Question

Question

My kid is not even a year old but I would like to start understanding the various preschool options for her. 1. Would my kid be at a disadvantage if she starts nursery instead of pre-nursery at 3 years old? I want my girl to enjoy her childhood before embarking in a long education battle. Yet I'm worried that she might be at a disadvantage for starting school a year later than her peers. 2. Government kindergarten vs private kindergartens- are the curriculum similar? Is there any government subsidy if I were to enrol my girl to a private school, or are the government kindergartens like first Skool and moe kindergarten good enough? 3. What should I look out for when considering which school to enrol her in? Do all schools have open house, and if the open house reflects truly the manner classes and activities are conducted? 4. Wait list- how early should I place my kid on the wait list, and if I can place her in several schools' wait lists at one go? Thanks.

Anonymous

Yuna Liz · Answer

Personally, I feel that:1) Your child will not be at a disadvantage if she went to nursery instead of pre nursery. I have friends who dont even send their kids to nursery, and only started school proper at kindergarten stage and they are not lagging behind at all. As long as you teach your child the basics at home and expose them to socialization, seriously, I feel there is no need to send them to pre nursery. 2) I think government schools are just as competent as private ones. But thats my 2 cents and i know some do not feel the same way.3) Open houses tend to hype things up a bit. I feel that doing a visit during school hours or asking for a tour will be much more realistic and practical.4) I heard that you can start as early as you want. For the more popular private schools, i read about parents being on the wait list as soon as they found out that they were pregnant. Dont know how true that is though.