Whenever I happen to pass by a childcare center in a flatted factory building, I find myself wondering about the childcare center I visited one time.
I wonder how the center is. I wonder whether the ladies who ran it managed to convert their general enquiries to registrations, and I wonder whether the place is finally filled with the chatter and laughter of pre-school children- the way the ladies intended it to be.
It was a casual meeting, the ladies and I, like a first-time get-together, and we just chatted, all of us. We met in the staff room of the center, and they told us the story of how they got together and the plans they had for their center. Very lovely ladies, all of them, very passionate about what they were doing, and why they were doing it.
There was the usual business of business that got in the way, however, but we didn't really talk much about that. You don't go in and chuck ideas at the heads of people whom you've met for the first time. That came after. What they did that day was to take us on a tour of the place.
One thing that they were very proud of was the indoor playroom, and the indoor play area. There was very little outdoor space in their building, they said, and the nearest park was a bit of a walk away, and so, the physical movement activities would have to be done in one of the cheerfully-decorated rooms. It was very safe, one of them shared, and there would be no danger of children slipping or hurting themselves if they were playing outdoors.
They were also very glad for their waterplay area. There were mats on the floor, they said, there were all the basins and the waterplay toys and here the kids wouldn't slip and fall.
It was all very safe, they told us, and they were sure both children and parents would like it. Meals were carefully planned out too. they said, and they wanted children to have as much organic food as possible. All they needed, they believed, was to increase their presence in the neighborhood so that more parents would know of their center, would come to their open house, bring their kids, let their kids have fun, and there would be registrations.
This was over 2 years ago.
I don't know how they are now. There was an exchange of emails but plans were placed on hold after that. Did I really think it was all okay?
Honestly.. just a little bit of no. -_-
Now I don't know much professionally about early childhood education and center management and all that, but I've been a child, I know of people who are familiar with early childhood education, I know parents with very young children, and so I can safely say that the perspective of having outdoor play in an indoor space of four walls and no window can take a little getting used to.
I mean, that was essentially what it was. Climbing and crawling activities on beautifully set up equipment, but all contained within four whitewashed concrete walls and air-conditioning with not a single window. Often we hear of children being sent to go downstairs and play outside. Here it was the reverse. Children are being brought to climb and crawl and roll about inside. Up a flight of stairs.
If I were a parent, it would take some getting used to. It would take a very special reason for me to accept that my child should be rolling about indoors in a four-walled room.
Likewise it would take a very special reason for me to accept that my child was having cognitive waterplay in the cold, closed-off high-ceilinged bathroom, all blue and cold tiles, with the tubs and the toys placed between toilet cubicles on one side and washbasins. on the other
Especially if I were a parent who wanted the best for my child, and if other places were very sun-filled, where there were plenty of outdoor games and activities, where children were allowed twice a day to go out and climb and run and toddle and squeal and jump about and where they were encouraged to touch the grass and feel the petals of the flowers.
It would not be enough to tell me that all this was done because safety was a priority, not because I did'n't trust the management enough, but because, very simply, children need to play and they need to play where there is open air and natural elements circulating about them.
Not in a confined room, not in a wet, damp, cold bathroom.
Unless there were a very special reason, and there would be, I'm sure, if they looked hard enough. There is always opportunity out there, and sometimes the opportunity does not come from what is already being done. It comes from what is not being done. However small, however unusual, however niche, however groundbreaking, however awkward or different from the general community, however unique from what is the common perspective, there is the opportunity, and there is where the strength grows.
I hope they see it. And I hope that, despite the competition of ten childcare centers within a one kilometer vicinity, they've found their fulfillment and they've achieved what they set out to achieve.
Perhaps what we'd suggested to them seemed a little over the top. But that's what we do. There is no point trying to do a major rebranding exercise and a marketing campaign if you're not doing it big enough to last a couple of months. At least we think so.
And there is no point seeing a campaign from the eyes of the marketing textbooks. Because it is the registrations that you're concerned about, and it is both the kids and parents that you should be concerned about. Having a space in the middle of an industrial estate where competition is rife is not the dead end of it all, but it is an opportunity to rise out from the rest and conquer the market.
Which we suggested to them, that perhaps, they could build on making their center an anthropomorphic one, an indoor garden, if necessary, Something like what IKEA does with their playroom..? They could invite children to explore this whole garden. The stairs could be an imaginary hill that they had to climb every day for their new day-by-day adventure. The rooms, little caves where they had to go through all sorts of exercises and solve all kinds of skills in order to achieve their final victory for the day. And sometimes, there would be a space where the cave as just a leeetle bit more damp than elsewhere, but they'd have to splash alot and feel water volume and all that to get their way out from this cave.
A bit out of the ordinary, I agree, and a bit more work for teachers, but there'd be curriculum somewhere in the world written to be suited for such non-conformist learning. After all, imagination, creativity, story-telling, music and movement, physical movement, logic learning, interaction, instruction and so on are all part of an all-rounded pre-school education, and whilst I may have gotten the terms wrong, I don't think we're very far off the point.
Thing is, when you've already done what you've done, when you've already made your choice, and you've found that something's a bit off with your supposed market, there's nothing you can do but to do a turnaround with what you already own, hook on the best of what you've got, run with it and keep banging on the (gaps) until you get somewhere.
