked about their approach to welcome kids on their first day.

3. Facilities
We asked for a walkthrough to check out the centre facilities. Most childcare centres have an indoor playground, music room and individual play areas for pretend play. We also noticed the centre was not air-conditioned, except for the music room. We preferred a non air-conditioned centre as we knew that germs spread easily in the recycled air. Kids do fall sick easily in childcare centres.

4. Observe the curriculum
On the day we visited the centre, there were no children except for the principal and teachers. The centre was closed for 2 weeks due to exceeding number of hand foot mouth disease (HFMD) spreading among the children (in Singapore, it is common for centres to close for 2 weeks due to HFMD). The teachers were sterilizing all the toys, utensils and seen preparing for curriculum activities. Hence, we asked to bring our princess XX again on another day to join in the nursery 1 class so that we could observe the curriculum and her response.

5. Bring your kid to open house or join in for a trial
On the day of the trial lesson, XX held my hand tight as we entered the class together. We knew she was really nervous. I went in with her and allowed her some time to warm up to the new environment. Kel stood outside the classroom and observed from the window. 10 min later, with the encouragement of the teacher Mdm Chia and some outgoing kids, she became more at ease much to my relief. Her feelings about the centre were important to us. Although she did not show much enthusiasm as we had wished, she did not show any averse reaction. That, confirmed our decision in enrolling her in this childcare centre.

6. Fees

This is an important consideration. There are many childcare centres out there that charges from $500 to $1800 per month. There are definitely differences in what each centre offers. As there were only 2 centres in our neighbourhood, and we were not prepared to go a distance for probably a better one which may include Montessori teaching, we were happy with the fees. In fact, after the working mother subsidy of $300, it was really a bonus to us.

Fast forward 5 years now, we are happy with this childcare centre. XX had graduated and gone to Primary school. Whenever she meet the teachers in the childcare, the teachers always welcome her with warmth and enthusiasm. My boy is in K2 class and will be “graduating” this November. In fact, I wrote a thank you letter (you can check this out in my previous post) to all the teachers who took great care of my kids. On top of the above considerations in choosing a childcare centre, I would say my guts feelings do come into play. Always trust the mummy’s instinct.

What factors do you consider in choosing a childcare centre?

Thank you Letter to My Children’s Pre-School teachers and staff

In 2011, I wrote a thank you letter to all the teachers and staff of my children’s pre-school the day before their last day in the wonderful place they call school for the past 4 years (to be exact, 4 years for XX and 2 years for YH). It was my children’s very first school where they spent 8 hours a day for 5 days in a week, while I spend equal number of hours in my workplace. This was a place of fond memories where they learn their ABCs and 123s formally. This was a place where they learn teamwork, sharing with peers, abiding rules of an institution and befriending little friends. I wrote this thank you letter to the school to show my appreciation of them taking good care of my children. At the same time, I want my children to remember they had these great teachers whom they may not remember as they grow up.

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A thank you letter to Ascension Kindercare teachers and staff

Dear All teachers who have taught my daughter XX and my son YH,

First of all, thank you for the wonderful concert last Saturday. The efforts of the teachers and children let all the parents present bring back unforgettable memories.

It’s with a grateful heart that I am writing this thank you letter. Seeing my girl XX in her Kindergarten graduation robe and mortar board, I am so happy that in her 4 years in Ascension Kindercare, she had been in good care. All the teachers who taught her were wonderful! Each year, from N1 all the way to K2, she loved her teachers and I know she is well-taught and loved by all of them.

When she was in N1, Mdm Chia and Mdm Yong showered her with love such that she was accustomed to the childcare quickly and became their great “little helper” where she was given many chances to help the teachers.

In N2, Ms Chew and 姚老师 (both who already left the centre) were good and caring teachers and they quickly became my girl’s favourite teachers.

In K1 and K2, Mdm Louis and 吴老师 played an extremely important role in teaching and preparing her for Primary 1. 吴老师 taught my girl Chinese and Han Yu Pin Yin so well that I have no worries that she go on to her Primary school where Chinese is very much emphasized in school. And thanks to Mdm Louis in instilling discipline into the K2 children and always alert me to any misbehavior in my girl. She always worked with me quickly to nip the discipline problems in the bud. Even though she is strict in class most times, she shows the children her love and fun side too. With both of them as her K2 teachers, I have totally no worries she is in good hands.

