Parents worldwide yearn to see their children express themselves with utmost gratitude and confidence. We will talk about the significance of early intervention centres, the range of services they provide, ways to create an enriching environment at home and also explore what speech therapy encompasses. In the busy metropolis of Singapore, a child’s communication abilities are an invaluable asset. Let us explore the dynamics of speech therapy in Singapore, the significance of early intervention centres, the services they offer, speech therapy in particular, and last but not least, how to create an enriching communication environment at home. 

Understanding Speech Therapy in Singapore 

Speech and Language Therapy is a powerful resource for children, especially in Singapore, where effective communication is paramount. It focuses on enabling the children to articulate their needs, thoughts, and emotions. Speech therapy caters to language, speech, and communication disorders by employing tailored techniques designed per Singapore’s unique linguistic diversity. This journey unlocks doors to brighter and more significant opportunities for our young ones. 

Recognizing Speech Disorders from Language Delays in the Singaporean Context

Understanding and differentiating between speech disorders and language delays is necessary, especially in Singapore’s multicultural landscape, to know precisely which therapy is effective for your child. 

Speech Disorders 

Speech disorders include conditions like apraxia and speech sound disorders. Apraxia impacts the motor planning required for speech production, often complicating the precise movements for clear speech. Speech sound disorders involve difficulties articulating specific sounds, resulting in unclear speech.

Language Delays

 Language delays refer to challenges in expressive and receptive language skills. In Singapore, these challenges are encountered in a diverse linguistic setting. For example, global developmental delay can encompass delays in multiple developmental areas, including language acquisition. Recognizing these differences is essential for effective intervention.

The Vital Role of Speech Therapy Centers in Singapore 

The house dedicated speech therapists as well-versed in the linguistic intricacies of the Lion City. Early intervention centres offering speech therapy in Singapore are crucial bridges that help children overcome any sort of communication hurdles. These centres encompass a nurturing environment where children also find family support. Speech therapists will encourage families to explore, enhance and expand their children’s communication abilities outside therapy sessions.

One of the early intervention centres, Bridging the Gap, offers a detailed approach that includes language, speech, social skills, and overall communicational development. They provide individualized treatment plans and specialized care to ensure that every child gets the utmost attention and support to thrive in the vibrant environment setting of Singapore. 

Speech therapy has evolved into a respectful great force in the dynamic city-state of Singapore. It empowers young minds to voice out and communicate more confidently and effectively. 

Singapore stands as a shining example of the transformative power of speech therapy. The rich history of achievements enlightens the journey of speech therapy from the root point to the success stories of children it has touched. It is a journey worth celebrating as it continues to pave the way further in the Lion City. 

Where communication is the heartbeat of a society, speech is its lifeblood. Fluent speech is a fundamental communication element, but unfortunately, this skill does not come naturally for many. In Singapore’s diversified and vibrant tapestry, speech therapy is vital. This short guide will provide insights into the Singaporean world of speech therapy. 

Why Does Speech Therapy Matter?

Speech therapy is a vital ally for people of all ages in the urban landscape of Singapore. Children with speech delay, adults recovering from stroke, or just individuals with general communication disorder – speech therapy can be a game changer for all. It unlocks the hidden potential within every person. 

Start Early, Shine Bright

Renowned speech therapists in Singapore emphasize early intervention in speech and language delays. Research shows that it significantly improves a child’s speech development. Staring speech therapy early for kids also boosts their confidence and quality of life from a young age. 

Wizard of Words

Speech and Language therapists are professionals who are more than just wordsmiths. They aim to nurture the supreme power of language. They are transformational wizards highly skilled in diagnosing and drafting personalized treatment plans to cater to Singapore’s population’s diversified needs.

From Stutter to Symphony

 The kaleidoscope of speech therapy services in Singapore is broad. It is a canvas that paints over multiple conditions, accommodating various issues. These include hiccup fluency, aphasia, articulation and voice disorders. 

Seeking Speech Therapy in Singapore

School-Based Services

Children have the facility to avail of in-house speech therapists. This makes it convenient for children to receive therapy without any hassle of long commutes. 

Private Therapists

One can easily opt for private speech practices for a more personalized approach. They offer flexible schedules and individualized focus.

Referral Process

In Singapore, you require a referral from a medical professional to access speech therapy, depending on the circumstances.

