Beginning of last year, I went on a preschool hunt for Dominic.  He was turning 3, and in view of the new addition to the family, we thought it would be a good idea to send him off to school for half a day so that I get a break from have both kids around and just concentrate on taking care of the baby.

Actually, the ‘hunt’ started the year before because we wanted him to start school from January 2004.  But we didn’t really do any research or real hunting.  Instead, we relied on the recommendation from a close family member, and sent Dominic to a Montessori school.

The very day Dominic started school, we received news from the school that they have lost the lease to the premise and would be moving to a new centre which is further away and in a commercial building.  We were very pissed by this and felt cheated because the school could have forewarned us of the possible move when we registered.  We would have taken  that into consideration and might not have enrolled Dominic into that school.

Anyway, because of that, I decided to do my own research and preschool hunt.  That’s when the real hunt began.  Little did I know that there was such a lot to learn, so much confusing information, and such a lot of work just to find a school. 

So here are all the things I have learned through the month long, tedious process.  Hope this will at least shed some light on the preschool ‘industry’ in Singapore and save some work for you.

What is a Preschool?

The broad definition of a preschool in the local context is basically a school that provides structured education in preparation for the formal schooling system (which begins at Primary one).

Playgroup & Nursery

Basically, there are three main ‘creatures’ in the preschool arena – kindergarten, childcare and enrichment centres.  Within these, you will find playgroup and nursery.  In other words, ‘playgroup’ and ‘nursery’ basically refers to the type of classes. 

If you are new to the preschool scene, you can be very confused by all the names that possibly refer to some form of preschool education.  E.g. playgroup, nursery, childcare, kindergarten, enrichment centre, etc.  They seem to mean different thing, yet seem to offer the same thing.