Search Montessori SG and the prices look random: one centre quotes S$600 a month, the next quotes S$3,950 a term. The gap is real, and most of it has nothing to do with how good the school is. In 2026, full-day local Montessori preschools cluster around S$1,000 to S$2,200 a month before subsidies, while a handful of premium and international Montessori programmes run far higher. The word Montessori is not trademarked in Singapore, so any centre can use it. This guide gives you the verified 2026 fees, the ECDA subsidies that cut the bill for citizen families, and the three questions that separate a genuine Montessori from one that just paid for the signboard.
For a Singapore Citizen child in a typical local Montessori childcare centre, the sticker price for a full-day place in 2026 sits around S$1,000 to S$2,200 a month. After the ECDA Basic Subsidy of S$300 for childcare, a working parent pays roughly S$700 to S$1,900. Half-day and shorter four-hour programmes cost less, and a small number of premium or international Montessori schools sit well above this band.
Montessori is not a price tier of its own. It is a teaching method, and centres that use it range from neighbourhood childcare charging entry-level fees to boutique kindergartens billing by the term. The table below shows the verified 2026 range so you can see where your shortlist lands.
| Centre | Programme | Monthly fee | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Greentree Montessori | Full-day preschool (18mth-6yr) | S$1,950 | AMI-trained teachers; 4-hr option S$1,050 |
| Greentree Montessori | Full-day infant care | S$2,200 | Half-day S$1,800; select campuses only |
| Brighton Montessori | Full-day | S$1,850 | Extended full-day S$2,000; structured, not mixed-age |
| Modern Montessori Intl (MMI) | Full-day | From ~S$1,030 | Own training centre, not AMI; 20+ centres |
| Brainy Child Montessori | Part-week / part-day | From ~S$400 | Flexi 2-5 days; entry-level pricing |
| Pink Tower Montessori | Full-day | S$1,155-S$1,550 | Bilingual; semi-mixed-age classes |
| The Little House Montessori | Term-billed | S$2,750-S$3,950 / term | Bilingual; in-house teacher training |
| Raffles Montessori | Term-billed | S$2,700-S$3,250 / term | AMI-approved materials; arts and music focus |
Headline fees hide how much you actually pay for each hour of care. A S$1,950 full-day place running roughly 21 weekdays a month works out to about S$93 a day, or under S$8 an hour across a 12-hour day. A term-billed kindergarten at S$3,250 a term covers roughly 13 weeks, so about S$250 a week, but those programmes are usually half-day, which changes the comparison entirely.
Before you compare two centres, convert both to the same unit: cost per full programme day after subsidy. A centre that looks cheaper on the monthly line can be the same or more once you account for shorter hours, term breaks you still pay for, and add-ons. Our monthly budget calculator helps you slot the real after-subsidy figure into your household cash flow rather than the sticker price.
Most local Montessori centres are licensed by the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA), which means Singapore Citizen children qualify for the same subsidies as any other ECDA childcare place. The method does not change your eligibility; the licence does.
Every SC child in an ECDA-licensed centre gets the Basic Subsidy. From 1 January 2026 that is up to S$600 a month for full-day infant care and up to S$300 a month for full-day childcare when the main applicant works at least 56 hours a month. Non-working applicants get S$150. On top of that, the Additional Subsidy can stack for lower-income families: up to S$710 for infant care and up to S$467 for childcare, tapering by household income.
The income ceiling for the Additional Subsidy is S$12,000 gross household (or S$3,000 per capita) in 2026, rising to S$15,000 from January 2027 under the 2026 Budget. Permanent Residents and foreigners do not get these subsidies and pay the full published fee, which is why a PR family often pays double what a citizen neighbour pays for the same Montessori seat. We break the full subsidy mechanics down in our childcare subsidies guide.
Three things drive a Montessori fee: teacher training, classroom size, and the materials. A genuine Montessori classroom uses a large prepared environment divided into activity zones, a full set of specialist materials that can run into thousands of dollars, and a guide trained through a recognised body. That overhead lands in the fee. Centres that run a lighter version, with smaller rooms and in-house training, can charge less precisely because they spend less on those inputs.
Location is the other lever. A Montessori place in a central or prime-district shophouse carries rent that a Housing Board void-deck centre never sees, and that flows straight into your monthly bill. None of this tells you the teaching is better. A higher fee buys a particular setup, not a guaranteed outcome, which is why comparing Montessori schools on price alone is the wrong move.
The line item you sign up for is rarely the full cost. Budget for these before you commit, because together they can add a four-figure sum in the first year.
Because the name is unprotected, the signal you want is the training. The two recognised global bodies are the Association Montessori Internationale (AMI), founded by Maria Montessori herself, and the American Montessori Society (AMS). A centre whose guides hold AMI or AMS diplomas is running the method as designed. Many Singapore centres instead train staff in-house or through their own academy, which is legal and can still be good, but it is a different product.
In 2026, centres regularly cited as running authentic, AMI-aligned programmes include Greentree Montessori, Montessori for Children, and Les Oliviers, while Modern Montessori International openly runs its own training centre rather than an AMI one. Inno Montessori markets itself as recognised by the American Montessori Society. Use the body, not the brand, as your filter.
Beyond training, look for the classroom itself. The genuine article has mixed-age groups (so a five-year-old can teach a three-year-old), long uninterrupted work blocks, child-height shelves of self-correcting materials, and no worksheets, grades, or assessment books. If you walk in and see rows of desks, weekly tests, and a single age group, you are looking at a conventional preschool wearing a Montessori label.
The honest answer depends on what you are buying. A 2006 study published in Science found children in well-implemented Montessori programmes did better on early reading and maths and showed stronger social and self-regulation skills than peers. That evidence applies to faithful implementations, not to a centre that borrowed the name. So the premium can be worth it when the training and classroom are real, and is harder to justify when they are not.
Set the cost against the alternative. An MOE Kindergarten charges S$160 a month for citizens and S$320 for PRs, and a place there frees up a large budget for other goals. If you are weighing a S$1,950 Montessori place against a S$160 MOE one, the gap of roughly S$1,800 a month invested over the two preschool years is a meaningful sum; our compound interest calculator shows what that difference grows into if you redirect it. For the broader stage-by-stage picture, see our preschool fees guide.
You do not have to pay full sticker price to give a child a Montessori-style start. A few practical moves cut the cost without gutting the experience.
A typical full-day local Montessori childcare place runs about S$1,000 to S$2,200 a month before subsidy. Singapore Citizen families on the Basic Subsidy of S$300 for childcare pay roughly S$700 to S$1,900. Premium and term-billed kindergartens cost more, and shorter half-day programmes cost less.
Yes, if the centre is ECDA-licensed and your child is a Singapore Citizen. The Montessori method does not affect eligibility; the licence does. You can claim the Basic Subsidy of up to S$300 a month for childcare or S$600 for infant care, plus an income-tested Additional Subsidy. PRs and foreigners are not eligible and pay full fees.
The name is unprotected, so check the training and the classroom instead of the signboard. Ask whether the guides hold AMI or AMS diplomas, whether classes are mixed-age with long uninterrupted work cycles, and whether there are worksheets, grades, or assessment books. A genuine Montessori has trained guides, mixed ages, self-correcting materials, and no tests.
An MOE Kindergarten costs S$160 a month for citizens, far below most Montessori fees. Research supports faithful Montessori programmes for early academic and social outcomes, so the premium can be worth it when the training and environment are authentic. When a centre only borrows the name, the extra cost is harder to justify.
This is general financial information for Singapore, not personal financial advice. Figures change — verify current rates against the official sources above before acting. See our full disclaimer.