We make choosing a preschool for your child simple with a checklist of what to keep in mind when doing so.
Singapore currently has over 1000 childcare centres, more than 500 kindergartens and several playgroup centres. With such diverse options, how do you choose the “best” preschool for your child? There’s no need to be overwhelmed when you know what you and your child need from a preschool education. Here’s a checklist of what to keep in mind when choosing a preschool for your child.
Type of Preschool
Based on your child’s age and your work arrangements, you can decide which type of preschool might work well for you and your child.
Child Care Centres provide full-day and half-day care programmes to children below the age of 7. This is a good option for mummies who are working full time and need reliable care services, but at the same time, are looking for developmental early childhood programmes.
Kindergartens provide a structured 3 to 4 year preschool education programme for children aged 3 to 6, covering Nursery 1 & 2, Kindergarten 1 and Kindergarten 2. Kindergartens function daily, 5 days a week, with schooling hours ranging from 3 hours to 4 hours each day. Some also offer full day programmes.
Playgroups offer toddlers their first experience of formal learning through structured play-based programmes. Most playgroups function 5 days a week, and programmes usually last about 3 hours per class. For parents with children below the age of 3, and with home care support, playgroups are a great way to let your child experience communal learning without the need to spend long hours at “school”.
RELATED: The difference between preschool and primary school
Set your search criteria when choosing a preschool
After deciding on the type of preschool you need, you need to know if you would prefer the preschool to be near your home or workplace, what your budget is and at what age you want your child to start preschool.
Do your research
Based on the criteria above, do a search for childcare centres on the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA’s) Child Care Link portal (www.childcarelink.gov.sg), or kindergartens on Preschool Connect portal (www.preschool.edu.sg).
All childcare centres in Singapore are licensed by the ECDA for 6, 12 or 24 months. Childcare centres are subject to a rigorous licensing assessment. Those that receive a 24-month licence tenure are of excellent quality as they have exceeded the minimum licensing requirements.
To better gauge if your chosen preschool is of good quality, check if it has got the Singapore Preschool Accreditation Framework (SPARK) mark. SPARK is a quality assurance framework introduced to raise the quality of preschools in Singapore.
More on the practicalities of choosing a preschool for your child on the next page.
The post The ABCs of choosing the best preschool for your child appeared first on Singapore Parenting Magazine for baby, children, kids and parents.