Choice of Healthcare Institutions

Renowned institutions like KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital, National University Hospital, and Singapore General Hospital offer top-notch speech therapy programs. 

Teletherapy

In this digital era, teletherapy is gaining a lot of popularity. Many therapists in Singapore offer online sessions. This gives people one-on-one therapy and more convenient access to their services.  

Government Support

The government of Singapore provides subsidies for individuals who meet the eligibility criteria. They recognize the importance of speech therapy and other early intervention methods to help every child in Singapore develop holistically. This makes speech therapy in Singapore more accessible and affordable.

Speech Therapy in Singapore – An Odyssey 

Every word, every sound, and every voice matters in Singapore. Speech therapy is a journey whereby dedicated and hardworking professionals provide various rich services. The government also plays its role in supporting and shaping great stories of transformation. Effective communication is the key to unlocking doors in a city where innovation and diversified culture come together. By seeking speech therapy for your kids, you help them achieve good speech and unleash opportunities to be heard in this vibrant, multicultural society.

With a population of around 5.7 million, Singapore is a land of multiple languages and cultures, where effective communication is paramount in daily life. 

However, effective communication is not universal, and that’s where speech therapy centres in Singapore play their role. They offer comprehensive services to provide an enriched quality of life for all. Let us look closer at their vital role in Singapore’s dynamic environment. 

Adult Speech Therapy 

Speech therapy is a lifelong journey. In Singapore, the prevalence of stroke conditions and neurodegenerative disorders led to a surge in the demand for adult speech and language therapy. 

Ministry of Health’s statistics show that individuals 65 and above will account for more than 900,000 by 2030. These statistics emphasize the growing requirement for speech therapy services. 

Individualized treatment plans by speech therapists enable adults to regain their confidence and capacity to effectively communicate. They offer accent modification services, allowing individuals to enhance their communication skills.

Early Intervention 

Due to its diversity in Singapore, speech and language disorders affect a significant portion of the entire population. As per the Ministry of Education, approximately 10% of elementary school children require language and speech support.

Early intervention centres in Singapore providing speech therapy offer customized therapy sessions, primarily play-based activities. Speech therapy sessions help the children to overcome any language delays. 

Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC)

AAC services are provided by speech therapists in Singapore. They are tailored as per the needs of each individual client, involving the usage of various communication devices, symbols, or sign languages. It ensures that everyone can actively and fully participate in Singaporean society in all fields of work.

Expression Empowerment 

Stuttering is a prevalent fluency disorder affecting approximately 1% of the world’s population, estimated at around 57,000 individuals in Singapore. Fluency and voice disorders profoundly impact one’s daily ability to convey messages and communicate. 

Speech Therapy centres in Singapore employ evidence-based techniques to correct and treat fluency disorders for improved speech fluency confidence. It helps individuals who are having troubles like hoarseness or vocal cord nodules. 

Feeding and Swallowing Therapy

According to the Singapore Dysphagia Society, approximately 30% of the elderly population in Singapore grapples with dysphagia, a condition that makes swallowing difficult. Feeding and swallowing difficulties transcend beyond age boundaries. Feeding challenges in children can be equally distressing and difficult. 

Singaporean speech therapists provide specialized techniques to address such challenges. Comprehensive feeding and swallowing therapy encompasses exercises, diet modifications and nutritional balance. Paediatric therapists strongly collaborate with parents to ensure excellent support is provided at home. 

Early intervention centres in Singapore are dedicated to enhancing the quality of life. Speech therapists’ commitment in Singapore ensures that people of all age groups and backgrounds can effectively communicate and thrive in their professional and personal lives. These centres provide a broad spectrum of services that cater to the population’s distinctive communication needs. 

Early childhood education is vital because it is critical for the development of the brain. Early childhood experiences also have a lasting effect on children. This is why preschools are very important for the growth and development of your child. As a responsible parent, you must be anxious to find the right preschool.  

Singapore has a vast preschool landscape with approximately 1800 preschool facilities. They teach many things like social, emotional, language, cognitive skills, besides academics and building self-confidence. They provide a supportive environment to enhance the learning process.

They provide personal learning experiences that cover a wide range of areas. They employ research-based curriculums for a vast range of subjects and essential life skills. some schools also offer internationally anchored curriculums so that the kids have the flexibility to adapt to any school environment.