For my boy, YH, I would also like to thank his N1 teachers Mdm Chia and Mdm Yong for handling his fragile emotions during his first weeks in childcare when he was only 3 years old. It took a long time for him to settle and me and my family were really glad that his teachers both found ways to capture his heart. By the time he left N1, he was already a favourite boy to his teachers and he enjoyed being with them.

In N2, YH needed to readjust to childcare in a new class again after his comfortable environment in N1. His N2 teacher, Ms Chew found ways to get him talking and open up to her. She succeeded and YH was once again jovial. This is with great help from N2 吴老师 who showed him lots of attention. Later 张老师 and Ms Myra joined N2 Love class and were able to bond quickly with YH. Even though N2 had many staff changes, I was really happy that the teachers were able to bond well with my boy.

There are many other teachers and assistant teachers, helpers to thank. They all have took good care of my children even though they are not the main teachers in their classes. And I also want to thank Ms De Foe for her good guidance in steering the childcare and her care and love for the children.

Tomorrow is the last day of school for both my children. They may not feel the sadness of leaving a place where they have great memories now, but for sure, as their mummy, I felt it strongly. And also it signifies an end of a part of their childhood. I am happy that this part was a memorable and enjoyable one.

Thank you very much, Ascension Kindercare teachers and staff!

Best regards,

Mummy of XX and YH

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After this letter was sent to the school’s principal, she shared my thanks with all the teachers in the pre-school. Many teachers thanked me for the kind letter and I was equally touched. The funny thing is a month later, after trying to put YH in a new pre-school which did not worked out (we changed to a pre-school nearer our house because we had moved house), we were back in this good, old pre-school again. The wonderful thing is that the moment YH was seen walking towards the pre-school entrance, he was immediately welcomed by the principal, the teachers and the school-mates. YH was initially very embarrassed to have bade farewell to all teachers and friends and to be back in the school again. I was surprised that his little ego was affected by this turn of events, just like us adults. However, I was glad that by the end of the day, he was back to his normal self and was never so glad to be back in the same environment and be with his friends again.

Although the travelling from our new home to the old pre-school is some 20 minutes away by bus, we were nonetheless happy that he was comfortable in the old learning environment. It wasn’t easy for anyone to let go of friendship and bonds with teachers after spending 2 years together, let alone for a 4 year old (that’s half his lifetime then!). When the end of the year comes, it will be YH’s turn to put on his little mortar board and graduation robe in the year end graduation cum concert event. I’ll be shedding tears of joy once more.

Have you ever tried to thank someone who took great care of your kids? Maybe you should! The feeling is great!

My very first blogging award – The Versatile Blogger

When I opened up my blog in the morning, I was surprised beyond words! I have been nominated the Versatile Blogger! I can’t believe anyone would even have thought of me worthy of any award! Thank you very much Michaela for bestowing this award upon me! Thank you so much! You made my day! A sincere thank you to all those who have been following my blog and liking my posts and leaving constructive comments. You are the ones who make my blogging experience heavenly. I have known many many wonderful friends like you out there. To know that there are people reading my blog and liking them enough to follow it, make me strive to write better posts each time.

Now, with the award on my blog, I will have to do the following as a way to thank and be thanked, hopefully!!

1. Display the Award Certificate on your website/blog.

2. Announce your win with a post. Make sure to post a link back to me as a ‘thank you’ for the nomination.

3. Present 15 awards to deserving bloggers.

4. Drop them a comment to tip them off after you have linked them in the post.

5. Post 7 interesting things about yourself.

Hmm… 7 interestings about myself?? I shall try my best here…

1) I love music and has a Piano Grade 7 certificate but since then my skills has gone into rust, I cannot play a decent piece except for “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”.

2) I spoke Japanese 10 years ago, right now, my most fluent words would be “Ohayo Gozaimasu” and “Arigato”.

3) I can draw a circle with one hand, draw a square with the other and draw a circle with one foot, all at the same time. Try it!

4) Blogging has become my new found hobby, and I only started being active just this month even though I actually started my blog 2 years back. Well, I hope I am not too late!

5) I love to eat! I can tell what goes into a dish for 90% of the ingredients. Even though I am not a good cook, I am good at appreciating food.

