Yehi hai right choice for baby

With most play schools in the city now doubling up as day care centres, working parents are spoilt for choice

Yehi hai right choice for baby

With most play schools in the city now doubling up as day care centres, working parents are spoilt for choiceu00a0u00a0
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It's a buy one-get one offer that's proving too irresistible for working couples. Play schools in the city are now doubling up as day care centres as toddlers say goodbye to their mommas as early as six months.

Earlier, play schools would only enroll children above two years, as education and infotainment are normally part of their 'curriculum'. Day schools, on the other hand, are just creches where the owner is not obliged to teach the child and enrollment begins at less than three months.

Now, the lines have blurred with play schools doubling up as day care centres.

Rajpreet Kaur, director of Play Zone, Chembur, said, "The increasing number of calls every day has forced us to start a day care centre. Working parents need an assurance that their toddlers are taken care of in their absence. Young couples don't want to leave their kids with a maid because they want them to grow up in a healthy atmosphere."

Podar Education Network already has two-day care centres in Santacruz and Andheri and are in the process of opening up two more in Parel and Malad.

Many play schools are now opening day care centres near work places. Said Farzana Munim, one of the directors of The Little Company that runs a play school at Godrej Hillside Colony, "Many employees from Godrej leave their kids with us and go to work. It is extremely convenient for parents as during breaks they can pay a quick visit to their children."

Though parents are spoilt for choice with no dearth of day care centres, finalising the perfect one is never easy. M Jain, a mother of a four-year-old from Bandra said, "For most couples, day care centres are a boon and more so if they are attached to a play school. After researching many day care centres in the vicinity, I have zeroed in on one which promotes learning."

Added Chhaya Soni, mother of a one-year-old, "I have admitted my baby in a day care centre at Chembur, which has a nursery as well. Now, I do not have to take the trouble of hunting for a play school."

However, psychiatrists have their apprehensions. Rahul Ghadge, a psychiatrist from Charni Road, said, "Practically everyone wants to earn now-a-days and hence the demand for day care centres is on the rise. But I would suggest parents to keep their kids with their grandparents who can be much better educators and caretakers."

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