Any experience with Kiangsu Chekiang local kindergarten?

L

lkho

Registered User
We are considering sending 3yo son to Kiangsu Chekiang kindergarten, local section so that he can learn Mandarin. Any parents with experience/advice? Would like your impressions of the school's teaching staff (how they handle the classroom and students), administration, bus service. Most importantly, how do the children like it? Is the traditional education overwhelming?

Thank you very much.
 
My son went to Starters for nursery, but a year later, we switched him to KCS local section, wanting him to learn Mandarin. The transition was quite smooth, at least much better than we expected. We were worried that KCS might be a bit too traditional in the way they teach when compared to international schools. But it turned out to be just fine. Quite a number of his friends are native English speaking kids. They all seem to love it. It's a happy school.

My son is now 5, attending K3. He is not the best in class, but he can read and write quite a lot of chinese words. They do have more homework than Starters, but it's not like he couldn't handle it. He loves his school and hasn't complained so far. And he truly believes that his teachers and classmates will miss him terribly even if he miss just one day of class.

I am quite satisfied with their teachers. I find them patient and caring. Anything that I am not satisfied? I think they should have more English class time. You only get 1/2 hour of English for half day school and that's quite insufficient. Also, the facilities aren't that impressive. If they could improve on that, then I have no complain.
 
My son is now in KCS (N1). I am just planning to switch him to Starters in the coming September with his (K1). What do you think of Starters (Tai Hang)?

I also want my son to learn more Chinese characters and Mandarin and may let him continue with the K1 at KCS (half session) - whiling spending the other half session at Starters. What do you think? I heard that kids from Starters can have greater chance to get into ESF! Anything you know about it? Much.... appreciated!

Have you heard about "Bambino English Playschool" at Causeway Bay?
 
run4fun said:
My son went to Starters for nursery, but a year later, we switched him to KCS local section, wanting him to learn Mandarin. The transition was quite smooth, at least much better than we expected. We were worried that KCS might be a bit too traditional in the way they teach when compared to international schools. But it turned out to be just fine. Quite a number of his friends are native English speaking kids. They all seem to love it. It's a happy school.

.
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Hi run4fun,
Were your son speak Putonghua when he enrolled the KCS? My daughter (3.5 yrs old with zeroes chinese) has been accepted but I still have some reservation to enroll her in. Concern if the that will freak her out. She was from American International School previously.

Like you say, the school facilities is far from being impressive. But Ms Wong who attended to us and interviewed my daugther gave me a good feels. Not sure abt the other teachers in the school though.
 
In fact, while we were switching him over to KCS, there was a period when I let him attend both. Just to make sure that he is okay before we cut him off startes. He went to starter in the morning and KCS in the afternoon. I have several friends who did the same. For some kids, it could be tiring. But for my son, that was perfect. He got so much energy, and he hopped around until late at night and still complains he is not tired. Attending 2 schools really help to drain his energy. He would go to bed at 8 and wake up at 8. But
very kid is different, and you know your kid the best.

He was very happy then. But as he moved on to the second half of K2, he started having more homework. The 2 school system doesn't leave much time for homework. We wanted him to have fun and be happy, and don't want him to be stressed. And seeign that he has adapted to KCS with no problems, we removed him from Starters.

My younger son is going to Hilltots, the playgroup that is next to Starter (Tai Hang). And I do noticed that some of the really good awesome teachers were no longer there. Afterall, it's been 1 1/2 years since my elder son left that school. My playgroup teacher told me that that teacher for K? (or K1 i can't remember) is execellent. She is from Sweden?, and she is so good good the kids. But I wasn't too impressed with their nusery teacher. Found her has little interaction with kids. May be it was only that day when I visited.

So, I am also shopping for a good English speaking place for my younger son. I probably will do the same half day English K and half day KCS until he is K2.

Wanted to check out Bambino, Letterland and Tinkerbell. What do you all think about those?
 
newbies said:
Hi run4fun,
Were your son speak Putonghua when he enrolled the KCS? My daughter (3.5 yrs old with zeroes chinese) has been accepted but I still have some reservation to enroll her in. Concern if the that will freak her out. She was from American International School previously.

Like you say, the school facilities is far from being impressive. But Ms Wong who attended to us and interviewed my daugther gave me a good feels. Not sure abt the other teachers in the school though.
Click to expand...


My son spoke only English at the timewhen he was first enrolled. I remember a period when my son's teachers told me that if they didn't speak English to him, he would walk straight pass them as if they weren't exist. He would played with English speaking kids, giggled with the other non-English speaking ones. But he would simply ignore all Chinese speaking grown-ups. Because of this, I think the teachers probably spent extra time on him as they need to explain everything to him in English on the side. It didn't take him too long to understand simple Mandarin, but it did took him a while before he tried responding in simple Chinese.

The teachers he had were amazingly patient. They never really pushed him (or me - that's very important! =p ). It's awesome that they actually let him be himself.

