Interview for pre-nursery school

Gataloca

Gataloca

Registered User
Recently we applied our 14 month old in a pre-nursery school. As they said that they will notify us for an interview on next month, i was just wondering about what kind of things they will ask about. My baby really doesn't have any skill yet.. he doesn't walk on his own yet, doesn't say any real word (he even say Ma-Ma to my helper!), he does some "tricks" but he doesn't always do that... So what kind of things they would consider?
 
Greenville Kids' World International Nursery and Kindergarten, in TKO.... Well, they didn't say what kind of interview... probably is for the parents? still would like to know what kind of things they would look for.
 
Yes, this is quite common in HK. I have been looking at some pre-nursery school in Kln Tong for my son and most website stated that they will hold an interview on march 2012.

I do really want to know what they are looking for in an almost 2 yrs old child.
 
I would think that the interview will be for the parents. If it is an english speaking pre-nursery they may want to see what languages are spoken at home by parents, helper etc. I wouldn't worry too much about it.
 
arleneli said:
Yes, this is quite common in HK. I have been looking at some pre-nursery school in Kln Tong for my son and most website stated that they will hold an interview on march 2012.

I do really want to know what they are looking for in an almost 2 yrs old child.
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We've been to a few of these 'interviews' for the international preschools in Kowloon Tong. They basically want to physically see the child, make sure the child has no major behavioural issues, roughly gauge the communication ability. They may show the child a baby book or toy, play with him/her and ask very simple things such as colours. The interview is also for the parents to clarify some questions they may have (eg. preference for am/pm class) or for the teachers to check the language spoken at home etc.
 
carang said:
interviewing a 14 month old? absolutely, utterly, completely, totally ridiculous!
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Agreed but oh so very normal in HK. I used to work at an "international" kindergarten. We also used to interview 14 month old babies (yes the babies not the parents) and assess them for things that were completely developmentally normal, for example, if said baby put anything in his mouth they were not given a place at the school. If they cried when away from the caregiver, they would not get a place. If they didn't sing to the song or listen to the story they were not given a place... and so on and so forth.

The kindergarten I used to work for is HUGELY popular and has a reputation as being one of the leading kindergartens in HK.
 
Omg, but at 14 months they definitelly cry being away from the caregivers. I would think the child is NOT normal if he or she does not cry. Or is it a popular practice in hk to be separated early? how do you separate them?
 
i agree, it is totally insane. many 14 month olds cannot walk, never mind talk and answer questions! absolutely ridiculous.
 
arleneli said:
Omg, but at 14 months they definitelly cry being away from the caregivers. I would think the child is NOT normal if he or she does not cry. Or is it a popular practice in hk to be separated early? how do you separate them?
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No idea to be honest, but I have to say that there were very few babies who would cry at being separated from the caregiver. Don't forget that parents put themselves under enormous pressure trying to get their child in to a kindy/school so they go to extreme lengths to make sure their baby is 'ready' for interviews. As part of the interview process I had to talk to parents about their expectations for their child (to check if they were realistic or not - mostly not) and you would not believe some of the answers we got for the question : What does your child like to do in his spare time (like they go to work and have spare time....!)? Answers were as varied as: go to the potty, write letters to the government (not a joke!), use a calculator... and so on. I had a Mum tell me her 13 month old child knew her colours and after showing her a crayon and asking her what colour it was, the daughter would say "hummo" which of course meant yellow, and red and blue and purple and green.....
 
Gataloca said:
Greenville Kids' World International Nursery and Kindergarten, in TKO.... Well, they didn't say what kind of interview... probably is for the parents? still would like to know what kind of things they would look for.
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Hi Gataloca - we live in lohas park and just starting to look into pre-nursery in TKO area for our boy next year too, we are surprised to hear of interviews... he is turning one end of this month and i don't think he will pass any!

we would prefer to wait for our little boy to get older to go to kindergarten like Canada, but since I am back at work we think it will be better for him to get to pre-nursery for a few hours instead of spending the whole day with the helper...
 
when my son did his interview for pre-nursery, it was two-fold, one group one which consisted of a 'storytelling' about a tiger's birthday who recieved presents in different colour boxes, and then the children were asked to pick up a certain colour box, and if they could identify the thing within it, a bonus (car, star, etc).

the individual interview was more of identifying apple/orange/banana and then placing shapes in their respective wooden slots. and then the interviewer asked me what we usually do at home, etc
 
blessed said:
Hi Gataloca - we live in lohas park and just starting to look into pre-nursery in TKO area for our boy next year too, we are surprised to hear of interviews... he is turning one end of this month and i don't think he will pass any!

we would prefer to wait for our little boy to get older to go to kindergarten like Canada, but since I am back at work we think it will be better for him to get to pre-nursery for a few hours instead of spending the whole day with the helper...
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Hi Blessed, this is also the reason why I would put my baby in a pre-nursery, cause I don't really know what my helper does with my child whole day. She is from Indonesia, and her English is not good. Once I overheard her when she was showing a picture book to my baby, and she was naming the animals there: "See? tiger, gorilla, elephant, monkey...."... actually she misnamed some of the animals... like there was a hippo on the book, but she called it something else. And some of the animals that she named weren't even on the book! And also, as I mentioned before, my baby calls "Ma" to my helper, and I think the reason is because she responds him when he calls "Ma"... She would say something like "Yes, Ma Ma, yes, Ma Ma".... Once I even heard her saying "Yes, I am coming" when my baby was calling "Ma Ma"... and I was around, so I really got annoyed. I had a conversation with her the other day, and told her not to respond my baby when he is calling for "Ma Ma", and instead, tell him that she is "Che Che". Will tell her later to try to explain to my baby, when I am not around, that Ma Ma is away and will be back soon.
 
And going back to the topic... I don't think my baby would pass either. Really don't know why they would do an interview so early, when the class would start next year. Even if my child cried and looked like trouble now, doesn't mean that he would be like that next year, when he will be 2.
 
My son was around 2-years-old when he had his "interview" for nursery school. He wasn't going to a highly competitive school. We sat with the principal and she asked my son questions in Cantonese and English like, "What's your name?" "Point to your mommy." "What is this?" He didn't do well at all in the interview but he still go into the school.
 
just been through an "interview" today for my 2 yr old for K1 next year

relax! its no big deal , it was more a group playgroup for little 2 year olds, no questions were asked.
 
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