If you have just moved into Singapore or this is your first time being a parent, you will find this useful for providing your kids the preschool and playgroup education they deserve.

With a mission to help readers find the best consumer services, this article by Best in Singapore lists 23 best preschools in Singapore for a brighter future of the kids. The page also includes their contact details.  Read more here!

Children Playgroup Could A Priceless Gift

Many mammas have a feeling that their child will be safer at home. They also think that keeping the child at home, with a caregiver, means providing individual care and attention. But this may put the social development of the child in a severe jolt.

Children have a rapid brain development in their early days. This is a critical phase in their lives, and they need to learn various social skills to grow as a composed, contented, and confident individual.

As they start learning new things every day, they have more physical and psychosocial development than you think. They need support and stimulation from the environment for their optimum development and a playgroup can provide that.

Putting your child there could be a lifetime decision. By doing so, you give your child the best start in life. These groups work in a relaxed atmosphere. As the child makes new friends, his language skills improve much faster. 

Designed by experts, these classes help to develop physical strength and many other life skills. They also learn to share and be collaborative with their peers.

This article by Viviane Salin discusses how joining a children playgroup could benefit the kids. Read more here!

Preschools in Singapore are getting costly: Know how to look for it

Preschools in Singapore are getting more and more costly with time. But there is news that the annual spending on preschools will be doubled from the current S$1 billion to S$2 billion. This raises hopes on the affordability improvement of preschools.

Singapore has passed thorough radical changes in society. It is full of nuclear families with both parents working. This has transformed preschools into a necessity form exception. As parents are anxious to give their children a kick start, they are sending their kids to preschools.

There are many things to consider when looking for a preschool. Singapore has several preschools that can cost you above S$2000 per month. While others are more affordable and range to S$150-200 a month. Other than cost, the location, types of programs, teacher-to-child ratio, etc must be considered.

ECDA has a set teacher-to-child ratio for different preschools including playgroups, nurseries, and kindergartens. Make sure that the preschool maintains the same before you put your kid there. Giants in this sector are having multiple facilities across the country to let you choose the most convenient one.

This article written by Ming Feng gives tons of inputs about different types of preschools in Singapore. Read more here!

Singapore has many children playgroups. If you have a toddler, sending him or her to children playgroups is a great way to get them ready for preschools. These are weekly, yet relaxed, meeting places for the future citizens offering organized and play full learning for teaching social skills.

Of course, your child could be a bit nervous when attending such groups for the first time. But they soon start loving this and reap benefits from attending playgroups. As the toddlers pass time with peers, they start learning social skills. This includes making eye contact, sharing, collaborating, listening, etc.

Following the set rules and goals are another benefit of attending children playgroups. This further helps to enhance creativity, imagination, and physical activities.

This article written by Amanda Rock reveals the reasons why children playgroups are important for preschoolers and the parents as well. Read more here!

Singapore Children Playgroups Let Your Little Darling Develop

Singapore believes in excellence also for this, there are choices everywhere. There are several playgroup facilities for kids under five in Singapore. As a result of joining these groups, kids make new friends learn various social skills and positive behaviors. As these classes are held in a relaxed way, the kids love to attend those.

These focus on fun-filled structured games for enhancing collaboration, creativity, and imagination and provide enough stimulation to the toddlers. As they take part in dancing, music, and other sensory plays, these help them to settle in schools.

There are also globally recognized playgroup programs that teach the kids how to tide over various life challenges. Some also offer opportunities for parents to hang out with kids and these make the bonding extraordinarily strong.

These playgroups also help infants and toddlers learn a language. As they get involved in various physical activities like tumbling fun and others, that improves their motor skills.

This article written by Tracy Tristram tells how children playgroups in Singapore help kids to learn various skills. Read more here!

Playgroups in Singapore for under-fives: music, dancing, sensory play and more

Regardless of being at home or in classes, children always benefit from parental support and guidance. When parents involve themselves in classes, the babies get excited. This fosters a positive attitude and helps to build up a congenial environment for learning new skills.

Moreover, the parents also get a chance to observe the style of learning, learning ability, progress, and their interests. Such comprehensive knowledge helps the parents to put the kids into the right classes for honing their talents.

The author tried three Wings to Wings, Kindermusik With Love, and The Little Gym of Singapore and jotted down her experience. The “Wings to Wings” are meant for babies of 2 years and above. They have many programs including ballet classes, bubbles, etc.

