Top Preschools in Singapore

Is your child ready for school?

So how do you decide which school or program is right for them? Childhood development experts at Media One will be sharing some useful tips on this.

You don’t just settle on the first preschool program that checks up; you have the following concerns to address first:

• Will your child be safe?
• Will your child gain social experience?
• How’s the school’s environment like? Is it loving, nurturing, and with boundaries?
• Will your child be comfortable with the school’s environment?
• How will the school affect your child’s confidence?

A good preschool program is one that addresses all these concerns. You have to give yourself at least nine months to evaluate your options and choose a program that’s best suited for your child.

What’s Preschool?

Preschool (also referred to as nursery school, pre-primary, or playschool) is an early childhood education program for children between the age of 3 and 5. Essentially, it’s meant to educate a child through play and active interaction.

It differs from the traditional daycare in the sense that it emphasises on learning and development rather than just watching over kids.

What’s Preschool Important to a Child?

Enrolling your child to a high-quality preschool program will help to improve the child’s life for the better. Here are some of the ways a good preschool program may help to improve your child’s life:

• They acquire basic capabilities that may help them lead a successful life in the future
• high-quality preschool programme can improve your child’s behaviour, achievements, and school readiness, especially for economically disadvantaged kids.
• Other studies also show that such kids end up earning more money and gaining more experience that will see to it that they have more stable homes and end up becoming more responsible citizens.
• It prepares kids for kindergarten, both socially and academically
• A good preschool program may also help your child improve their communication and language skills. It may also help them develop fine motor skills, besides inspiring their creativity.

Qualities of a Great Preschool

Here are some of the classroom and teaching activities that contribute to a high-quality preschool program for your child:

• Opportunities to learn about persistence when working on tasks. Opportunities to learn about good listening skills and how to follow directions and take in instructions.
• Focus on literacy and language skills. The program should also incorporate book reading
• Teaching problem-solving skills to kids
• Helping the child develop a solid vocabulary and expanding their knowledge horizons. The program should focus on keeping the child informed on the current matters and least-known facts.
• A fun way to learn about beginning skills, including numbers, the alphabet, and spatial awareness
• Emphasis on scientific thinking. The program must inspire curiosity about life, the world, and a child’s immediate environment. Children must be encouraged to ask questions and never accept anything at face value.
• Opportunities for the kids to engage in art, music, and dramatic play
• An educational program that doesn’t just end with the teachers. Parents must be involved and made to take part in some of the classroom activities.

The Warning Signs of a Bad Preschool Program

When you select a preschool program for your child, you should be aware of some of the warning signs that may prompt you to look the other way. These warning signs include but are not limited to:

• Complaints from other parents. If the school evokes lots of negative reactions from other parents, take that as a red flag.
• Inattention to the rules they have established or installed in place. How keen are they on reporting time, holidays, homework, etc.? Do they adhere to these rules themselves, or is it just a paper thing?
• Any sign that they’re hiding something. Are they averse to the idea of a parent arriving at the school unannounced?
• No learning structure or structure that appears to be too flexible
• Lack of age-appropriate toys and activities
• Underqualified staff
• Large class sizes
• An expired license
• A school that puts so much pressure on a child by putting them on an academic fast-track. Too much homework and unnecessary academic programs.

Type of Preschool Programs to Enrol Your Child in Singapore

Private Preschool

Private preschools operate as independent non-profits, for-profits, or organization-sponsored educational facilities.  They claim an overwhelming majority of preschool enrolment in Singapore. In most cases, they’ll be running as part-day programs.

Public Preschool

These are government or state-funded preschools. Usually, they’re administered by a local school board, but may also be administered by a local contractor that’s paid for by the state. As with private schools, they can operate as a part-day or full-day.

Montessori

Montessori is a progressive, curriculum-based, child-directed learning. It believes in equipping children with hands-on experience. Plus, it lets little ones take the lead, with teachers acting as a guide. The point is to let children learn at their own pace without restricting their movement in the classroom.

Regio Emilia

This preschool program values children as more capable, resilient, and strong. The program was discovered in Italy, and it’s based on a progressive approach. What happens is that the program tries to adapt to the community from which the children are raised. It’s also children driven and more centred on the child’s interest.