Most of the teacher at the kindergarten seem nice, but I don't know all of them well enough. I guess I was lucky to come across several really good teachers. And it was fortunate to have one of his favorite teachers to be somehow in his class from K1 to K3 (either as his class teacher or as the assistant teacher).
 
newbies said:
Hi run4fun,
Were your son speak Putonghua when he enrolled the KCS? My daughter (3.5 yrs old with zeroes chinese) has been accepted but I still have some reservation to enroll her in. Concern if the that will freak her out. She was from American International School previously.

Like you say, the school facilities is far from being impressive. But Ms Wong who attended to us and interviewed my daugther gave me a good feels. Not sure abt the other teachers in the school though.
Click to expand...

Honestly, I could totally understand how you feel now. I felt exactly the same. I had reservation and didn't want to freak him out.

One example that I recalled was - they were required to sit down and pay attention to the teacher (or story) for a short period of time. My son, being the baby of the class and a non-Mandarin speaker, did like that too much. I was worried that he was going to hate school. But it turned out fine. The teacher would carry him (usually the younger ones) on her laps or they would sit next to him to make him feel better.

I must admit that I was concerned and anxious at first. For the first several months I visited the school frequently to make sure that things are okay. I called at times when I couldn't be there. I think communicating with the teachers is extremely important. You need to know and see how your kid is reacting and adapting. Every kid is different and they are all unique in their specialy way. You gotta make sure you and the teachers are with you and know your concern.
 
Hi, run4fun,

Can you tell the name of the patient teacher in KCS?

I'm still puzzling if I'm to send my son to Starters (Tai Hang). What do you think? (Please see my above message)

If you know anything more about Bambino, please let me know.

Thanks,
jmonkey
 
I only have their Chinese names. One of them is Ms. "Li Jing" (in Madarin). She teaches K3B in the morning and K3G in the afternoon.

I think if you aim for ESF, and if maintianing your child's English level is a concern, then go for Starters. I am betting on the fact that I could get my sons in ESF later because I am a graduate of ESF myself. It's not without risk though.

This is the problem for us parents today in Hong Kong. Sending them to a Chinese School, then we have to worry about the kids' English standard. Sending them to International school, and we have to send them to places like "Better Chinese" over the weekends. Can't Hong Kong have happy schools that could maintain the balance without breaking our bank account??
 
Thought those kindies with 50-50 Chinese/English is a better option i.e. Victoria and may be few others that I have not heard of yet. That is my first priority for now. I know the response is typically overwhelming there...
 
Run4fun,

Totally agree with you!

Also, much .... much .... appreciated for your advice! But still, if you know anything about "Bambino", please let me know.

jmonkey



run4fun said:
I only have their Chinese names. One of them is Ms. "Li Jing" (in Madarin). She teaches K3B in the morning and K3G in the afternoon.

I think if you aim for ESF, and if maintianing your child's English level is a concern, then go for Starters. I am betting on the fact that I could get my sons in ESF later because I am a graduate of ESF myself. It's not without risk though.

This is the problem for us parents today in Hong Kong. Sending them to a Chinese School, then we have to worry about the kids' English standard. Sending them to International school, and we have to send them to places like "Better Chinese" over the weekends. Can't Hong Kong have happy schools that could maintain the balance without breaking our bank account??
Click to expand...
 
Most say Victoria is good. But personally I think it is quite commercial. It knows well of what the parents want (rather than those of the kids) and how the parents can and may pay in $$$, and then, tries hard to feed the kids accordingly. I just don't like its commercial kind of "business"!






newbies said:
Thought those kindies with 50-50 Chinese/English is a better option i.e. Victoria and may be few others that I have not heard of yet. That is my first priority for now. I know the response is typically overwhelming there...
Click to expand...
 
hi, just read your post... my son is now in victoria, k1, he was there since pre-nursery. i also sent him to lingnan kindergarten to learn cantonese and he said he prefers victoria. cantonese is mainly for him to be able to speak and understand the language enough for him to get around afterall we're living in hk and indefinitely. he understand alot more cantonese now since he started last sep. we intend to let him continue at lingnan until next summer.

his first language is english and it's important to my husband and i that he knows chinese as my husband who is chinese only speaks english and nothing else. i agree victoria is quite commercial but don't let it bother you too much, i never felt obligated nor had time to deal with it, most of the time, i just ignore them. i'm a working mum, so i hardly had a chance to send him to school and in the process get to know his teachers better. but the teachers are friendly and i can call them after class if i have any concerns re my son. i noticed my son is more willing to speak putonghua with me after he attended victoria although with a little coaxing. the class is half english and half putonghua and right now they are teaching phonics which my son seems to enjoy very much. he always asked me to test him on the phonics, also i'm amaze he is able to recognise upper and lower case alphabets and is able to write most of the alphabets and numbers. i think at the end of the day, it pretty much depends on what we want for our child. for us, the choice of schools are limited as putonghua is a must and there are not many schools we can choose from and much as I like the ESF, it is out of the question as i don't think they are strong in putonghua. so it's either victoria, kiangsu or int'l school and even then there are only a few int'l school with good enough putonghua. We had a choice of victoria or kiangsu but chose the former, a matter of personal preference as we prefer the school environment in victoria vs kiangsu. I recently met a young japanese american lady who was visiting hk, her parent insist she learns japanese while growing up in new york, she hated it then but is now very thankful that her mother did not cave in. she is fluent in both languages and currently living in tokyo and now translate for his mainly japanese speaking mother. Anyways, as long as I’m sure my son is not stress out in school, i’m letting him continue with 2 schools until he goes to k3.
 
