Opening a preschool is one of the most lucrative franchise opportunities in India, which offers high returns on low investment. With the overwhelming demand for preschool education from parents and the dearth of quality preschool curriculum, this is the right time to explore the opportunity of opening your own preschool. The years ahead will witness significant growth in the preschool sector with increase in demand for branded preschools over unorganised ones.

Early Childhood Market Opportunity in India:

• Preschool market in India is estimated to be of Rs 20,000 crore by 2020
• Organised preschool segment is growing rapidly at 45 percent every year. It is one of the fastest growing segments in the education space
• Comparatively less investment required to start a preschool as compared to other franchise businesses
• Expected Return On Investment (ROI) in a preschool business is over 100 percent in five years

The Key Factors behind the increase in demand for preschool education in India are:

1. Indian consumers becoming highly aware and conscious about the importance of early childhood education
2. Higher propensity to spend on education by parents
3. Increased awareness among parents about preschools to develop and prepare their wards for formal school admissions
4. Increasing demand for scientifically developed preschool curriculum (not just any curriculum)
5. Desire in parents to equip children with vital skills and learning at an early age

Evaluate this franchise opportunity with Little Millennium, India’s leading chain of preschools and earn higher returns on low investments.

About Little Millennium:

Little Millennium is one of the fastest growing preschool brands in the country today, having served over 1,00,000 families since its inception. Little Millennium has been at the forefront of bringing innovative products in the early childcare space in India. Our unique Seven Petal approach is a scientifically developed preschool curriculum that focuses on holistic development of each child based on Sequential Learning and Developmental Milestones. With over 600 centers in more than 100 cities, we are one of the best preschool chains in India.

Privileged offerings for a Little Millennium Business Partner:

1. Opportunity to partner with India’s leading chain of preschool
2. License to use Little Millennium
3. Brand Access to Award Winning Seven Petal preschool curriculum created by child care experts
4. Marketing and Branding Support across the year to increase preschool admissions
5. Comprehensive trainings across the year
6. Regular Academic Support to help the franchisee in implementing the Curriculum
7. Guidance on operating a Day Care and Activity Centre
8. Guidance on Local Area Marketing ideas to maximise brand awareness
9. Access to IT/Software Systems to manage preschool operations
10. Guidance on additional Value Creation ideas like Summer Camps, Sports Curriculum, Kids Marathon, Field-trips etc.
11. Support in preschool teacher selection, teacher training, performance monitoring and feedback
12. Quality audits and Personalised Support resulting in higher profits
13. Access to expert advice for identifying suitable location, and setting up world-class preschool infrastructure

Preschool Requirements:

• Total Area: 2500-3000 Sq Ft
• Investment: 15-20 Lac depending on the location

Have you ever thought of starting a business of your own but didn’t know where or how to begin? Are you passionate about nurturing young minds and shaping the future? Are you interested in a high-return business opportunity in the education space? If you answers to most of these questions is ‘yes’, Little Millennium Preschool may be your solution.

Real education begins before a person learns to speak and continues throughout their entire life. Children learn through their surroundings and all their success in future depends on their ability to learn from these surroundings, writes Sonal Ahuja, Founder, House of Learning and Co-Founder, Shri Ram Foundation preschools, for Elets News Network (ENN).

All of us have significantly observed that learning ability is stronger in infants than adults. As we grow up and start dwelling ourselves into the prevailing education system, we start adopting clichéd methods of learning and ultimately what we gain is not wisdom but just information which doesn’t stay with us and withers away in no time.

It’s crucial to understand that learning is the key to a child’s future. But, do we know there are tricks to learn? Have we ever thought of teaching our children those tricks or methods that can make learning a joyful experience for a child?

There are ways to make children and adults undergo the process of learning in the most systematic and organised manner. Listed are a few pointers that one should work on:

Nurturing learning habits among kids

“Where there’s a will, there’s a way.” Most of the times, the concepts, and learning structures are designed in a way that the learner starts finding ways to escape studying. The idea is to create the habit in a learner to know and gain knowledge.

If children want to learn something, they’ll do it in every possible way. We must make them believe that there is no end to the plethora of knowledge in this world and thinking ‘you know it all’ wouldn’t work. The idea is to drive the urge for knowledge in them that will make learning fun in itself.

The art of questioning

Learning is not only about reading anything and grabbing the information. It is actually about studying and asking a lot of questions. We must leave children free to be open to clearing all their doubts while they learn. This will help them explore and discover more. The problem is that people are not aware of the right way to study and therefore learning becomes difficult for them.

It’s not about passing exams

Are you telling your child to learn from a textbook because he/she has a test to pass?

The race to finish curriculums, score exceptionally great and be the topper of the class leads to practices like rote learning and muddling information. Every child has a pace with which he/she learns but the whole rat race finishes their thirst for knowledge and leaves them helpless.

