Early childhood sets the foundations for life. From birth to age five, children make giant developmental strides, more than at any other time in life. In fact, as per a study released by the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, the brain forms as many as 700 neural connections per second before the age of five. It is a lot easier to influence the developing brain at this stage as they are open to understanding concepts. In this critical window, quality early childhood education (ECE) plays a vital role in unraveling the potential of children. Young children, who are given the right support and stimulation at the early years, are more excited to learn when they arrive at school and are ready to thrive—emotionally, academically, and socially. Habits and attitudes acquired in early childhood are fairly deep rooted. Self-confidence gained by learning in a playful manner adds to the personality development of the child. Quality ECE programmes that combine healthcare, nutrition and education can significantly augment young children’s welfare in these influential years and in the future as well, leaving a positive impact on their cognitive outcomes.

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Today as parents become more aware of the need for superior early childhood education, they are often disappointed with the limited options. In India, the existing methods of education are still reliant on rote learning. Memorizing numbers, alphabet and reciting few nursery rhymes are the benchmarks for judging the quality of education the child receives at these centres. Here the deficiency is not just the curriculum that the child is being taught, but also how he/she is being taught! It is necessary to understand that ECE not only helps the child in academics, it also offers life skills. It decides the child’s behaviour, actions as well as the approach towards their career. Instilling thinking and analytical skills are critical especially during the early years as the mind at this age is exposed to building notions.

Preschools act as an important medium here to provide quality ECE to the child and to make them school ready. Preschools lay a strong foundation for kids help them to comprehend and grasp knowledge easily, hence being prepared for the later stages of school and college life. Every child is different and hence educators at preschool must understand each one’s pace of learning and give them the liberty to choose the activities they are interested in. It is paramount that education of children is not limited to teaching those alphabets and numbers only.

Sesame Street Preschool is one step in this direction which aims to bring a paradigm shift in preschool education in India by offering high-quality educational resources and facilities to children. The learning experience is backed by the fun and furry characters of Sesame Street and its Indian adaptation Galli Galli Sim Sim. The curriculum and teaching methodology follows a unique six-step procedure of teaching children through introduction, recall, demonstration, reinforcement, reflection and application.

Preschools are great learning centres for children. They learn the social skills of interacting with other kids of their own age. They are prepared for the curriculum of the primary schools. Various activities like painting, drawing, clay modeling etc conducted at preschools help in fine motor and gross motor development of children. Oral activities like poem recitation, storytelling, role-playing, singing songs, etc help in improving kids’ oratory skills. They also develop the confidence of speaking in front of small groups. Children learn to identify the sounds of the alphabet and vice versa recognize the alphabet by listening to its sound. There are many such important lessons that kids learn at preschool. Hence, in order to develop key life skills in children, parents should proactively invest in quality preschool education programmes. 

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Let’s recall our preschool days when our parents used to leave us at the school and we would cry at the sight of them going! Naturally, there was a concoction of feelings that we underwent- anxiety, excitement, fear, hope. The same feelings are felt by kids as they step into a new environment of a preschool. Some groundwork for attending preschool can begin in advance at home so that the kid is well prepared to take on the new phase of life with zeal.

Teach kids to be independent and social

As kids move out of the home environment parents or nanny would no longer be available to help them at every step. Hence, it is significant that the child is trained to stay independent. This can be done by setting daily routines for the child and giving him/her the opportunity to do simple tasks like moving objects from one place to another, placing toys in the basket, brushing, eating by self. Parents should expose children to other members of the society by setting routines like social outings, evening park visits etc. which can help the child develop social skills. Encourage the child to interact with peers and seniors and help them build simple small conversations.

Being responsible

Parents can create an opportunity for children to be responsible by giving them tasks, or objects like plants or pets to take care of. As they become the caregiver for that plant/pet, they also learn what responsibility is. 

Developing critical thinking

Instead of presenting a play school franchise in India and solution to every single problem that your child faces, let him/her look for solutions to a problem. You may begin with simple activities at home like playing obstacle games, hide and seek with objects, puzzle solving etc. Sesame Street Preschools spread across India emphasize on developing critical thinking among children and offers play school franchise. All educators at Sesame Street Preschools are encouraged to teach children about finding solutions to their problems and provide school franchise opportunities across India. While the educators help the child, the pride of finding a solution by themselves excites the child and encourages them to think critically.

Familiarize children with good and bad touch

It is must educate your children about good and bad touch. Parents can begin with teaching kids to say “No” or “Stop”. They must ask permission before touching or embracing anyone and, similarly others should also ask their permission. Never force a child to hug or kiss, instead offer alternatives like high five, blow a kiss. Children should be encouraged to bathe themselves to develop a sense of ownership and pride in their own body.

Set the expectations of the child

Every child is anxious about starting preschool. Parents should talk to children about what to expect when they get to school — where they'll be going, what they'll be doing, and who will be in class with them. Before school begins, visit the classroom together at least once, preferably when other children and teacher(s) are there. Take your child out shopping for school items like bag, water bottle, lunch-box and uniform. This will generate excitement to join the school.

It is customary for children to experience separation anxiety during the initial weeks at the preschool. Be prepared for a few tears. With time your child will get accustomed to the routine and will soon start looking forward to spending quality time at the school.

With the festive season beginning your child will have the luxury of many holidays – Dussehra vacations Diwali vacation followed Christmas Break. Working parents are often anxious about these vacations as they do not have enough time to spend with their child while he/she is at home throughout the day. Many parents prefer to sync their official yearly leaves with their kids’ vacations, in order to make the most of the limited time. Often while spending time with their kid at home, they struggle about the indoor activities. Taking them to the zoo, park, library, amusement parks are easy as you don’t even realize how time flies by. But when the child is at home it becomes a struggle on how to engage and entertain kids. Often kids are seen resorting to TV shows and digital games on tablets and smartphones. But with these ‘easy to go to’ activities parents re-think whether they are healthy for their child?? They remember their old days when there was no TV, no phone and yet there were many activities we did indoors like playing board games, reading comics, floor games, role plays, etc.

