when start schooling?

[a mum]

I wonder what age people start sending their kids to preschool/nursery here? I have a 12 month old. Do I need to start planning. I am new in Singapore and have no clue how and where to start? Any good recommendations near east coast?

[SAE]

You should start schooling as if you were in your home country.  If you are from Britain, nursery starts at 3 years old and before then you and your little one would attend a playgroup together maybe twice a week.  If you are from Germany, its playgroup until 6-7 years old and only then formal schooling starts.  If you are from SA, then its playgroup at about 4 years old and then formal schooling at about 7 years.  It depends on what you want and how you feel.  12 months is pretty young though so perhaps just a mum and tots group like at St Georges / Rosemount and see how that goes from there.  Welcome to Singapore.

[NMS1]

Basically it's a choice based on your own preferences and your circumstances. I work full-time but was lucky enough to have my m-i-l around to look after my daughter when I went back to work. We started her off for half-days at nursery just before she turned two mainly because she was spending very little time with other children as she was at home all day and I was also concerned about her picking up some strange English being at home with my m-i-l and our maid all day. She has just moved to full-time this year at the age of four partly because she was getting less attention at home since her little brother arrived last year (and another one is due any day) and was spending too much time in front of the TV and partly in order to reduce the burden on my in-laws & maid when the baby arrives.

We will probably start her brother off at nursery early next year when he is about the same age as that seemed to work out well for her. She became less timid as a result and her language skills improved a lot. It does depend on the child - some aren't ready at that age and if they have regular contact with other children of their own age that may be just as good.