How is your child actually learning?

Someone rightly said if you’re not willing to learn, no one can help you. If you are determined to learn, no one can stop you. It’s imperative to acknowledge that how we learn is a much more important question than why we learn.

There are some tricks and techniques that educators have to make learning an interesting endeavour for a child. Overcoming barriers that disrupt the learning process is an extremely important step. The solution is to identify them. We have to follow the right process to learn anything.

With this if schools also start looking into their own culture and setup, they will find many loopholes in their processes.

Recently, during a talk at one of the reputed schools, a question from senior student made me ascertain some crucial aspects of the education system. The question was, “What should I do for better grades?”

I asked why were grades so important to him? He replied: “That’s how you get into a good college which ultimately gives you a stable job.”

It’s crucial to understand that learning is the key to a child’s future. But, do we know there are tricks to learn? Have we ever thought of teaching our children those tricks or methods that can make learning a joyful experience for a child?

I don’t need to emphasise the importance of education in building a strong nation. But there are loopholes that are destroying the actual abilities of children and killing their creativity as individuals. Let’s have a look at some of them:

There is no room for mistakes

As Jim Rohn, an American entrepreneur, author and motivational speaker, once stated: “If you are not willing to risk the unusual, you will have to settle for the ordinary.”

Our education system follows the standard set of rules and regulations that have been passed over the generations. Mistakes and risks are the last things schools and parents allow the child to take. How will children learn unless they experiment? This ultimately forces them to follow the mainstream and shuns their ability to think out of the box.

The fear of failure

Since childhood, we are forced to work hard on different subjects where we’re expected to score magnificently well in each one of them. What if the child is good at literature and mathematics doesn’t interest him/her? But the kind of pressure and fear of failure parents and teachers inculcate in a child’s mind leads him/her to focus on abilities rather than the creative capacity and expertise.

Schools believe that it is imperative to create a standard curriculum for students to follow. However, it is not mandatory. Schools can create divisions depending upon different areas of interests which students can freely choose from.

Studying and learning are not same

Attending school, memorising facts and reading lessons is entirely different from gaining knowledge and experiencing learning. It is not important if a student is studying or doing something else, he/she might learn out of it too.

Learning is an experiential concept. Being in environments that are learning-oriented, moving beyond textbooks and indulging into discussions is much more important than memorizing information.

Strive for excellence, not for grades

Competition and comparison have led to severe problems. Students, from the very beginning, are encouraged to be amongst the “top five” in the class, thereby, igniting the spirit of competition.

It is this pressure only that has led to suicide cases over the years. Therefore, it is crucial to accept how every child is unique, has different interests and will find a way to a sustainable life.

The purpose of education is to bring out the best in a child. Let’s make sure they don’t lose themselves in the process.

When a child enters the portals of a school for the first time, he looks for something similar to his home which has a warm, welcoming environment, to feel secured. At Little ONE we ensure this. Once the child is feeling secured then there is active learning taking place, says Marina Cyril, Principal, Little ONE – The Jaipuria Preschool, Kanpur, in an interview with Elets News Network (ENN).

What are the measures required to bring the Indian preschool education sector at par with the global standards?

Children by nature are enthusiastic and curious. They are eager to explore and play provided they get a scope to do this. It is essential that in preschools the focus should shift to make our students self expressive and critical thinkers rather than products of rote memorization. A lot of learning through playful activities should be encouraged. Though it is messy but it takes them to unknown territories. Child development should be initiated through active play across all domains i.e. physical, cognitive, social & emotional. Ageappropriate activities such as structured hands on learning, group story-time and themed activities should become the base of the curriculum.

How do preschools help in the growth of children and what are the basic principles that Little ONE The Jaipuria Preschool adopted to be a successful preschool brand?

When a child enters the portals of a school for the first time, he looks for something similar to his home which has a warm, welcoming environment, to feel secured. At Little ONE we ensure this. Once the child is feeling secured then there is active learning taking place. There is a lot of emphasis on building the overall personality of a child with focus on learning social skills in a group setting. Everyday is a blend of songs, stories, outdoor activities, art, skating, football, dance etc. We lay our full trust in every child and with a positive approach try to bring about a positive change.

Most of the activities are theme based and children thoroughly enjoy the practical knowledge imparted. Activities like drive to the river side, biscuit factory, sitting with friends and savouring the ice lollies, nature walk, observing simple science experiments give a learning environment to our children. Music and movement classes help a lot in developing motor skills. Actions like Finger play stories make children build upon their conversation skills and be expressive.

In this modern era of innovations, what special methodologies have been adopted by Little ONE, The Jaipuria Preschool for students’ holistic development?

