visit to sparkletots

after breakfast at the market opposite our place, we took a short stroll to the nearby West Coast CC for a short visit to sparkletots - the childcare center which we intend to place mon cherie in when she reaches 18month.

since it was a saturday, the childcare center was rather quiet with about 10 children of various age group gathered at the toddler/nursery room with 3 teachers attending to them. one of the teachers came over to bring us around for a short tour of the facilites, briefed us on the class allocation and time-table for the different age groups.

the entrance of the childcare - with a big kiddy house to entice the newbies (i presume...)


the common area for older kids - either for their reading or meals.


saturday class in action - mixture of different age-groups


the notice board...


and finally, the time table for toddlers' class.


there were a few concerns for me after the short visit and talking to the teacher:
* toddlers/nursery/K-N classes were all housed under the same location; separated only by partitions of lower cabinets or those standing notice boards. the noise pollutions when all classes are on-going during weekdays may not be so condusive for the children's concentration when there are about 150 children on weekdays.
* main air-con outlet ducts are at the toddlers class - means there are higher chance for them to transmit virus/germs from one another.
* teacher to students ration of 1:8 - i was told 1:4 previously but was told that is the MCYS standard for all childcare. hmm...
* mini-showers/toilets - no bath-tub nor potty. may have to start training mon cherie to stand under the shower for her morning bath! but she still poo in her diaper... and she can only poo while standing! urgh...
* time-table & daily activities - it was rather generic in their description and i'm not sure the 'content' of their teaching... hence i'm a little doubtful of the teachers' qualification.

but daddy felt that the environment is ok - at least to get mon cherie started on group learning and interaction with other kids around her age and not be too bothered with the rest of my concern. and the distance is the biggest draw for us - since the center is within walking distance of about 10mins from our place.

hopefully we've made the right choice... but i guess it is mainly the ONLY choice available for now... until the situation gets better and we have more options to choose from.

next up will be for me to call up the principal for a more detailed explanation on the fees, etc for enrolment. hopefully there will still be slots for mon cherie in June... since the situation seems to change each time i call up! grrr....