Choosing the Best Preschool in Singapore: Insights from 15 Tours

Hey Mummies (and Daddies)! I’m Elissa, a first-time IVF mummy to a super active 15-month-old toddler girl 🌟 The journey to find the best preschool in Singapore (okay in my estate) for my little girl has been nothing short of an adventure. Starting when my baby was just 8 months old, I embarked on a nine-month-long mission, touring 15 different preschools. Friends warned me about the long waitlists, and while I believe that’s more relevant for infant care (IFC), I still felt the pressure to get a head start. Little did I know that this journey would take me through a range of experiences and insights that I’m excited to share with you.

This article aims to help other parents navigate the process of choosing a preschool, offering insights from my tours and key factors to consider in Singapore’s preschool landscape. The best preschool in Singapore for your child will depend on your priorities, and while my criteria might differ from yours, I hope these insights will guide you in finding the perfect fit for your family.

What Factors to Consider When Choosing the Best Preschool in SG?

As you begin your search for the best preschool in Singapore, here are some key factors you might want to keep in mind. At least these were some of the main things I started looking out for:

• Curriculum and Teaching Style: Different schools offer different philosophies, such as Montessori, Reggio Emilia, play-based, or academic-focused. Each caters to varying learning styles, so it’s essential to consider what works best for your child.
• Class Size and Teacher-to-Child Ratio: This can significantly impact your child’s experience. A smaller class size often means more personalized attention.
• School Environment and Facilities: Safety, cleanliness, and space for outdoor play are essential for a child’s development. These can vary widely between schools.
• Bilingual Programs: In a multilingual environment like Singapore, some parents prioritize bilingual immersion. Be sure to ask about the school’s approach to teaching languages.
• Location and Proximity to Home: Convenience matters, especially with daily drop-offs and pick-ups.
• Budget: Preschools in Singapore range quite widely in price, so finding one that fits within your budget is crucial.
• Parent Feedback: Talking to other parents to get a sense of their experiences helps you form a more well-rounded assessment of the preschool from the inside.

My Process of Looking for The Best Preschool in Singapore

Not sure how to get started on looking for the best preschool in Singapore for your little one? Let me start by sharing my personal process:

1. Listing down Preschools near home/workplace: Using the LifeSG app to help figure out what preschools are nearby
2. Start researching: For schools within an acceptable vicinity, I start looking online for reviews, recommendations, and more details on the preschool websites.
3. Create a shortlist: Narrow down some options based on the basics – preferred location, curriculum type, and budget.
4. Book preschool tours: Visit the schools to see the facilities, meet the teachers, and observe the environment.
5. Ask key questions: Inquire about curriculum, teacher qualifications, class size, safety protocols, and teacher-to-child ratio. But particularly focus on your priorities. ( Check out my article: Questions to Ask On A Preschool Tour for more details)
6. Review fees: Look at tuition, additional costs (uniforms, enrichment, excursions), and other hidden fees.
7. Trust your instincts: Pay attention to the school’s vibe and how comfortable you feel with their approach. There were several schools where I immediately felt the vibe was off within minutes of entering the school’s premises (I elaborate more below!)
8. Talk to parents: Seek feedback from current or past parents to get insights into the school’s environment.

In my case, after I went through steps 1-8 for my first batch of schools on the shortlist and still unfortunately did not find my IDEAL preschool that fulfilled all my criteria (see subsequent sections which will cover in detail), I had to go back to step 1 and expand my search radius.

What is A Typical Preschool Tour Like?

Once you’ve gone through steps 1-3, here’s a little heads up on what you can expect next – Preschool tours! Preschool tours are an excellent opportunity to get a feel for the school beyond what’s written on their website. I highly recommend you find some time to do at least a few to get a better sense of the environment you’ll be sending your little one to.

Here’s how to go about it and what to expect:

1. Register online: Usually registration forms are available on the preschool website, otherwise you can try calling their hotline and asked to be directed. After which they will contact you to arrange a suitable date for a tour. Note some schools do not do school tours at all.
2. During the tour: You’ll likely be shown around by the principal or centre director, who will walk you through the different facilities and explain their curriculum. I recommend scheduling the tour during school hours so you can observe how teachers interact with the children and get a sense of the overall atmosphere. Be sure to ask plenty of questions! I’ve created a list of essential questions to ask on a preschool tour here.
3. At the end of the tour: You’ll often receive information about fees and administrative details.

How Long Does a Preschool Tour Take?

Usually for me, a typical preschool tour takes about 30minutes to 1 hour – depending on how interested I am in the school as the tour progresses. If I’m more interested, I might be asking more questions and hence taking more time. If not, I’ll just go through the tour quietly and leave quickly.

Here Are The 15 Preschools I Visited (In alphabetical order)

As I mentioned before, my search started with 8 preschools on my shortlist. I was visiting them at a pace of about 1-2 per week. Unfortunately I didn’t manage to find one that was suitable – either I did not like something about the school, or the school fees were too high.

So I continued my search with another 7 more schools after expanding my search radius. In this process, I learnt to pace myself to do only 1 tour per week so I don’t exhaust myself. Fortunately by the end of it, I found THE preschool for my little one.