We at Little ONE believe that the early years of children are most important as they lay the foundation to form their character. Therefore we provide diverse experience of learning and adopting social skills which will be required in the years ahead. We know that the brain development is highest in the first four years of a child. Children at this age are very good learners and want to seek new information. Hence, we have ensured that our curriculum is rich of relevant content and appropriate information & materials. We have worked on a curriculum which is eclectic and combination of best methodologies.

The curriculum is based on thematic units through which the teachers construct an integrated approach to learning, thereby leveraging the early childhood domains. We believe that children gain a deeper understanding when they make connections across multiple domains. For example, if we take the theme to be ‘Monsoon’, the vocabulary building words would be related to this season. Word problems could be related to insects found during the monsoon. The rhymes / songs for the month would also be based on the theme.

What is the importance of technology for effective lecture delivery and better learning outcomes among kids?

“People generally remember 10% of what they read, 20% of what they hear, 30% of what they see, and 50% of what they see and hear.” Combining the senses, therefore, is of benefit to students of all learning styles. During the preschool years, young children are actually developing a sense of taking initiative and enhance creativity. They are curious about the world around them and about learning. They are exploring their ability to create and communicate using a variety of media. Digital technologies provide one more outlet for them to demonstrate their creativity and learning. These digital technologies can be handy to celebrate children’s accomplishments being displayed on a digital projector or on a school website. Digital activities include recording of children’s stories about their drawings or their games, making digital audio or video files to document their progress, exploring digital story telling with them, co-creating digital books with photographs of children’s game or creative work and attaching digital-audio files with the child as a narrator. The Smart Board technology too ensures better engagement and understanding.

What is the vision of the preschool?

We aim to nurture happy and confident children by providing child centric learning. Our endeavour is to promote creativity, environmental sensitivity and academic excellence. We help inculcate a spirit of lifelong learning, for our children to become effective agents of change.

Of the wide range of characteristics that a preschool should have. But child-centric qualities that define the best preschool include child’s safety, hygiene, conducive, friendly-caring environment, well-versed academic skills, personal and social skills, says Vipul Virani, Director, Strawberry Kidz, Hajipur, Bihar, in conversation with Elets News Network (ENN).

What are the main challenges in preschool education today?

There are various challenges for preschool education today. But my three main observations are:

Mushrooming of preschools – To curb unemployment or to earn extra, preschools are being set-up within houses campus without proper infrastructure, knowledge & system.

Lack of training – Preschool education is vital foundation for higher education and personality formation. It is dynamic process, which needs proper and practical training of staff at every level. These are not available and there is a lack of training.

Lack of awareness among parents – Nowadays, preschool education is essential part of child education. But parents send their kids to nearest preschool considering nearness and assuming sending to preschool is only for being accustomed to going to high school and its routine life. Parents are unaware about objective and utility of preschool in child’s life.

What qualities define the best preschool? How Strawberry Kidz is different from others in the country?

1. Strawberry Kidz is distinct and unique in many ways:
2. Strawberry Kidz has its own self-created, designed and customised play and learn based academic curriculum to provide practical approach knowledge and equip them for future need.
3. Strawberry Kidz equips its learners with life skills of personal and social orientation with creating real-life situation and experience.
4. Strawberry Kidz gives emphasis on art and music which child learns with interest and joy.
5. We provide tab and e-block like technology-based learning for making technosavvy and be ahead.
6. Strawberry Kidz does brain mapping of its every learner and accordingly learners are made to learn either by auditory, visual or motor based as per report.

To develop a child holistically, what innovation & technology is being used in the teaching – learning process adopted at the pre-school?

1. Innovation & Technology adopted at the preschool for teaching – learning are: 1. Tab & E-Block – Along with computer Tab kids & E-block technology courses are used.
2. Interactive Smart digital board.
3. Innovative – Teaching by storytelling, clay – moulds, puppet-shows using real objects for explaining and teaching, creating situation and learning by self experience.

What methods or best practices are adopted at Strawberry Kidz to ensure safety & comfort of toddlers?

At Strawberry Kidz we have:

Adequate and extra men and women staff on various points to look after toddlers’ every concern, Walkie- Talkie communication system along with intercom, Entire campus – Entrance, Corridor, Classroom under CCTV surveillance, School vehicles fitted with GPRS, Pillars covered with cushion to prevent hurt, Low height – stair steps covered with carpet, Edge-free bench – desks, Wooden floor in classrooms and Carpet on open floor and play station, Toxicfree wall paints, Non-toxic toys, Fire alarm and fire extinguisher, Wide entry points, Emergency exit.

COMFORTS: Entire building and classroom is air-conditioned, Room purifier in every class, Convection mode room heater in every classroom during winter, Classroom with interior decoration, Low-high washroom fittings, Cotton and loose fitting uniforms ,and Small school vehicle with AC.