Kindergarten / Nursery with 3 Years?

M

MammaKatia

Registered User
Hi mummies

I need your opinion, recommendation or experience.
I've a 15 month old baby and I was told that I should slowly start to look for a kindergarden as waiting lists are pretty long. I actually don't feel really comfortable with the idea of bringing my daughter to kindergarden already with 3 years. However, I want to give her the best opportunities of education.

1. what is your opinion about this?
2. which English speaking kindergarden would you recommend?

Thanks in advanced for all your comments.
 
When I arrived here I tried my best to resist the pressure of bringing my then 3 year old to a kindy when all I really wanted was for my daughter to play & enjoy her childhood by attending a daycare just like she did back in Australia. But the truth is, we are in HK now & the prevailing culture here is that you enrol them in a kindy. Now if you're the type who doesn't want an academically steeped kindy, you will probably have to look into Montessori, Waldorf or something similar.

FWIW, I am thinking of applying my 15 month old baby to playgroup that will take her all the way to kindy. The only criteria I have is English speaking & close to my eldest daughter's primary school where hopefully my baby can join in a few years

Good luck!
 
Tutor Time and Woodlands are both popular nursery/ preschools in English. Tutor Time is bilingual with Mandarin and Woodlands also has Mandarin options. Woodlands has some montessori classes as well. Wait lists vary, depending on the campus location and how busy each is in any year, so you might want to talk to them about when you should consider signing up to ensure a spot. At Tutor Time they take children unaccompanied from 24 months and I think it is 28 months for Woodlands. Classes are typically around 3 hours. There are also parent/ carer accompanied classes/ playgroups for younger children that are shorter and you can attend just a couple days a week.

Our child is at Tutor Time for now and have been pretty happy with the quality of the facility (big, clean, nice colors for children) and the teachers. Class sizes are small and we get emails from the teacher letting us know what our daughter is class. The emails are detailed enough to explain what she is doing well at and anything she is having a hard time with. Teachers are also available to chat to parents regularly.
 
what is the difference between sending a kid to day care or to nursery in a kindergarten? i mean, other than the educational aspect?
 
The difference is indeed the educational aspect & in a culture where there is academic pressure at an early age, it makes a huge difference all the more.
 
My son is in tutor time and I honestly believe they are really learning through playing. Other than circle times, the kids are free to wonder around the classroom, do activities on tables, read books, play with other kids or just do nothing. No pressure.
At local kindy, kids tend to need to sit at the table most of the time listening to teacher, doing specific tasks, and have homework.
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personally, i have no problem with my kids learning to count and the abc's/colours/shapes at school. it's not like they are under huge pressure in kindergarten...**i say this even though my kids went to a local cantonese kindergarten.

my daughter's day at school:
story time, circle time, english time, play outside in the playground, a little writing.... she's 5.5. she isn't given anything she can't handle. it's not like they give them long division or anything.

oh, and both of my kids have loved, loved, loved going to a local kindergarten.
 
I want my daughter to go to nursery school. Not because I really feel like she needs to start formal education at 2-years-old but I think she really needs the social interaction with children her age. My son went to nursery school at 2-years-old too and it was perfect for him. However, the only nursery school in our area has limited spots. I knew this because I had applied when my son was 1-year-old and was put on a waiting list and never contacted again. So, when my daughter was about 2-months-old we applied for her and guess what? Still there was a waiting list! Only 20 other children ahead of her, though so it might be possible for her to get in. Who knows?

The reality is that this is Hong Kong and if you want your child to be able to go into the local school system best start with kindergarten. I teach in a primary school and I can tell a HUGE difference between the children who have and have not attended kindergarten. There are some very basic skills children learn during their kindergarten days that give them a solid foundation for primary school. My son is almost 5-years-old and in his third year of local kindergarten here. He is writing pages full of Chinese characters and learning to read in English. If he had not attended kindergarten starting when he was 3-years-old, he would be so far behind when starting primary school that he would really be grasping.

I'm not sure about the EMI (English Medium of Instruction) kindergartens in Hong Kong as they tend to feed into the International Schools which have their very own way of doing things. Places in International Schools are limited so if you want your child to have the best shot of getting into one I say the sooner you start preparing him/her, the better.
 
I plan to send my toddler to playgroup at Tutor Time just cause it's conveniently located down the street from us and that I've heard wonderful things about the Tutor Time in Redhill in particular. They offer kindy as well, but it's US$20k per year for 5 days a week! That's another thing to consider...I'll probably switch my daughter to local kindy once she's 3 because personally (and I know some will disagree) I don't think spending that much money on a 3yr old makes sense.
 
Tutor time fees for kindy is about 8k per month so more like 14k a year. I'm not saying it's not expensive but it's prob comparable if not less than in US.
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Biggie said:
Tutor time fees for kindy is about 8k per month so more like 14k a year. I'm not saying it's not expensive but it's prob comparable if not less than in US.
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Still...8K/month seems really crazy to me for kindergarten. I know it's probably "the going rate" but I looked at my son's tuition for his kindergarten and combined with bus transportation we pay $1200 HKD/month. I can't imagine paying 8K! Wow!
 
gotcha beat... we pay $600/month for my girl's kindergarten. she attends whole-day (8am--after we drop brother off at primary school until 4pm). if she were going 1/2 day, it would be free.
 
Sorry I stand corrected. Still USD14K is very expensive to pay for nursery kindy....but is definitely more manageable than 20K per year.
 
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