Children as young as six years old are attending short, specialised courses to help them make the transition to primary school. These small-group lessons introduce topics and concepts taught in Primary 1 and clear misconceptions children may have before they enter primary school.

Learning Studio Asia, for example, has been offering Primary 1 preparatory lessons since 2014.

Its co-founder, Ms Aisyah Jumari, said its English and maths preparatory courses are held during the year-end holidays to keep the "momentum" of graduating kindergarten children , and help them enjoy their learning process.

Elsewhere, Learning Journey Education Centre has been providing a similar programme for subjects such as English, Chinese and maths since 2012. For instance, children learn about sentence construction and grammar rules in the English preparatory lessons, while those in maths classes are taught number patterns and problem sums, among other things.

The centre's founder, Ms Grace Tan, said parents are worried that their children may be unable to cope with primary school.

"It's a good time for children to catch up on concepts or areas of weaknesses," she added. "Rather than spend time on their iPads, these kids might as well learn something useful."

Calvin Yang