Little Millennium, the preschool chain from Educomp, has grown rapidly serving over 50,000 children since its inception. With over 280 preschool centers operational, across 65 cities in India, the preschool brand has built a formidable presence in the preschool/kinder garten industry. Raman Bajaj, Managing Director of Educomp Child Care Pvt Ltd talks about the importance of preschools in the society and how his preschool chain helps the next gen. kids take the first big step outside home and the first big step towards discovery, learning and all round development.

• How does a playschool influence age-appropriate behavior?

The right approach to learning is critical to ensure that the child develops a love for imbibing new concepts without feeling stressed. A playschool creates an environment to encourage curiosity and creativity and is "the first big step" that a child takes

outside of home. Children exposed to positive, stimulating experiences at an early age, develop enhanced learning capabilities, which improve their odds for excelling in school.

• Can you touch upon your key areas of focus?

A young learner's day at Little Millennium is a healthy mix of play (structured play and free play), fine motor activities, cognitive activities and language learning activities where learning is incidental and not forced. Little Millennium's core differentiator is its scientifically developed 'Seven Petal' curriculum which ensures the overall holistic development of every child, through play activities and collaborative group work. The curriculum focuses on seven key developmental areas for children, not just reading and writing. These developmental areas are: Cognitive development, Fine motor skills development, Gross motor skills development, Language, Personal awareness, Socio-emotional development, and Nurturing individual potential.

• What are the facilities provided by Little Millennium?

A Little Millennium Centre comprises of airy class rooms, colorful activity areas, vibrant play areas, a sand pit, a splash pool, a library and an audio visual room. The ambience is accentuated by the warmth of the care givers, i.e., the facilitators. There is a separate area called 'Settlers Room' where the really small children spend their first

few days of preschool along with a parent. The focus here is to help the child 'settle' in the preschool in the company of their mothers, for the first few days. The entire focus is on the child, to provide them with an environment that encourages curiosity, creativity and helps them take the first big step towards 'structured learning'.

• How do you train your facilitators?

We select teachers strictly on the basis of their educational qualifications, relevant experience and their attitude towards learning and learners. Our teachers undergo constant and regular training to stay up to date with the latest teaching methods and pedagogy. Ensuring maximum personal attention to children, we follow a student teacher ratio of 10:1 to provide focused attention to every child.

• Can you highlight some of the safety standards in place?

As a responsible playschool chain we have an exhaustive list on safety and security compliance measures which all our centres follow. These measures include restricted entry into the school premises, police verification of support staff, school premises under CCTV surveillance, training to teachers on incident management and reporting, availability of fire extinguishers and first aid kit, among others.