any suggestions for my son's pre-school?

[Abethski]

Hello! We're moving to Singapore by January 2003 and  I have been going through the internet looking for a "nice" pre-school for my 3 year old son.

So far, the schools that have caught my attention were Cambridge, Kinderland and EtonHouse.  Any experiences from these schools? And any other suggestions? We are Asians but would not discount the possibility  of having our son enrolled in an international school as long as Mandarin is offered in its curriculum.

I have also read in some of the posts here that local schools seem to be "stricter" with  their students.  Is this true?  And can foreigners get into the local schools?

Thanks.  

[HaileysMom]

We send our 2 1/2 year old to Children's World & they seem to meet all your criteria. They are lcated off Upper Bukit Timah. The school is run by a Harvard educated principle. It is very clean & the teachers all speak perfect English. They offer Mandarin twice per week & are expanding their program. If you look through some of the other threads here, you will find more helpful info, too.

[buttman]

Hi Abethski,

You sent me an email with the subject "Questions, questions about Singapore", but when I clicked on it, it said something about the mail having "expired". Perhaps you can send it again?

buttman
(jomar@mailcity.com)

PS - perhaps you can send a copy to my wife's email address at jfi13@mail.com, just in case there's something wrong with my email account.

[Trillian]

Hi Abethski,

Here's another preschool that you can check out: www.learningvision.com

They have quite a few schools around the island, offers Mandarin classes daily, and some of their branches have a mix of local (70%) and international (30%) students (e.g. the one over at Arthur Road).

[This message has been edited by Trillian (edited 21-08-2002).]

[etonhouse mum]

My children have been at EtonHouse for 3 years now and am very happy with them - however, you need to register early - the kindergarten is full!

[Abethski]

Thanks for all your replies. I think it would be best to visit the schools personally so that I can have a better idea of what they really offer.

Is it better if I bring along my son when I visit the schools?

Buttman, I re-sent my email to you and your wife's email address but the one I sent to your wife's email address returned to me. Hope my mail gets thru your email address this time.  

[address]

Hi HM,
Can you post the contact details of Children's World ? Couldn't find the one you are referring to in yellowpages.com.sg

[Padden]

My two boys (ages 5 and 2) have been very happy at Eton House's Newton location.  The older one was enrolled this year in their "Pre-SAP" program, which is a bilingual English/Chinese program--English in the morning, Chinese in the afternoon.  We would highly recommend this school.

[stephg]

my 3.5 yo son is Chinese/Australian and is very happy at Sams Early Learning Centre, in River Vallery Road, where he's been since he was 18 months.

The school has Mandarin classes, takes children from 18m to 6 years, and has a very broad range of nationalities, from Singaporean, to Japanese to Caucasian.

Some of the expatriate schools can be quite insulated from the rest of Singapore and, if you are planning to be here for any length of time, it may be better for your child to experience a bit of "real life" by mixing with local as well as expatriate children.

I have noticed that even at 3.5, my son has lost 2 friends, whose families were transferred to other postings. It was very distressing for him and hard to explain to such a young child. Thank God he has some local friends who won't be going anywhere in a hurry!

Something to think about!
Stephanie