If, like me, you think it's nice to keep your kids at home until they go to Kindergarten, think again.

My daughter has just started Kindergarten and is struggling because she hasn't had experience of the Swiss way of doing things. She doesn't speak much German (because she's always played with English-speaking kids), which is a huge problem in a classroom where all instructions etc are given in German. And she has no experience of having to sit down and be silent and listen to teacher, which is also causing trouble.

So if you think you're being a better parent by giving your children your undivided attention, you may not be. It seems that the pre-school care is geared towards getting the kids up to speed with the skills they are expected to have before they enter Swiss schooling in the Kindergarten.