We didn't get very far at that point, and I too don't know whether our methods would have worked, or if their efforts did, and right now I could possibly google it to find out, but I think I'll just remain happily at where I am now. :)
I wonder how the center is. I wonder whether the ladies who ran it managed to convert their general enquiries to registrations, and I wonder whether the place is finally filled with the chatter and laughter of pre-school children- the way the ladies intended it to be.
It was a casual meeting, the ladies and I, like a first-time get-together, and we just chatted, all of us. We met in the staff room of the center, and they told us the story of how they got together and the plans they had for their center. Very lovely ladies, all of them, very passionate about what they were doing, and why they were doing it.
There was the usual business of business that got in the way, however, but we didn't really talk much about that. You don't go in and chuck ideas at the heads of people whom you've met for the first time. That came after. What they did that day was to take us on a tour of the place.
One thing that they were very proud of was the indoor playroom, and the indoor play area. There was very little outdoor space in their building, they said, and the nearest park was a bit of a walk away, and so, the physical movement activities would have to be done in one of the cheerfully-decorated rooms. It was very safe, one of them shared, and there would be no danger of children slipping or hurting themselves if they were playing outdoors.
They were also very glad for their waterplay area. There were mats on the floor, they said, there were all the basins and the waterplay toys and here the kids wouldn't slip and fall.
It was all very safe, they told us, and they were sure both children and parents would like it. Meals were carefully planned out too. they said, and they wanted children to have as much organic food as possible. All they needed, they believed, was to increase their presence in the neighborhood so that more parents would know of their center, would come to their open house, bring their kids, let their kids have fun, and there would be registrations.
This was over 2 years ago.
I don't know how they are now. There was an exchange of emails but plans were placed on hold after that. Did I really think it was all okay?
Honestly.. just a little bit of no. -_-
Now I don't know much professionally about early childhood education and center management and all that, but I've been a child, I know of people who are familiar with early childhood education, I know parents with very young children, and so I can safely say that the perspective of having outdoor play in an indoor space of four walls and no window can take a little getting used to.
I mean, that was essentially what it was. Climbing and crawling activities on beautifully set up equipment, but all contained within four whitewashed concrete walls and air-conditioning with not a single window. Often we hear of children being sent to go downstairs and play outside. Here it was the reverse. Children are being brought to climb and crawl and roll about inside. Up a flight of stairs.
If I were a parent, it would take some getting used to. It would take a very special reason for me to accept that my child should be rolling about indoors in a four-walled room.
Likewise it would take a very special reason for me to accept that my child was having cognitive waterplay in the cold, closed-off high-ceilinged bathroom, all blue and cold tiles, with the tubs and the toys placed between toilet cubicles on one side and washbasins. on the other
Especially if I were a parent who wanted the best for my child, and if other places were very sun-filled, where there were plenty of outdoor games and activities, where children were allowed twice a day to go out and climb and run and toddle and squeal and jump about and where they were encouraged to touch the grass and feel the petals of the flowers.
It would not be enough to tell me that all this was done because safety was a priority, not because I did'n't trust the management enough, but because, very simply, children need to play and they need to play where there is open air and natural elements circulating about them.
Not in a confined room, not in a wet, damp, cold bathroom.
Unless there were a very special reason, and there would be, I'm sure, if they looked hard enough. There is always opportunity out there, and sometimes the opportunity does not come from what is already being done. It comes from what is not being done. However small, however unusual, however niche, however groundbreaking, however awkward or different from the general community, however unique from what is the common perspective, there is the opportunity, and there is where the strength grows.
I hope they see it. And I hope that, despite the competition of ten childcare centers within a one kilometer vicinity, they've found their fulfillment and they've achieved what they set out to achieve.
Perhaps what we'd suggested to them seemed a little over the top. But that's what we do. There is no point trying to do a major rebranding exercise and a marketing campaign if you're not doing it big enough to last a couple of months. At least we think so.
And there is no point seeing a campaign from the eyes of the marketing textbooks. Because it is the registrations that you're concerned about, and it is both the kids and parents that you should be concerned about. Having a space in the middle of an industrial estate where competition is rife is not the dead end of it all, but it is an opportunity to rise out from the rest and conquer the market.
Which we suggested to them, that perhaps, they could build on making their center an anthropomorphic one, an indoor garden, if necessary, Something like what IKEA does with their playroom..? They could invite children to explore this whole garden. The stairs could be an imaginary hill that they had to climb every day for their new day-by-day adventure. The rooms, little caves where they had to go through all sorts of exercises and solve all kinds of skills in order to achieve their final victory for the day. And sometimes, there would be a space where the cave as just a leeetle bit more damp than elsewhere, but they'd have to splash alot and feel water volume and all that to get their way out from this cave.
A bit out of the ordinary, I agree, and a bit more work for teachers, but there'd be curriculum somewhere in the world written to be suited for such non-conformist learning. After all, imagination, creativity, story-telling, music and movement, physical movement, logic learning, interaction, instruction and so on are all part of an all-rounded pre-school education, and whilst I may have gotten the terms wrong, I don't think we're very far off the point.
Thing is, when you've already done what you've done, when you've already made your choice, and you've found that something's a bit off with your supposed market, there's nothing you can do but to do a turnaround with what you already own, hook on the best of what you've got, run with it and keep banging on the (gaps) until you get somewhere.
We didn't get very far at that point, and I too don't know whether our methods would have worked, or if their efforts did, and right now I could possibly google it to find out, but I think I'll just remain happily at where I am now. :)