There are a whole lot of interesting and simple indoor activities that parents can do with their kids and keep their child away from boredom.

Board Games

Ludo and ‘Snakes & Ladders’ are passé! Your child feels that these are games of the oldies. How about introducing similar games to them with a colorful and new twist. Educators at Sesame Street Preschools often play ‘Cookie’s Road Rules’ game with kids. This is a board game that aims to educate children around road safety and road rules as they roll the dice and move ahead in the game.

Make a café at home

Make one of the vacation day as a café day. One evening invites your kid’s friends to your home for a fun role play in which you and the child becomes the café owner and server, while the friends are customers. During the day engage the child with yourself in cooking healthy food like sandwiches, colourfulidlis, dhoklas, milk shakes, etc. Put a price tag against each item. In the evening when all kids have gathered distribute play money among them and explain to them that to buy each item on the menu they need to shell out a certain sum of money. In this way, kids learn about dealing with money, counting, spending, etc. While your child gets educated about simple money matters, you will be thrilled to see an amazing get together at your place!

Activity Sheets

There are many interesting activity sheets available online which can easily grab your little one’s attention. You can also create activity sheets are home. For example - Make an outline of a tree and help your child do ladyfinger painting on it. Using colourful sheets of paper, help your child create Diwali /Christmas Greeting Cards for his/her friends and relatives. You can also visit www.galligallisimsim.com or www.sesamestreet.org to engage your child with some interesting art and craft related activities. 

Play educational songs and videos

Kids love to play games on the laptop or tablet. Wouldn’t it be ideal if these games were also educational? There is a huge list of educational and entertaining games on www.galligallisimsim.com which are aimed at literacy, numeracy, sanitation, etc. On the website you can also find many educational videos like Chamki and Grover talking about nutritious food or Elmo signing about savings and many other healthy habits.

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The Indian preschool sector is experiencing rapid growth. As per a report by CLSA Asia Pacific Markets, the preschool education segment in India was estimated to touch $ 3,426 million by the end of 2012. Another study by Ernst and Young estimated the market to cross $1 billion in 2012, with a growth rate of 35%[i]. As per the latest report on Education market by Mint in Jan 2015, the education market in India, which is presently worth around Rs 5.9 trillion ($92.98 billion), is poised for some major growth by 2020. The organized sector is expected to rise considering the rapid growth of international school franchise opportunity in Tier III and Tier IV cities. 

In urban areas especially, a preschool is now considered a necessity by most parents. Education Franchise in India, popularly known as playschools, caters to children aged between two to four, and seems to be a lucrative investment for franchisees and investors. With the entry of a number of reputed chains, national as well as international, this sector is witnessing immense growth and development.  With many of them opting for the franchise route to scale up their presence, the concept of franchising among interested and start-up entrepreneurs, has caught on fast in the last few years.

A number of factors have accelerated the growth of the preschool and play school franchise. Growing number of nuclear families and working parents is one of the leading reasons for the growth of preschool sector in India. Over time, the perception of preschool education has also changed from just being nutrition centers to an institute where the child is prepared for getting into formal education using innovative learning approaches adopted by educators which makes learning fun for children. The low investment required in running and maintaining preschools make it a lucrative business opportunity. 

The kids school franchise model offers several advantages for a potential franchisee. It reduces the risk and gestation period associated with a business and provides an easy transfer of technical knowledge and the well structured procedures and policies laid out by the franchisor. The advantage of partnering with a known brand helps in outreach and attracting more parents towards the school.  A franchisee doesn’t have to worry about research and development of curriculum as a set preschool curriculum developed by experts is provided by franchisors. 

In addition, franchisees looking to collaborate with a recognized preschool brand can explore several location and operational options as some leading preschool chains are looking to expand their outreach to Tier I and Tier II Indian cities or even international expansion. From the franchisor’s perspective, the preschool business is not only lucrative; but also helps them quickly build up their presence in targeted geographical locations. The franchisor not only shares the brand image, but also their knowledge, experience, and technical expertise. 

Among the preschool chains operating in India, the more prominent ones are Sesame Schoolhouse, EuroKids, Shemrock Schools, Kangaroo Kids, Sanfort, Kidzee, Serra International, Podar Jumbo Kids, Hello Kids, and Sunshine among others. Among these, Sesame Street is leading the way by revolutionizing the way children learn. Sesame Street Preschool is a venture of Sesame Schoolhouse, the latest educational initiative from Sesame Workshop, one of the largest non-profit informal educational organizations in the world who also produce the  world acclaimed children’s educational television show, Sesame Street. Sesame Schoolhouse is setting a new standard for early childhood education through their unique preschool and afterschool programme: Sesame Street Preschool for pre-primary learners aged 2 to 5, and afterschool to reinforce science and math concepts for children ages 6 to 8. It’s a learning experience brought to life by the fun and furry characters of Galli Galli Sim Sim, India’s first educational TV programme for children. Their unique brand of age-appropriate education puts kids at the center of everything, from playful project-based activities to an environment made for rampant imagination. 

In conclusion, one can sum up by saying that that as the preschool industry is a sector with a huge potential that needs to be tapped, a franchisee can look at satisfactory and fulfilling partnerships with established, credible preschool brands as a viable option to fulfil their entrepreneurial aspirations.