Kindermusik With Love has different age-based programs for babies starting from 18 to 36 months. They also conduct unique music programs that involve vocal play, creative movements engaging all senses.

The Little Gym of Singapore offers five levels of classes that help to build up an early strong foundation. They have a spacious nice gym for the kids.

This article written by Trina Fang gives insights on three parent-accompanied children playgroup classes in Singapore. Read more here! 

Fine motor skills are impediment for every child in their growing years. Some struggle with sensory integration issues but it can be improved through therapy and aid: https://brain.com.sg/sensory-integration/

As discussed by Study.com in this article, are responsible for most of the things we do on a daily basis like scrolling down contacts in your smartphone, zipping and unzipping your trousers, knotting a tie, and so on.  They put to use the small muscles of your hands, wrists, fingers, and toes

No one is born with the skills at their strongest; as we grow up we learn to use them and the motor skills get stronger and stronger. As a parent, you will no doubt want to help your child improve on his or her fine motor skill use. Read more here.

The following article by Fun Early Learning explains why fine motor skills is important for your children.

Why it is Important for your Child

From the moment you give birth to a child, they depend on their parents, especially on the mother for almost all of their life’s activities. They cannot feed on their own, they cannot wash their bodies, dress up, and even they need your help in positioning them well for sleep.

For most new mothers, it is like they cannot do all the things they are used to doing before. This is because the new baby takes 85% of their time. But gradually they look forward to regaining their freedom as soon as the baby grows older. 

As soon as they start holding on to something with their small hands and crawling, their fine motor skills are put to use. Little by little they no longer depend on you for simple things like moving from one part of the home to another part of the home. At this time they can even feed themselves. Read more here.

As they get to do things for themselves, their self-confidence grows. Soon enough, they get enrolled in preschool where they put their motor skills to more use. They are taught to hold a pencil and draw shapes or paint a picture. They start writing and are taught how to write legibly. Before long, they can virtually all things themselves and are no longer dependent on their parents.

All these are possible because of the muscles and bones around the hands, wrists and fingers: the very essence of fine motor skills.  

How parents can help out is discussed by Cammie Mcgovern in this article.

How parents can help

 Even though you can’t affect the way your kids’ fine motor skills are developed, you sure can help them train and improve these skills. Here are some things you can do to help them improve.

• Play Puzzles Together
• Paint some diagrams together
• Take them to the beach
• Cut some papers with scissors together
• Build Lego houses together

All these activities involve the use of the hand and fingers in simple day-to-day activities. As you engage your child in these activities, they will improve in how they use their fine motor skills.

If you notice that your child, however, is not adept at using their hands and wrists as they should even after they start school, it will be nice to go visit a doctor who will, in turn, refer your child to a specialist. If you want ideas on who to see if such issues comes up, read more here.

Babies are born almost helpless and totally dependent on their mothers for everything. They cannot feed themselves, bathe themselves, or even excrete themselves. 

WedMD in this article explains some stages that you should expect changes. But as time goes on, certain changes are expected especially with their fine motor skills. If you are very observant as a parent, you will definitely know the right time you should be expecting some movements in your baby.

There’s more to tracking your baby’s development than logging height and weight. There are a number of other childhood milestones and developments of motor skills to keep watch for.

Pediatrician Michelle Bailey, MD, medical director of Duke Health Center at Southpoint, says you can look for signs of emerging motor and language skills in the very first months of your baby’s life.

“Babies begin to vocalize around 1 month,” Bailey tells WebMD. “At 3 months, they should push their head up when they’re on their stomach. By 4 months, they chatter in response to you and squeal with laughter.”

Bailey says it’s a good idea for parents to watch for these early childhood milestones, along with the more obvious “firsts” such as walking and talking. Just be careful about comparing your child with peers or older siblings. “Remember that each child is an individual,” Bailey says. “There’s a wide range for when children achieve a particular milestone. For example, I’ve seen children walk as early as 9 months or as late as 14 months.” Read more here.

The following article by  Karen Gill, MD,  of the Healthline.com discusses indications that your baby’s motor skills are developing just fine.

Following objects

Typically, when your child is at around 4 months, the first indication that their fine motor skills are coming into play is the awareness that they will start moving the muscles of their head at this time. They can turn their heads and follow people or object with their head-turning either left or right.

