What age does pre-school generally start in SG?

[Expat_SP]

Hi All,

I am planning to move to SG in April with my wife and son who will be (20 months in April). Pre-school (and not Daycare) looks like a good way to get him started in a new place and make some friends.

What age do the children start going to pre-school usually in SG? I understand KG begins at 4 and grade I at 6. Is there any requirement for a child to have attended pre-school to be admissible to a KG?

Thanks in advance for the help.

[BedokAmerican]

Preschool isn't mandatory in Singapore, but when a kid goes to school varies on the parents' decisions. It seems that many "schools" will start taking kids at 18 months, others the year they turn 2 or 3. One thing I've noticed from doing research is that many schools allow you to pick from a full or half day. Often a full day is 7am-7pm and a half day is either 7am-1pm or 1pm-7pm. Of course, not every school follows this pattern and you have to get specifics from individual schools.


This link might be of help (hopefully it works):
http://forum.singaporeexpats.com/ftopic97924.html

[Expat_SP]

Thanks. This is really helpful.

[mesmerizedglobal]

My daughter started pre-school at age 3 (playgroup school) only because we wanted her to socialize with other kids (no siblings then). It seems that kids start early here. My daughter is now in Kinder 2 and already reads and writes. I think age 3 is not a bad start because you give the kid exposure to other kids (if he doesn't have that access in the neighborhood) and at the same time learning kid stuff and activities.