Pre-school fees

[tankee]

IMO


Every school is different, can’t just compare how much they charge. There are a lot of other factors to consider too. Ultimately, is whether we parents feel we are getting value for what we pay.

[micollh]

im paying abt 300 for nursery level.after the working mother subsidy…

[Brenda10]

Last time, I put DD at NTUC childcare and remember paid less than $300 after government subsidy.


We let her attended the phonics class (arranged by the childcare) and engaged a Chinese tutor at K2 to teach her HYPI. She also attended abacus
Class at RC.

In addition, we bought one set of cd that can learn EL and Maths during her K1.

Btw, she is at P6 now and we don’t encounter much learning problem durung these few years.

[KZYPmum]

nicolenonis:

Hi everyone!


I am actually curious about parents view on present pre-school fees. In the past it used to be more affordable. Now when i look at the prices, it cost nearly $2000.00 per term and that is like 4 months right? So I will be paying lets say... $6000.00 per year. Just a rough guage.

May i ask what are some of your views on this topic?

Would you spend that amount on pre-school? Or do you think somewhere less expensive would be good enough and that these expensive one are just overcharging? (Like how branded goods are almost earning 100% profit)

Hornestly, I would send my kids to the $2000.00 pre-school. Curriculums in those Pre-school seems good. Though of course I would not totally depend on school to bring up my young precious

Parents love their kids and would definitely want to be very sure of how well your precious babies are taken care of while you are away.

I would just like to know what are some parents opinions on this matter

Hmm... $2000 per term of 4 months is expensive? That's $500 a month which is nowhere near the $1100 for chiltern house per month, if you are talking abt high end half day pre-schools (as compared to full day childcare).

Personally, whilst i agree with most of the comments that there is no need to break the bank to pay more than $1000 per month for half day pre-school, there is actually quite a strong correlation at the preschool level between price and quality.

Taking childcare as comparison, the teachers at a $1300+ per month childcare are very very different from those working at a $400-500 per month (both before subsidy) childcare.

The way they speak English (am not looking for perfect queen's english here, not talking abt accent, just basic grammar so that you don't have to undo all the harm done to the child's english in future), the way they control discipline in the class (i can overhear yelling and screaming as I walk past some centres), the cleanliness of the centre (no point sending yr kid to childcare if they are going to get sick for at least one week every month), the student-teacher ratio (some kids can get bitten by others and no teacher even noticed)...

Parents are held to ransom because the child care sector is not regulated enough. Operators make the most money out of parents and the teachers are mostly paid peanuts. this needs to change.

[ConcernedDaddy]

I am paying 500 a month after subsidy for Cherie Hearts currently. It is a new school which just opened though. But my kid gets to enjoy the brand new facilities as well as a nice big indoor playground. Went for their orientation and their teachers are experienced.To me, that is value-for-money without breaking the bank.


Around that school, there are a few new schools opening as well but they quoted me 900 after susbidy! What perplexed me is that they were branding themselves as upcoming "top range premium" childcare with overseas branches opening etc. Looks nice and swanky from outside and there was certainly plenty of marketing talk. When i visited their interior, I was disappointed that their playground area were tiny, severely inadequate and safety protection were not even installed!

Here’s my take. While generally true, high fees does not equate directly to quality. Parents should be discerning to observe for themselves what they are paying for. I want good quality so I am prepared to pay more than the entry level 300+. My personal budget is 1K max for preschool, but most importantly, I want to feel that the fees I spent goes to benefit my child directly in the form of better and safer facilities, more toys and play aids etc. Definitely not to fund marketing/branding, nice swanky exteriors (but average quality interior facilities) or overseas expansion etc etc.

[phtthp]

hi ConcernedDaddy,


may i ask which new Cherie Heart branch childcare is this ? what kind of enrichment(s) in the afternoon after kids' nap time (around 1 pm -3 pm) & after tea break, from 3.45 pm onwards ? do they have Montessori Maths as an afternoon enrichment in their list ?

Thanks!