Crawling

From the time your child can lay on their stomach and support their weight with their arms to move around, that day your child starts the endless process of locomotion. At this stage, they depend on their mothers less when it comes to moving around and changing their position. They are attracted to something, the very next minute they get their crawling. At that stage also they can open their arms to someone they fancy or do otherwise when they are scared of a stranger. On average, a baby starts crawling between 6 to 10 months. Read more here.

Sitting

Typically around 5 months on the average, the tiny muscles at your baby’s back will be strong enough to support her as she sits down for the first time. Before this time, they have already mastered lying on their tummy, moving their heads to follow objects and a little bit of crawling. So it’s easier moving on to the next stage: sitting. At first, you can be supporting them by placing objects they can rest on beside them but as time goes on, they can sit independently.

Standing and walking around

Anywhere between 7 months and 15 months, you should see your child standing and taking a few groggy steps and eventually walking on their two legs. The motor skills have strengthened and toughened up to allow the muscles in the arms and legs to support them in walking about. At this stage, they are energetic and even if they fall down while mastering their newly discovered skill, they get back up almost immediately and continue their movements.

The following article by HelpGuide explains how parents can help.

How You Can Help

As a caring parent, it is wise to support your toddler every step of the way. As you notice these improvements, look for what to do to help them. For example, when they start crawling, they are prone to picking up random objects on the floor and putting these objects into their mouth. You can do well to remove any poisonous substance or solvent from their reach.

When you also notice that they have started walking, clear their paths so they will not injure themselves. Read more here.

What is Autism? That question needs an answer. In this article by Autism Speaks, ithighlighst what it is all about. It is also called Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and it is a serious condition that affects the development of a child. It affects and even distorts a child’s ability to interact with others and communicate with them. It goes right to the nervous system and tampers with the center for communication, thus inflicting a life-long condition on an innocent child. Therapy for Autism is required to help the child adapt to challenges and daily living as he or she grows up.

Because this condition does not yet have a cure, it is classed as one of the most chronic conditions that can ever happen to a child during his/her formative years. Such a child will encounter major challenges in social skills, verbal and non-verbal interaction, and can in some cases be prone to repetitive behaviors. Read more here.

The following article by WebMD discusses some symptoms of this condition.

What Are the Symptoms?

There is a wide range of symptoms which can all be evident in different severity. You can read more here  where you can find out more about the symptoms of this condition.

Truth be told, the symptoms of this chronic medical condition can be grouped into three aspects:

Behavioral Symptoms

You may start noticing the following symptoms. An almost negative body language might be noticed, gestures and facial expressions might also look inappropriate. They might talk but avoid every form of eye contact. Even the expression on their face will not match whatever they are saying. Other behavioral changes include a lack of interest in people or in personal achievements.

They might not be happy even if they get good grades in school. They may be unlikely to approach others with their personal lives and issues they face. It will be hard to understand the feelings and emotions of other people. They may be irritated at the thought of being touched and interacted with. Read more here.

Developmental Symptoms

The physical bodies may be developed as with other kids, but when it comes to other forms of development, those are always slower, even delayed in some cases. Ordinarily, they may take some time to start uttering words as infants. It may take more than two years before they ever will be able to speak at all.

They are prone to stuttering, repeating the same words over and over again before going on to utter the next. They find it hard starting a conversation and may even ask the same question over and over again before they get the sense of such questions.

This next article by the researchautism team discusses some cognitive symptoms of Autism.

Cognitive symptoms

They also show some signs of cognitive symptoms especially at school. Learning mathematics and other figure based problems peculiar to their age group are almost impossible. Learning how to read too is another issue for them as words, syllables and syntax are almost foreign to them.

Psychological symptoms

The constant feeling that others are better affects their confidence. This makes them depressed all the more and almost every time. They also find it hard to understand how others feel. They also get anxious more and are super irritated by the sound. Read more here.

Sending your child to a private school, especially one that has European philosophies when it comes to education can seem like a daunting task. You need to think carefully regarding what kind of a future you are expecting for your child. Would enrolling your young one into a school that embodies European philosophies really prepare them for the future? The answer is yes, it can. Private School Singapore can give your child more of an edge in today’s competitive market, making them ready to face the challenges ahead of them. You not only expose them to cultural diversity at an early age, but also give them the chance to grow as global citizens from an early age.

