Help: moving to hong kong - looking for a nursery for my 18 month old baby boy

T

tali_b

Registered User
hey guys...
we are moving to hong kong with our 18 month old baby boy. we'll be living in the mid-level central area, and outside of reading genral information about hong kong, we are utterly clueless. we'll appreciate every infomation you can give us about english speaking nurserys in the area (preferable western nurserys). information about nanny agencys (again, preferable agency who provides english speaking western nannys) will be very helpful.

thanks,

Tali
 
We live in the mid-levels, too. Our 2-year-old daughter has been going to Woodland Mid-Levels Montessori Preschool since she was 18 months old. It's located on Caine Road. They offer 3 sessions (8:45-10:30, 10:45-12:30 and 1:45-3:30) and you have an option of 3 sessions per week (Mon, Wed & Fri) or 2 sessions a week (Tue & Thu). Another school on Caine Road is Tutor Time. Sorry I don't have much information on it.
 
an english speaking western nanny will set you back about $30,000/month.

a full-time, live-in foreign domestic helper (usually from the philippines/thailand/indonesia/sri lanka) has a minimum wage of $3740 (?) and a food allowance of $775 (?). of course, you can pay more than that if you like.
 
bonita said:
We live in the mid-levels, too. Our 2-year-old daughter has been going to Woodland Mid-Levels Montessori Preschool since she was 18 months old. It's located on Caine Road. They offer 3 sessions (8:45-10:30, 10:45-12:30 and 1:45-3:30) and you have an option of 3 sessions per week (Mon, Wed & Fri) or 2 sessions a week (Tue & Thu). Another school on Caine Road is Tutor Time. Sorry I don't have much information on it.
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do you know how much they charge in woodland for a long day at their pre-school?
 
Also, an 18 month old will need to be accompanied by a parent, nanny or maid/ domestic helper to preschool classes at Woodlands or TT.
 
elle said:
Also, an 18 month old will need to be accompanied by a parent, nanny or maid/ domestic helper to preschool classes at Woodlands or TT.
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what's the point of enrolling him to pre-school if I need to accmpany him??? the all purpose was that I'll have a few hours for myself... isn't there a pre-school without unreasonable whims?
 
Most schools won't take kids unaccompanied until they are two yrs old. And tuition for the "intentional" ones are about hk$8000 a month for 5 days of 3 hr each for 2 years old plus.
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tali_b said:
what's the point of enrolling him to pre-school if I need to accmpany him??? the all purpose was that I'll have a few hours for myself... isn't there a pre-school without unreasonable whims?
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That is just how things are done here. If you want a few hours to yourself, you'll need to do what other expats do - hire a full time domestic helper who can help with childcare, or get a nanny. There are also a few babysitting services around, but not many with English speaking sitters.

Once your child is two unaccompanied preschool is an option.
 
these are NOT whims of the pre-school. any school offering classes for children under the age of 3 (no parents) must register with the education dept AND also the social services dept (as a child-care centre).

you are moving across the world. you need to expect things to be different to how they are done where you are from. (that's half the fun of living overseas!)
 
Like others said, they don't have daycare centers like they have at home (Europe / US). You hire a helper a live-in helper (living out is illegal but it does happen) to do that job, among the other things she can do for you (cooking, cleaning, etc.). Then most preschools start taking them from 2 years unaccompanied for 3 hours a day. Popular ones are Woodlands, Sunshine House, Tutor Time, etc.
 
Day care in Hong Kong is rare for young babies/ toddlers, as most working women hire a domestic helper to care for their newborn, and go back to work shortly after the birth. They then place the baby in these two hour sessions, once the helper or Mommie can accompany the growing toddler.

I would suggest applying now for September, for the kindergarten/ nurseries that appeal to you. The places are already allocated for this coming academic year, but I have no doubt that some will consider late applications.
http://www.chsc.hk/kindergarten/

The following kindergartens seem to have nurseries which I believe may be suitable for your baby's needs.

Would you consider local cantonese day care? If so, the following organisation, and the supervisor/ headmistress of the school is superb, in my opinion.

CARITAS NURSERY SCHOOL - KENNEDY TOWN
FLOOR 2, BLOCK A, 1/F (PORTION), M1/F (PORTION) &, 2/F OF BLOCK B, CARITAS SOCIAL CENTRE KE, 27 POKFIELD ROAD, KENNEDY TOWN, HONG KONG

CARMEL SCHOOL (Jewish Hebrew School)
FLOOR 3&4, 70 ROBINSON ROAD, MID-LEVEL, HONG KONG

Best of luck!
 
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