[ConcernedDaddy]

The school is at Bishan/AMK. Here's their website

http://www.cherieheartsnurtureloft.com.sg/about.html

My kid is in playgroup only, so I am not sure if they are offerring enrichment classes for the higher levels yet. I think all Cherie Hearts do not do montessori maths though, but I could be wrong there.

[DesertWind]

ConcernedDaddy:

I am paying 500 a month after subsidy for Cherie Hearts currently. It is a new school which just opened though. But my kid gets to enjoy the brand new facilities as well as a nice big indoor playground. Went for their orientation and their teachers are experienced.To me, that is value-for-money without breaking the bank.


Around that school, there are a few new schools opening as well but they quoted me 900 after susbidy! What perplexed me is that they were branding themselves as upcoming \"top range premium\" childcare with overseas branches opening etc. Looks nice and swanky from outside and there was certainly plenty of marketing talk. When i visited their interior, I was disappointed that their playground area were tiny, severely inadequate and safety protection were not even installed!

Here's my take. While generally true, high fees does not equate directly to quality. Parents should be discerning to observe for themselves what they are paying for. I want good quality so I am prepared to pay more than the entry level 300+. My personal budget is 1K max for preschool, but most importantly, I want to feel that the fees I spent goes to benefit my child directly in the form of better and safer facilities, more toys and play aids etc. Definitely not to fund marketing/branding, nice swanky exteriors (but average quality interior facilities) or overseas expansion etc etc.

Agree.
:goodpost:

[DesertWind]

KZYPmum:

Hmm... $2000 per term of 4 months is expensive? That's $500 a month which is nowhere near the $1100 for chiltern house per month, if you are talking abt high end half day pre-schools (as compared to full day childcare)......

That's right!

My ideal budget is about SGD700-800 per month (before or after subsidy is OK). For this, I am looking at the mid-range child-care centres and higher-end kindergartens. There is a difference in the number of hours hence the child-care centres are expected to be priced higher comparatively speaking.

While there is (or should be) some correlation between the price and quality, this is not always the case hence parents must know what we are paying for. Do we know what we are paying for while shopping for a pre-school? Izzit the large premises regardless of indoor or outdoor? Izzit the quality of the teachers, class size, teacher/children ratio, or enrichments?

For me, I feel nowadays parents are looking for HIGH ENGAGEMENT of their kids and that is where they are willing to pay if they think their kids will be more involved, have fun and learn much in the process. Conversely, compared to the most basic one-way teacher to children teaching in a traditional kindergarten for 2-hrs and then go home. There is not much of other stimulation or engagement of the kids otherwise hence fees should be low.

For those charging high school fees, naturally parents' expectation will go up. If I find that the above mentioned areas are not up to my expectation, then I will not just pay blindly. Basic things like safety can even be compromised and that is straightaway out for me.

Like what ConcernedDaddy said, if one can find a pre-school charging around SGD500 (after subsidy) with good, clean, nice environment and good teachers, that is really value-for-money!
:celebrate:

[ConcernedDaddy]

wow…hot topic.


When the top schools blatantly keep increasing prices due to strong demand, every other average school will try to emulate their marketing strategy and rebrand themselves as "premium". Daddies and mummies… be discerning and spot the important areas from marketing hype.

A case in point. During first day parents/child orientation, I commented to the director that my son’s class has a set of very interesting big plastic building blocks (think lego bricks X 10 times larger). It was different from the other schools I visited where all ages play with the standard type wooden blocks. The school director explained that she felt those plastic bricks are much lighter and safer for the younger kids in playgroup. Wooden blocks can surprisingly be dangerous as the young ones are not as dexterous yet with their hands nor do they know how to control their strength properly yet. However, those bricks are not available in Singapore so she had to pay a lot more to import them for her younger classes. Well, I thought the director might be a tad too paranoid but her attention to detail and safety is really much appreciated. Not that I am expecting my child to be totally accident-free during school (kids are kids anyway - DS runs around a lot), but it gives me great comfort that the school has actually quietly invested in the important areas to try to minimize the probability of accidents.