Play-based

A play-based curriculum is thought to be the most natural way for children to learn. It utilises different types of plays to teach important life skills to children. The program focuses on independence and sharing, as opposed to following a rigid plan. Children also get to learn through music, sensorial play, and crafts. Essentially, it’s about letting kids be kids.

Waldorf Steiner

Waldorf Steiner focuses on what makes each child unique. It’s about leading the children to a path of self-discovery, where children get to learn through self-initiated plays. Children learn through sensorial experiences, which focuses on letting them explore their environment.

Whole Brain Learning

This mode of learning for preschool kids is based on the right brain + left brain research. It tries to integrate subjects that touch on both sides of the brain to develop a child’s learning capacity fully. Moreover, it recognises results as being as important as the process of learning. Children are taught through music, play, and art for a well-rounded education.

Child Care Centres

Childcare centres cater to working parents or those with a busy schedule. They’re usually open the whole day (from 7 am to 7 pm) for parents to drop off their kids and pick them in the evening when they leave work. Most of them provide meals and snacks to children enrolled with them and may even take them through a learning program.

Anchor Operators

The Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA), an extension of the government of Singapore, came up with the Anchor Operator program in 2009. The scheme tries to fund approved operators of early childhood operators from all across the country. It’s also tasked with the role of regulating these centres, besides providing them with all the resources they might need for the curriculum guidelines.

What to Consider When Choosing a Preschool in Singapore

Here’s your ultimate guide to choosing the best preschool program for your child:

Location

Your priority should be to find the most creative, hands-on, and academically challenging preschool for your child. However, you’ll have to be realistic with the choices you make. Your child will need to be dropped off and picked from school. So, is the school reasonably accessible to you?

Curriculum

Different preschools have different teaching philosophies and methods. While some will emphasise on using a more traditional approach, others will prefer a more flexible alternative that perhaps puts more emphasis on playing and extra-curricular activities. You’ll have to choose a program that resonates with you and your child’s needs better.

Language

Bilingualism has a significant role to play in your child’s success in the future. While some preschool programmes offer a full Mandarin programme, others have run a bilingual programme that may benefit your child more.

School Hours

How many hours is your child willing to stay in school? If they like the school they’ll have no problem spending the whole day there. However, if they’re the type that would prefer to spend their time at home, then you might want to enrol them to a school that runs for a half a day or a few hours.

Learning Environment

Look around for pictures of the school. You can do this by checking out their website or visiting the school physically. Is the school technologically advanced? Do they have a larger playground or space? Remember to also look around for outdoor play areas.

Child-to-Teacher Ratio

How many students does one class accommodate? If one teacher has to attend to a large number of children, that means they won’t have enough time to attend to your kid. Your child needs individualized attention, which can only be achieved when the school has sufficient teachers.

Cost

Don’t overburden yourself by enrolling your child in a preschool that’s beyond your means. Unless you don’t consider money as an issue, you might want to take advantage of the government subsidies offered for some preschools.

Questions to Ask While Touring a School

Before you settle for any preschool, give it a tour and ask all the right questions. We’ve compiled a list of questions to ask the school to find out if it’s a good fit for your child:

Which Philosophy do you Use to Approach Childhood Education?

There are so many philosophies a school may employ in the classroom. You want to find out about this philosophy and research about it before you can go ahead and register your kid — ditto for religious-based programs of the schools. You want to make sure their religious programs align with how you intend to raise your kid.  

How do you Approach Discipline?

The school’s discipline approach must be quite similar to how you approach it at home. It’s all about consistency.

What’s Your Security Measures?

The school should have protective measures in place that work to ensure your child stays safe. Who’s allowed to get into the school? And how’s their pick up and drop off procedures like?

What’s the educational background of the Teachers?

Preschool teachers tend to have different career paths and qualifications. There’s no harm in inquiring about the educational background of the person responsible for teaching your kid.

What’s your student-to-teacher ratio?

The smaller the number of this ratio, the better. Your child could use more attention from the teacher. So, it helps to make sure the school has employed enough teachers.

What’s the School’s Daily Routine?