Our world is dominated by cultural diversity and differences, but united through a global approach to life. Your child gets not only quality education at a private school Singapore from an early age, but learns to think like a global citizen as well. This means that they are raised tobe a unique part of this globally advanced world, and can find themselves comfortably dealing with whatever life throws their way. Studying in a school that has European philosophies in no way means that they will be distanced from their own culture. It is by combining cultures that the education system truly thrives.

From trained teachers to a unique syllabus, your child will grow to understand and be culturally aware as they grow up and get ready to face the world. By being exposed to people of different cultures from an early age, they will learn to quickly adapt and be flexible in different scenarios. If your child later wishes to study or work abroad, they will easily be able to do that as well. At a time when we are increasingly getting more and more used to Western ideas and concepts, your child will be way ahead of peers without this European advantage. To build strong, confident and capable global citizens of tomorrow, we need to give them the chance to grow that way today. Your child not only receives education from trained teachers, they also learn new languages and are taught to open their minds. The European advantage will help them to become successful citizens of tomorrow. A quality education is at the forefront with properly trained teachers who will give each child the attention they require to grow.

Running a childcare centre is a great career opportunity as you are responsible for the child’s safety & lessons on life and education that will shape their future. As a teacher at a childcare centre it is your job to prepare the child for preschool Singapore. It does take a lot of dedication, but it is job, which comes with a lot of responsibility. Here are few tips to ensure that you do the right thing by the children in your childcare centre.

Create interesting activities
At such a young age, a child’s mind is like the sponge. It absorbs all the learning lessons that you have to impart very easily. In addition, you are also making their learning experience exciting by offering those activities that will keep them entertained and challenged. As a result, a child will be able to develop his cognitive skills quickly. It will help him in, as he grows older.
You have also help the child learn and understand good values. Sharing food and doing activities together will enhance the bond between the children. Under your tutelage, they will also understand to respect their friend’s decisions, learn to talk politely and understand that bullying is a sign of weakness.

Outdoor activities are good
If there are no outdoor activities, then a child is missing their youth. You can take them out to parks, kids zone at malls or to the zoo and aquarium. If you need additional help, then ask the children’s’ parents to volunteer. This will make the expedition more interesting. It will also give them time to bond with their parents and friends. These activities will also improve their physical skills.

Keep the bad mood at the door
You cannot do much about the external factors that affect and ruin your mood or day. However, once you step into the childcare center in singapore, you leave all the bad things at the door. Remember, children are extremely sensitive to bad moods and get the negative vibe instantly. As a result, your bad mood will affect them negatively. They will not concentrate in the class, become aggressive or loud and even go to the extreme of throwing tantrums. In such situations, your day will turn worse as you will have to force yourself to snap out of the bad mood. To avoid this, it is best that once you enter the centre, take two minutes and remove all bad thoughts. Just focus on the children and it will help you keep the bad mood at bay.

Your job is not a chore
If you take your job seriously and do not consider it as chore because you love children, then you will be able to do full justice to your job. Remember, if your passion is not educating children, then you have chosen the wrong profession. It would be easier to consider it as just another job. However, eventually, the children will be able to feel it from your behaviour to your body language. Therefore, always remember that it is necessary to love children in general when you sign up for the job.

Treat children with care
While you may love your job, you may still not be doing justice to it, as you are not treating the children with care. It does take a lot of patience because a child has different moods every day and every hour. If you are getting a burn out or not able to deal with it, do not reflect with your actions towards the children. If you treat the children with care, you will be able bring out the best in them.

When it comes to the safety of your child, it is but obvious, that as a parent you will leave no stone unturned. In addition, if you want to decide on any particular childcare centre in singapore like chiltern house, and you want to send your child to in preparation for his preschool Singapore, you need to keep the safety factors in mind. When you go to a shortlisted childcare centre to understand its feasibility for your child, check out these safety issues or take a look at this Chiltern House Forum for greater assurance.

Certifications
The organisation must have a Government authorised certification and licence approving them of following the necessary requirements for running a childcare service. There should also be recognition from various authorities for fireproof building, hygiene standards from the health department, which will assure you that the childcare service centre takes safety of all children seriously.

Writing on the wall
Always ask for the policies that the centre practice with regards to children and parents. It should be in writing or else it is not a place for your child to enrol. The policies must be clear on several things such as – cleaning, sick policies, medication, discipline, infection and even sanitation. Be careful to read the policy about the educators also. In addition, there will be policies on the fees and financial transactions. Take the time to read the policies before signing on the dotted lines.

