Maplebear is indeed a franchise and therefore each centre can be quite different, i.e. the way it is managed. Some directors (the franchisee) can be more hands-on, and some not so. So some more be more profit driven and some more child-centric. Maplebear is rather new in Singapore though the Master-franchisee - Ms Patricia Koh is an experienced pre-school pioneer. I must say as Maplebear is being a franchise, somewhat there is a need to push for 'more business' as a lot of the cost is involved. As a franchise, how could one expect the investors not to think of profits? Lots of marketing and pushing for enrolment.
The enrichment classes, such as i-Maths, etc are not included in the fees even though most of the enrichment are run by the teachers themselves. If you add the enrichment classes, you will end up paying quite a lot to the school fees. If you don't sign up for the enrichment, it will be mostly colouring, some craft work and free-play in the afternoons. There is also a tendency to increase the enrolment to ensure it is profitable. After a year or so, teachers are also seen leaving.
My child was formerly with them right from N1 but eventually I decided to change a school @N2 for different reasons. Firstly, the enrolment has gone up and space was compromised. I realised that by paying slightly more, I could put the child in a much larger premise. Secondly, one can see that Maplebear is mostly in Industrial/office space area, meaning most branches will be indoor-s and air-conditioned. The air quality and space were a concern. Having space to run about in Singapore is almost a luxury in Singapore but in my opinion, kids at 4-6 years really need to run and have outdoors to build up the muscles and enhance growth. The centre my child was in was totally in-house and so a lot of sitting down and hardly any chance to run. The indoor playground is a joke as it has a 'little-tikes' type of swing and slide, and that's all. No chance for outdoors as it will be too dangerous since it is housed in a light-industrial area with lots of 'loading/unloading'. Being a full-day childcare, means the child is 'locked-up' in an air-conditioned environment for 8-9 hours 5 days/week. So I preferred a school with some outdoor facilities. Thirdly, the learning-through-play approach is great for younger age group but I will prefer more when my child reached K1/K2 in preparation for the MOE system. At the end of N2, my child brought back craft-works, colouring papers, and repeated the same Letterland series as in N1 and learned numbers 1-10. I was getting a bit worried about the readiness for primary school.
All said, it is always best to bring your child to visit and have a feel of the centre you are interested.