Choo! Choo! It’s time to go to school! Imagine saying this to your child every morning as you wake them up from sleep. Would it not be fun? If you are looking for the best daycare or the best child care centre in town, you have come to the right place. Choo Choo Train was established in 2014 by a mother who decided that daycare centres could be more fun and more educational for children. When we say more fun and more educational, we mean no boring activities that fail to cultivate the children’s interest in learning. Education in the first four years of a child’s development is very important. Researches have shown that giving your child an early childhood education is necessary if you want to avoid your child from suffering in language and social skills. To start them young, fun and creative approach is needed to engage their interest and retain the skills they learn.
How do we make learning fun at Choo Choo Train? First, we maintain a welcoming atmosphere with our bright and fresh environment. When you step into one of our centres, you will immediately notice it is a place that looks clean and literally smells clean. You will be welcomed by our friendly staffs, and if she takes you on a tour around the centre, you will be greeted by our vibrant children too. You will see our furniture and learning materials that are in good condition, and you will see how our teachers are absorbed with teaching their classes. Second, we put all our heart into our program. Choo Choo Train uses a holistic curriculum which covers all aspects of a child’s development – fitness and exercise, language, math, science, social and emotional, arts and crafts, music and movement, speech and drama, and kids can cook. Our syllabus is designed by our own curriculum specialist and it follows a different theme every month. We use the Montessori approach to deliver our education. With a safe and comfortable place, enthusiastic friends, and creative lesson plans, your child is guaranteed to explore their world in so much fun!
When is the best time to send your child to Choo Choo Train? We have talked to many parents and they all have different concerns. There is a lot of thing to factor in before you make the decision, but ultimately you need to realize why you want to send your child here. If you figure that the main reasons you want to send your child to school are because they seem eager to learn new things and explore, they are not getting enough stimulation at home, they are not getting appropriate education with babysitter or nanny, or they seem ready to broaden their social horizons and interact with other children, chances are it is the perfect time to send them to school. A study by the National Institutes of Child Health and Human Development found that children do best if they are cared for by someone who is genuinely concerned about their well-being and development, and who makes sure they are doing a variety of age-appropriate activities.
We have a total of four age-appropriate programs for your child at Choo Choo Train. Our Infant and Baby Development Program is catered to your child from age 2 months until 12 months, providing milestone development activities to engage their curiosity. Our Toddler 1 Playgroup Program is designed for your child from age 13 months to 18 months, consisting of activities that are geared to develop their motor skills and social skills. For age 19 months to 36 months, our Toddler 2 Playgroup Program will help your child to communicate better to help them express themselves. If your child is 3 years old, our Nursery Exploration Program will prepare them with the necessary skills to enter kindergarten or preschool until they turn 4.
Before you send your child to a daycare or child care centre, there are a few things you should consider other than the place itself and the curriculum. What meal is served to your child? Choo Choo Train has designed a meal plan that is nutritious for a child’s growth without compromising the taste. All our food is prepared fresh daily in our kitchen and we use the healthiest ingredients possible. Choo Choo Train also maintains a strict hygiene practice with our food preparation and food serving. You can be sure that your child is eating well with us! For breastfeeding mothers, we support what you do by accepting your supply and storing it for each day’s use. Our kitchen is equipped with a sterilizer, so we will keep your baby’s milk bottles clean.
Another thing you should consider is the standard operation procedures (SOP) of a child care centre. How is the adult-to-child ratio? What is the child behaviour management like? Is potty training offered and how is it done? How do the caregivers give bathing and washing to the children? All these and many more matters are carefully ruled out to all Choo Choo Train staffs and they are constantly observed to ensure that they adhere to the international standards adopted by Choo Choo Train. Before a staff is hired, a phone screening is conducted to gauge the vibe she carries and if she sounds credible, we interview her to exchange impressions about each other. For us, acquiring new talents is like familiarizing ourselves with a new child. We put a candidate on our setting and observe how she interacts with our children. If they like her, we will hire! Our centres are run by dedicated supervisors, early childhood teachers, and infant nurses who are continuously trained by our training and development team, all monitored by our board of directors through the CCTVs installed.
Overall, Choo Choo Train strives to maintain a smooth daily operation by observing these three aspects: safety, cleanliness, and education. We maintain a small adult-to-child ratio, we have our staffs do frequent daily sanitization throughout the day, and we take all the chances we have to make the children’s daily routine educational. We also practice a friendly management policy, which means parents can reach our supervisors through phone at all times during the care hours for any discussion. If you think that you are ready to enrol your child with us, just give us a call as our team is always ready to talk to you!