Open-door policy
Most childcare service centres encourage the parents to come and visit their child at lunchtime or dinnertime. However, if they are not excited about the open-door policy, then do not even think of putting your child into that childcare service centre. You may get excuses such as you would be disturbing the cycle of the child or that the child may start setting the wrong expectation, but do not fall for it.

Staff members’ attitude
In your absence, a caregiver who will be entirely responsible for your child. Therefore, it is necessary to watch the hygiene of the caregivers. Do they wash their hands before they feed a child? Do they wash a child properly after he has vomited? These observations can help you make an informed decision.

In addition, notice the way the caregivers react to a child’s emotional needs such as tantrums and tears. Is the caregiver being impatient or rude or shouting at the child? Is the caregiver carrying the crying child properly or is he trying to scare the child in anyway? If these emotional needs are not met, then your child will not have a happy upbringing.

Childproofing the building
Your child’s physical safety is crucial. Question the director about the childproofing system put in place, so that your child does not suffer because of someone else’s carelessness. Do an online research on each of the shortlisted childcare centres and look for complaints & reviews on any accidents and injuries. If there more than three complaints about any particular centre due to lack of childproofing system, it that particular centre is ruled out from your list.

Medically equipped
A lot of schools and colleges have a sick room and professionally trained doctor and nurse on the premises. Therefore, it goes without saying the same requirement must be made at childcare centres. A doctor, a nurse and a sick room to ensure that whatever virus a child has contracted is not passed on to the other children at the centre. In addition, the centre must ensure that all the staff are medically trained to have swift response time during an injury. If the childcare service provides this facility, you should also be ready to pay more.

Once you decide to put your child in a pre-nursery, you may begin doing your research so you can choose the But the sheer fact that there are a number nurseries available may bewilder you. Not only that, you will find that there are schools that seem to believe in grandstanding because according to them, this may help them act like reputed schools they are not. These schools may also be harboring a notion that “show off” is one of the best ways to lure gullible people. All these may also add to your confusion. Remember that there is no necessity to get overwhelmed or upset over all these. Nor do you have any legal rights to stop these schools from showing off. The only point that is emphasized here is that if you adopt a methodical approach and do a proper research, you can easily make your choice.

You can begin the process by inquiring with known people if they know any good pre-nursery in your locality or its surroundings. They or some of their friends or relatives may have put their children in pre-nursery schools. So, they may provide you with the names and locations of a few schools. Once you gather these details, you can delve deep to find out more about these schools.

You should make it a point to visit the websites of the schools recommended by your friends and check their track-records. You must particularly look at the reviews written by parents who had already put their children in those schools. Remember that the more reviews you read, the better because the objectivity element of your research will go up by several notches if you go through more number of reviews.

How do these reviews help you in making your choice?

1. Your primary concern may be the safety of your children. These reviews will help you check if the schools are taking adequate steps for ensuring the safety of the children studying in them.

2. Secondly, you can know if the schools maintain a clean environment. The surroundings must be clean also. If the environment in the schools and the surroundings are not clean, chances of your children getting affected by health issues are high. In addition to spending money for providing the required treatment to them, you may lose your peace of mind also.

3. There are a number of pre-nursery schools that supply food to children. If the schools you are considering also follow this routine, you must verify if the food items they provide to children contain the required nutrients children must get. You must also check if the food items are prepared in a clean kitchen. Remember that you cannot take chances with the health of your children because food items prepared in an unclean environment may harm their health.

Further, the food items should be prepared with high-quality ingredients. If the schools you are considering aim to cut corners and opt to procure ingredients of poor quality for preparing their foods, it will ultimately affect the health of the children.

4. The reviews may provide you with the details of the curriculum the pre-nursery schools follow. You should check if their curriculum consists of more fun and play activities. According to experts, such activities inspire these young kids in learning more quickly.

5. You should find out if the teachers are competent and if they know how to handle and educate these very young children. As researchers point out, if young children learn directly under the guidance of experts, their life will certainly get into top gear. This means that they will be able to handle all types of situations without any issues.

6. You must make personal visits to the schools to see if they are spacious enough for making the children feel comfortable. There should be adequate space for play activities as well.

You will be able to make your choice easily once you carry out this exercise meticulously.