How to Identify Quality Infant Care Centres

Cherie Hearts operates over 30 centres in Singapore, and we have heard almost every concern that a parent might have. One of the things that new parents tend to stress over, is finding a trustworthy infant care centre for their precious 2 – 17 month old bundle of joy.

As challenging as this task may be, it isn’t a hopeless scenario. As an experienced preschool, we can share that the average quality of infant care in Singapore is safe to say the least. Certification is difficult to obtain, so all centres need to meet a certain standard before being trusted to provide infant care services.

However, most parents want to provide the best care for their child. The following criteria will help parents discern infant care centres that are a cut above the rest.

Language and Communication, Cognitive, Social, Emotional and Physical developmental domains set the foundation for infant and toddler growth. Many aspects of development occur in more than one domain, and the effort that infant care centres invest into their curriculum can affect how readily your child grows in these areas of growth.

• Check the educarer-to-child ratio before enrolling. If it is 1:6, chances are that infant care is providing children with the attention they deserve. Such a ratio allows the educarer to focus on each child under her care.
• When you walk into an infant care centre, look around the Quality infant care centres bother to invest in appropriate furniture, toys, and educational materials with non-toxic paint, etc.
• Watch how teachers interact with the children and see if you are comfortable. If there’s emotional attachment, laughter and nurturing, then you know the centre believes in hiring motivated staff.
• Observe if the centre sticks to a strict schedule. This shows that its curriculum is conducted in a clear and structured manner. Familiarity helps your child focus on learning the essentials, and not be distracted by constant changes.
• Notice how the management attends to you as a potential customer. If they bring you into the classrooms and show you around with absolute confidence and transparency, then it’s a promising start. It shows that they are confident in what they do and have nothing to hide.
• Ask if the focus is on how a child learns as an individual, or is the schedule followed regimentally without regard to any struggling child? Quality infant care programmes ensure that every child is engaged with meaningful learning at all times according to his/her pace.
• Price isn’t always a good indicator of quality so avoid judging a centre by its fees. Check instead that the above criteria are met.
• Ask what qualifications the staff possess, and what the recruitment strategy is like. Are teachers provided regular training to keep up with professional expectations and industry standards?

Here at Cherie Hearts, we have a curriculum taught by expert staff specifically catered to nurture infants between 8 weeks and 1.5 years. ‘My First Journey’ curriculum consists of activities that stimulate development of the above-mentioned growth domains. Infants and toddlers in our Infant Care Centres will encounter a variety of first experiences provided by trained loving and attentive educarers.

To learn more about how your infant can benefit from our enriching curriculum, contact us here.