Almost 11 years ago, a mother and daughter set out with a dream - to set out on a journey and build something together. But, the million dollar question was, what temple would they build? What could they do together which would take both their skill sets to complement each other? And then it hit them - the mother-daughter duo would embark on a journey to support other mothers and fathers and their loved ones, their little ones. And so, after a period of much prep and love and labour, on 1 August 2011, Morning Glorie opened up her doors to welcome all little children and their parents, who were looking for a safe and loving space as they took the first steps towards their own new journey - a child learning to leave home for the first time to embark upon a learning journey, a parent looking to balance work with home, a parent looking to take the first step towards nudging their child into an unknown world.     At Morning Glorie, we grew along with each of our children. As they r...

As we continue to deal with Covid, I am witnessing a whole variety of situations - at home, with friends and colleagues, neighbours, our parent body and so much more. My takeaways so far - 1. Maintain a positive outlook as far as humanly possible, especially if you are able to manage with homecare. Stress helps no one, on the contrary, it may be detrimental to your health and those close to you. 2. Help those that you can - with verified leads, medicines, hospital beds etc. I have personally seen my networks rally and bring help wherever needed. 3. Mask up! Please do not assume that you are safe just because you have been vaccinated or one report has come in negative. Till the virus can incubate, you are at risk, especially if there is even one case at home. Watch out for any symptoms, and even if there are no symptoms, maintain your chart - temperature, SPO2, pulse and any medication (even if just supplements) prescribed by your doctor. 4. Find a doctor - one who is available on call ...

The last one month has been tough all round. Friends, family, colleagues, children, their parents - every other household has a Covid story to tell. Someone in the family has Covid, you yourself have covid, perhaps a neighbour, a loved one - no individual is left unscathed. Either you are convalescing, or you are managing a household with Covid, or you are dealing with the loss of someone close, or if by the grace of God you are not dealing with any of the three, then you have been a Samaritan to those who need help. Morning Glorie has been no different in this regard. MG family is suffering too - some of our team members are dealing with Covid - either personally, or in their close families, so are our children's families. Things have been difficult - parents are struggling at home as they have small kids to take care of, while the teachers are managing their health too. It is in times like these that MG family truly feels like a family. The outpouring of love and support from all...

I will choose to define Covid era as anything after 20 March 2020. Morning Glorie, daycare in South City 1, Gurgaon, had its doors open to children till about noon on the 20th, after which our doors were shut as a lockdown was announced. At that point, it was a blow to many parents, I concede. We had parents asking us when daycare was going to open, as they were struggling with childcare along with work - some parents did not have the luxury of being in industries with a work from home option.  Yet, there was nothing we could do at that time - government guidelines and advisories were to keep daycares closed. I should know, I would tweet to the authorities over and and over till they reverted.  Over time, different scenarios panned out. 1. Some parents lost their jobs. 2. Some managed at home with both partners taking turns between childcare and work from home, in addition to managing households. 3. Some families called grandparents over. 4. Some families moved back to their h...

When the pandemic and lockdown hit us last year in March, preschools and formal schools alike scrambled to put systems in place to ensure that learning and education did not suffer. We had done a post on online preschool in India-pros and cons  to elaborate on the various modes of distance learning, and the pros and cons associated with each mode. Now, almost one whole year has passed since the first announcement of the lockdown. Online learning systems have stabilized where done well, and there is tremendous learning for all three parts of the triad - the child, the parent and the educator. Parents have been active participants in their children's learning, educators have adapted to and thrived in a new mode of learning, and children have proved as always that they can adapt to any situation that is thrown at them. Unlike adults, they are not so rigid in their ways, which works in their favour. Online preschool in India , or even formal online school, has also evolved enough to no...

 Happy New Year! Admittedly, around May-June, it seemed like a far away possibility for us to be thinking about a "happy" new year. The prospects appeared bleak - the preschool and daycare industry was possibly the only industry which was completely shut down (even after the unlock guidelines), there did not seem prospects for fresh admissions, it was a time when meeting base expenses seemed like an impossible ask. As an industry, we had truly hit rock bottom. The year has come to a close, and while things continue to be difficult (the physical spaces remain closed) the year has also taught us a lot, as have our kids. We would like to share our learnings and our key takeaways from 2020.  What 2020 Taught Us There is More to Life than Work We learnt to be grateful for all the small things in life we take for granted - our health, our loved ones, enjoying nature, eating home cooked food, reading books and so much more. Focus on all that is good instead of dwelling on the bad....

Public Speaking. The moment you read these two words in the context of a child, it appears to become a heavy concept. After all, why should this be important for a 2 year old, or even a 5 year old, fundamentally speaking? Agreed that in due course these are important skills to acquire, but why should that be the case at this age? Bear with me, as I put across my point of view here. When Morning Glorie's physical premises were open (I am talking about both our preschool and daycare in South City 1 , Gurgaon), we prided ourselves on being absolutely screen free for the children. No smart boards, no tv viewing, no mobile videos! Notwithstanding the fact that this could be extremely tough for us caregivers and educators at times, we felt that this was crucial for the development of children across all ages. For the toddlers, this facilitated language development , and for the older ones, it ensured that social skills and communication were the focus points. After all, when there were n...

 We are now into the 8th month since the first lockdown was announced during the Covid crisis. Naturally enough time has gone by that we have all somewhat learnt to adapt to the "new normal", well, more or less. This still isn't normal, and we are all still struggling at some level or the other.  The children are facing their own set of issues, but here, we are talking about your major struggles/points of concern with regards to your children during this period. We asked you all what your major concerns were. We came up with what we thought you could have struggled with the most. This list mostly came from our discussions with our parent body, what our own teachers were facing, and what we were witnessing among our own family and friends. This is what some of you had to say (Note - we are not revealing any personal information/names. We respect your privacy): By and large, increased screen time appeared to be a major point of concern for everyone. This is irrespective of ...

  I had started Morning Glorie as a preschool and daycare in Gurgaon way back in 2011 with my mother. TBH, we did not have any idea of the nitty gritty of how the industry worked. I did not even have kids of my own. The only thing we knew was that we loved having kids around, and we wanted to support young parents in their journey - with a soft spot for especially helping young moms go back to work. We started, we grew, we stumbled along the way, and we learnt. Now, with 9+ years as a caregiver-educator, I have come a long long way. Interacting with children in the age group of 3 months to 12 years has given me a lot to learn, a lot of perspective, a lot of patience, and an insight into the beautiful bond which a child shares with their educator.  May I add, this is a two-way street.  My own observations and learning - from my interaction with the children, as well as feedback from their parents? The Educator has to take the First Step For a child coming to daycare for th...

I was speaking with a couple of friends the other day. They have a 3 year old who does his preschool classes online, and had some concerns. 1. The activities in the classes seem too rushed - each activity was only 5-7 minutes in duration 2. Their child wasn't doing the writing activities in class and they couldn't get him to do it even otherwise, which was leading them to lose patience at times 3. Due to juggling household and professional commitments they were not able to spend time with their child, and when they were with him, they were trying to get him to do the classroom activities 4. Their child was getting cranky at times Understanding a child's perspective Impact of the Pandemic and lockdown The pandemic hasn't been easy on any of us. As adults we are able to rationalize a lot of things. The children are not. A toddler under 4 years of age is probably unable to articulate what they are feeling. It is up to us as adults to understand what they ar...