Indian kid 2.5 years old - Nursery admission

[rakesh1882]

Hi All,

I am Rakesh from India , came to Singapore in Feb 2014.
I have a kid who is 2.5 years old, he was going to playgroup in India before coming here.

I am currently living in Telok Blangah area, I am looking for a preschool\nursery in near by area when I can get his admission.

I am looking for school\admission with following few things:-

1. Location wise near to my living place
2. Monthly fee in range of 200-300 SGD
3. Primary language English
4. If admission can happen in current term itself, would be good.

I have browsed many thread on this site as well as many other websites but still not finding any option which satisfies above conditions.

Kindly let me know if anyone has any information on this. Thanks in advance

[Wd40]

For 2 1/2 years he will go to play group here also. Here the terms are from Jan to Dec. So next Jan he can start Nursery.

You can search for playgroup chains like Apple Tree, Star Tots etc. Most of them will already be full, but some may have vacancies due to drop out. Fees is around $175 for both apple tree and star tots.

[rakesh1882]

Thank you very much. Apple tree I already have searched, today I will give them a call. another school I will search now. Thanks again.

[BedokAmerican]

A monthly fee of $200-300 is almost unheard of for a drop-off nursery program. Even the government schools for foreigners are much higher than $300.

[Wd40]

There a few private funded kindergartens that are cheaper than the gahmen's kindergartens, especially for foreigners these work out cheaper.

In Tampines there is Hope Kindergarten and the fees is $150 a month for N1,K1 and K2. I think it is 3hrs a day.

http://www.hopecsc.org/

[rakesh1882]

thanks everyone for your responses.

Today I went to one school nearby, that is PCF telok Blangah, it seems to be good and also not very expensive, but they will confirm only by tomorrow if they have seat available.

I tried to reach Apple Tree but no response. I saw on their calendar that its Term Break going on, so dont know could be because of that.

Lets c.....thanks again everyone. if you have any more info plz share. I will keep updated with progress

[rakesh1882]

Hi all,

Some updates and also want your feedback:-

PCF Telok Blanagh school has confirm availability of seat for my kid in N1 and their fee is also in my range.

There is one playgroup in near by and they also have some seats available but in Playgroup, they don't have Nursery and above.

We are thinking of going with PCF where my kid will go into N1, he has already done around 7 months of playgroup in India. But at this stage he can communicate only on Hindi and not in English.

Would it be good for him to join N1 here directly?

[Wd40]

Rakesh, I just had a look at PCF site.

I think in PCF they have Nursery 1, Nursery, K1 and K2.

I think they are admitting your child to Nursery 1 (same as playgroup) and not Nursery

Have a look at these age requirements:

http://www.pcf.org.sg/viewarticle.aspx?wfc=ABOUTPCF

Our kindergartens offer programmes for the following age groups:

•Nursery 1 (in selected PCF Kindergartens only)
Please see the attached list below.

Entry Criterion: 30 months or above (at point of entry)

•Nursery
Entry Criterion: Turn 4 years old (on 1 January)

•Kindergarten 1
Entry Criterion: Turn 5 years old (on 1 January)

•Kindergarten 2
Entry Criterion: Turn 6 years old (on 1 January)

Also look at:

http://www.pcf.org.sg/viewarticle.aspx?wfc=FAQPCFKN


So Yeah you can go ahead and get him admitted to N1 in PCF or admit him to play group in Apple Tree/Star tots etc. Eitherways next year from Jan he will start Nursery.

My daughter is also 2 and half years old and she is going to playgroup star tots since this Jan. Next year she will go to Nursery directly skipping N1.

[rakesh1882]

Hi Wd40, Thank you very much for this information.

I thought N1 is above playgroup and not exactly playgroup.

Generally I have seen many playgroups has entry age as 18 M whereas PCF N1 has entry age 30 months.

So there should be some difference in level of schooling?

[Wd40]

Hi Wd40, Thank you very much for this information.

I thought N1 is above playgroup and not exactly playgroup.

Generally I have seen many playgroups has entry age as 18 M whereas PCF N1 has entry age 30 months.

So there should be some difference in level of schooling?

I asked my wife about it, she has more knowledge as she has plenty of friends with kids of similar age. She told me basically for kids who were born in the beginning of the year after Jan 1st are disadvantage compared to kids who were born towards the end of the year, because they will lose 1 year.

For these kids who were born in like after Jan 1st can do the playgroup and N1 and then Nursery because they wont be allowed into Nursery unless they complete 3 years as of Jan 1st.

For kids who are born towards the end of the year, they can do playgroup from age 2 for 1 year and then from age 3 they are eligible for Nursery directly.

In your case since you are trying to get your kid admitted in the middle of the term, he luckily completed 30 months and is now eligible for N1 but in Jan of this year he wouldn't have been eligible. So you can choose either. Both N1(which is pre nursery) and play group are similar, all they do is make them play with other kids. At home my wife is teaching my daughter A-Z, 1-10 etc. You will have to do the same.

Dont worry about him not being able to communicate in English, boys are slower than girls. My wife was telling in her play area group of friends there are boys who are 3 years old and cannot even talk, any language.

[rakesh1882]

hi again, thank you for providing much needed info.

I am visiting school again tomorrow and will see what is their curriculum for N1.

regarding language, he speak and like to talk very much but my concern is he cannot talk in english as of now so may be he would feel out of circle when he try to interact with other kids. though over the period it should be okay.