For this, the school should be able to provide their time table. What you’re looking for is the balance between academics and play. That way, you can start preparing your kid on what to expect at school.

Do kids need to be Potty Trained?

Some schools may offer to help you potty-train your kids. However, some may require you to potty-train them first before bringing them to school. What you don’t want to do is push your child a little too hard. So, you might want to choose a school that’s willing to work with you on this issue instead of putting too much pressure on the child.

What do you Prioritise on?

This question is meant to help you understand the school’s main point of focus.  Are they focused on academics, play, or a mix of both?

What do you expect from me as a Parent?

Don’t wait to be hit by surprises. The school should spell it out in advance. What do they expect from you? How much would they want to see you get involved? Their answer should match the expectations you have.

What do you love most about working with Children?

This should help you understand the teacher and why they chose this career path. In which case, a good teacher is one that’s passionate about kids.

Am I allowed to explore the classroom? And Can I Bring My Child with Me?

Shadowing will help you understand how the school operates and how a typical day looks like for the school. It will also help you determine if indeed that’s the right school for your child.

Any Parent that will be willing to share their experience with you?

You can ask about some of the parents or look around for a parent you know and let them talk about their experience with the school. This could be a neighbour or a friend whose child went through the school program.

The Staff

During the tour,  you have to keep your eye out for the staff that will be interacting with your kid. Find out about the Following:

How the Teacher Interact with Kids

There should be a conversational flow between parents and the kids. One way to tell if the teachers really care about what the children have to say is if they’re willing to get down to the children’s eye-level when talking to them.

Look around for Staff Members that Genuinely Care About Children

Teachers that genuinely care about children will be in all smiles. You’ll see them laughing with kids. There’ll be a lot of interactions going on between them, as well as high-fives, hugs, and encouraging words and kid banter.

Staff who Are Passionate about What they do

You can’t ascertain this from just looking. You have to talk to individual teachers and see if their passion shines through. You can also inquire about the school’s turnover rate. Take it as a good sign when the staff members have many years of working with the school.

Communication

How’s the communication like between the school and the various stakeholders?

Their Communication with Parents

Ask the school’s director about their handbook and communication habits. The handbook must fill in parents on what to expect. Calendars, monthly newsletters, and emails are some of the ways the school may communicate with parents.

Communication Regarding Children

How do teachers communicate with parents regarding their kids? It could be via weekly emails, daily notes, and communication apps. Remember: there’s no right way to handle the communication. What’s important is that there’s an open line of communication between parents and the teachers involved in the lives of their children.

Behaviour Management

Ask the management about the behavioural guidelines of the school. There should be properly spelled, age-appropriate expectations, with clear rules and consequences. Remember to also ask about how the staff teaches children to solve the misunderstanding they have with peers.

Class Schedule

How much time is dedicated to Playing?

Children learn better through play. So, it’s incredibly important that it’s among the things that the school prioritises on. How much time do children have to play? Some schools refer to this as the “choice time” or “centre time.” During this time, children are organised into small groups and made to explore different concepts, like exploring their names, telling stories on wild animals, and engaging in other educative activities.

Varied Group Sizes

Children should have time to interact with each other. Some schools call it the calendar time or circle time. During this time, teachers can share books with different groups or ask them to engage in some sort of play. Even more important is for the children to have one-on-one time with their teachers.

Time to Play

Kids need time to run around, play, ride bikes, climb, etc. outside. This is their time for paling up and making new friends.

Curriculum

A Teaching Plan

A preschool curriculum doesn’t have to be all the same for the whole school. Instead, the school director must understand the needs and goals of each age group and come up with a curriculum that works best for each one of them.

Hands-on Activities

It bears repeating that children learn best through play. The best type of learning for them is where they’re fully immersed. Their learning isn’t restricted to the inside of a classroom. They should be touching blocks, holding books, moving math manipulatives, dancing, listening to music, etc.

Their Learning Should Include all the Details

Music, real pre-writing, arts and crafts, sensory play, science experiments, etc., all this should feature in the learning curriculum. Of course, not all these topics can fit in a day’s schedule. But there should be time for each one of them during the entire course of the week. The point is to focus on well-rounded children.

Top Preschools in Singapore

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