Hello to all the mommies out there!!

From what I think, if you really want your children to learn english, you can send them to Starters (Tai Hang). There's a great opportunity for your child to get accept to ESF later on.

run4fun:
The teacher your reffering to is Mrs. Anna of P1. She came back after her vacation in Sweden. Do come and visit the area in your free time. The nursery teacher is Mrs. Alla, she is warm and loving with the children. She is working with Mrs. Jacky, still young but funny, nice , warm and very approachable person. You can trust your children with her. It's all I can say. :agree:
Do try to visit the school. I knew them all cuz my nephew is going there.

One more thing, starters have afternoon classes for Lower KG and Primary 1, it starts at 1:30-400. MWF learning through play session, TTH phonics and they also have mandarin class in a different class, that's every Tues-thurs.

Lastly, I recommend Starters Tai hang. They're very kind and very considerate.:cheerlead
 
Hi, wondering if there is anybody here who is not conversant in Chinese and who is sending their kid/s to Kiangsu & Chekiang's local stream... I'm interested to know how you are supporting your child's studies --i.e., are you hiring an after-school tutor to help out with homework? Do the teachers at K&C give you a brief translation in English of what the homework is so that you can follow up? Do they provide school notices or announcements in English? I really like the idea of sending our son to the local stream so that he can learn Mandarin, but am just concerned that we might not be able to properly help him with homework... All feedback welcome. Thanks! :)
 
Does any of those KG offer bus transportation from Bel-Air or this is too far. I will also like to send my son to a local stream. We are going to be there indefenitely and I will like for him to be able to speak the language ( cantones or mandarin - no preference).

I have posted other threads asking for suggestions with no response...

I have check Victoria but they are not accepting kids for 0607 but I could put him on the waiting list. Same thing with ESF Kindy.

Since I am not working something part time a couple of a days a week will work fine. I just want him to get used to the new language and enviroment.

Thanks
 
Hi Mums out there,

Does Starters offer any Chinese (putonghua or Cantonese) lessons at all? Or do they have a 100% English curriculum?

Besides Kiangsu Chekiang and Victoria, are there any other options for bi-lingual schools?

Also - is it common to send the kids to 2 kindergarten (one for Chinese and one for English)? Will it be too tiring for the kids? I guess for the kids, it is just more play time.
 
I am a Chinese parent and my child will attend N1 at KCS. My child just like the child of you that she doesn't know any Mandarin as we speak Cantonese and English at home. I think most of the Chinese students only know Cantonese so they need time to adapt it. So don't worry, it's a good school to learn Mandarin. If u worry about the English, u can take Internation section in the afternoon and traditional in the morning.
 
Information on Kiangshu and Chekiang

My three year old daughter has been accepted to Kiangshu and Chekiang. We are French. I will arrive in Hong Kong with next May 11th. We will stay there for 3 years.
My husband, whi is already in Hong Kong, quickly visited Kiangshu and Chekiang and found it nice. But they want us to pay the deposit before May 3rd.
I don't know what to do because it is a problem I can't see it before signing up.
My daughter speaks a little bit of English only. Do you think she will like it? Will she not be too much lost? I heard there is one teacher only for 24 pupils. I am afraid if she feels lonely she will not get too much attention.
She has been accepted in the English section but later on I would be happy if she could go also to the morning mandarin section.
Are there many children like her coming from abroad?

Thank you for your reply.

run4fun said:
My son went to Starters for nursery, but a year later, we switched him to KCS local section, wanting him to learn Mandarin. The transition was quite smooth, at least much better than we expected. We were worried that KCS might be a bit too traditional in the way they teach when compared to international schools. But it turned out to be just fine. Quite a number of his friends are native English speaking kids. They all seem to love it. It's a happy school.

My son is now 5, attending K3. He is not the best in class, but he can read and write quite a lot of chinese words. They do have more homework than Starters, but it's not like he couldn't handle it. He loves his school and hasn't complained so far. And he truly believes that his teachers and classmates will miss him terribly even if he miss just one day of class.

I am quite satisfied with their teachers. I find them patient and caring. Anything that I am not satisfied? I think they should have more English class time. You only get 1/2 hour of English for half day school and that's quite insufficient. Also, the facilities aren't that impressive. If they could improve on that, then I have no complain.
Click to expand...
 
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