6) I have my life revolve around my kids and yes, I love kids, and I cannot imagine life without them!

7) If I could turn back the clock, I would choose the same man and have the same children. This is one sure thing that I have never ever regretted in my life.

Now, here’s the 15 bloggers I would like to present the award to, all of you truly deserve the award!

1) Rarasaur

2) Magic of Beauty

3) Flow of My soul

4) Mummy says

5) Give Them Roots and Wings

6) The Blogging Mama

7) aliceandmolly

8) Mommy Training Wheels

9) May’s Journal

10) An Ayla A Day

11) Musings of the Soul

12) I’ve become my parents

13) Believer

14) Asia @ Beacon Villages

15) Sakura Haruka

These bloggers write terrific content! Enjoy their posts!

Reminders to myself as a wife and mummy

3 years ago, when I was 6 years into marriage and 5 years into motherhood, I wrote a list of reminders that I hope to revisit from time to time. They are the reminders to myself to be a good mummy to my children and a good wife to my hubby. I wrote this list for fear that one day I might be too caught up in a whirlwind of life’s changes, I might lose myself somehow and forget the basic ingredients in building a happy family.

Reminders to myself as a wife and mummy:

1) do not nag too much

2) learn to let go and care less, not care more

3) do not stress your kids academically

4) accept your child’s ability and accept who they are

5) accept who your hubby is

6) learn to take good care of yourself, take care of your own needs before others

7) treat yourself well

8) appreciate small improvements / changes

9) appreciate your blissful life now

10) appreciate that everyone including yourself is healthy

Now, 3 years after the above list is made, I am happy that I keep to most of the reminders, except maybe for no. 1 “do not nag too much” and no. 7 “treat yourself well”.

Nagging too much seems to be the inevitable for mothers. It’s a vicious cycle. If the kids or even the hubby had to have repeated reminders to pick up a piece of paper or to bring the cup to the sink area, how can the homemaker not say the same instruction repeatedly which is what they termed the “nagging”? If all I need to do is to just say it once, and the task gets done, will I ever need to “nag”? Nevertheless, I have accepted this as part and parcel of being human and what I’ll need to do is to say it out in a different tone and manner, perhaps that’ll take away the nagging tone to make the nagging not such a nag. I don’t know. But I will have to try. Does anyone has a good solution on this out there?

Treat yourself well. Usually mothers are like “burnt chop”. They are the ones who eat the burnt chop and give the good ones to the rest of the family. They always put the well-being of the family first and themselves last. Whatever they do, they do with the best interest of the family even if it means to sacrifice their me-time and social life. This is the area I need to improve on. Self-sacrifice has always been the norm for me and putting myself above the others is going to be difficult. So far, I have been trying to treat myself better minus all the guilt. Wish me luck!

For no. 8 and 9: “appreciate your blissful life now” and “appreciate that everyone including yourself is healthy“, I have written a blog post on this and am happy that a check at this point in time, I do appreciate such simple but easily taken for granted things.

How do you keep check on yourself to not take things for granted? And do you nag? Do you have ways to cut down nagging?

If I were to go back to school, what would I want to master?

If I were to go back to school, I would love to learn everything on SOCIAL MEDIA. Learn the wonders it brings to my life and make me a savvy mom, and not one under the well.

Why social media? Without knowing much about it:

– your name would not have travelled far and wide.

– your blog and business name would be just confined to your friends and relatives and no one else.

– your information on the world’s happenings would not have been first hand.

– you would probably only get to see your long lost friend 50 years down the road (likely across the street from where you live), and he probably is the only lost friend found.

– you would not have known what events to bring your kids to on the weekends.

– you would not have known so many friends in the blogosphere, from facebook likes and twitter followers.

– you would never have known so many smart people, kind people and people who share the same interest with you. Of course, you would similarly have known many unkind anonymous ghosts.

This topic requires a master degree for sure. And if there is one in my country, I would have jumped at the opportunity to master this amazing course. Social media, indeed, is one that can reach out far and wide. Even Mr Obama won his white house residency through it. Because I did not master this degree, I am now struggling to understand how social media and its various platforms work to better my blog and its readership. Self-study is always not easy but it allows you to explore and keeps you learning. One day, facebook could be overtaken by Happier, who knows? And any idea what is Happier??

(This post is written for the Daily Prompt: Back to school challenge)

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