These are the various preschools that I had the opportunity to tour around:

• Carpe Diem
• Learning Vision (2 different branches)
• Maplebear
• Mulberry
• Small Wonder (2 different branches)
• Sparkletots (3 different branches)
• Sunflower Preschool
• The Schoolhouse
• Montessori Preschool A*
• Montessori Preschool B*
• Nature / Play based Preschool C*

*Certain school names are not shared to protect my privacy.

What I Learned from Going on 15 Preschool Tours in Singapore

Here’s what you clicked in for! While I won’t spill the tea on individual schools (everyone’s experience is different!), here are some MAJOR green flags and red flags I encountered along the way. So here’s what you can look out for on your preschool tours and form your own opinions:

The Good (Green Flags):

• Happy and Confident Children: A preschool full of smiling, enthusiastic kids is always a positive sign. Children who feel comfortable and happy in their environment are more likely to thrive. On the flip side of the coin, I’ve also visited preschools that just gave off bad vibes – MANY crying kids, or worse totally silent kids.
• Clean and Tidy Environment: Cleanliness is key in any school, but especially for preschools. I also particularly loved visiting places where tidiness seemed to be a natural part of the routine because I feel like it will instil a good habit into my little one. While I understand that with little kids messiness is inevitable, after visiting 15 different preschools, it’s clear that some schools do it much better than others.
• Daily Outdoor Play: Outdoor time is crucial for little ones. I appreciated schools that offered daily outdoor activities, allowing kids to explore and burn off energy. Unfortunately not all schools, especially those in office building environments are able to offer children that.
• Montessori Elements: I’m a fan of Montessori’s independent learning philosophy, so schools incorporating these principles ranked highly for me. In fact, I started reading up more about it after visiting Wharton Preschool and learning about it from the school tour – an example of how going on the preschool tours helped to open my eyes.
• Spacious Classrooms: I felt more comfortable in preschools with large, open classrooms. For my little one who loves to explore, having ample space is essential.
• Hygiene Protocols: Schools that sanitized their equipment regularly stood out for me. Schools that had a strict protocol of keeping sick kids away from school also wins a thumbs up from me. While I understand some schools have laxer protocols to accommodate working parents, unfortunately that’s a red flag for me (as a SAHM).
• Creative Teaching Approaches: Though not my top priority for Playgroup (PG) level, I appreciated schools with fun and engaging teaching methods.

The Bad (Red Flags):

• Disorganized Registration Process: One school was particularly bad at scheduling tours and had an inefficient administrative process. It was frustrating and off-putting I did not even bother with the tour in the end. DM me on Instagram if you want tea on this particular preschool – there’s so much I have to say about them – They are not on my list in this blog post because I did not want to give them ANY attention at all!
• High Student Count: Some schools felt overcrowded, which I found concerning in terms of individual attention and the spread of germs.
• High Teacher Turnover: This is a significant red flag for me. Schools with frequent teacher changes might not provide a stable environment for your child.
• Worn Out Materials: I was disappointed when I saw worn-out learning materials. To me, it suggested a lack of effort in maintaining the environment or that the teachers’ were overworked to the extent they could not maintain the environment – bad signs in both cases.
• Language Barriers: While I don’t expect perfect English, I did come across some teachers and staff whose language skills were concerning. Kids pick up language quickly, so it’s essential that teachers set a good example.

The Unexpected:

• Hidden Costs: Be prepared for extra costs like uniforms, sleeping cots, field trips, and enrichment classes. These aren’t always mentioned upfront.
• Varied Experiences Between Branches: As per my experience, different branches of the same preschool chain can be very different. The quality of staff and facilities can vary significantly, even though they follow the same curriculum.
• Encouraging Parent Involvement: To my surprise, some schools actively encourage parents to visit and explore the school during drop-off or pick-up times, fostering a family-like environment. A huge plus in my books 🙂

My Preschool Criteria & Final Decision

After visiting so many schools and narrowing down my top priorities, I finally found the preschool that checked all the boxes for me:

• Low student count
• Low teacher turnover
• Clean and hygienic environment
• Montessori elements (not a huge part of the curriculum but touched on daily)
• Daily outdoor play

I’m glad to say after 15 different school tours, I finally found the preschool that fits all the above criteria! Even more fortunately, I managed to arrange a simple session for my little one to join the PG class for a short trial session and explore the school premises thanks to the very kind and accommodating principal! Seeing my little one enjoy herself, gave me the confidence to put down the deposit! Now I’m just looking forward to her entering PG next year!

So…which is the best preschool in Singapore?

Choosing the best preschool is a highly personal decision. As a parent, trust your instincts, take your time, and ask the right questions during your preschool tours. The best preschool in Singapore isn’t necessarily the most popular, expensive or the even one your good friend /neighbour recommends —it’s the one that feels like the right fit for your child and family. Keep your priorities in mind, and you’ll find a place where your little one can thrive.

Happy preschool hunting!

Find this article useful? Do help share this article with your fellow mummy and daddy friends and spread the love! It’s not easy putting all this information together and I do hope for more to benefit from it! Check out more toddler related articles here: