intl or local kindergarden ?

C

cybabe

Registered User
Hi all,

Any idea what kind of school shall I send my daughter to? Im from HK and my hubby is english , we want our gal to read n write also speak canto, for my observe... at the moment she only interesting in English ,she is now 23mnths old still not be able to speak full sentence yet. We thinking to send her to intl one but also worry she miss the chance to learn chinese , any idea ?
 
she will miss the chance, you are right. chinese is not a language that you can just "pick up" down the road, at least not from my experience.

although i don't agree with the teaching methods at SOME local kindergartens nor at most primary schools, we have found one that we are extremely happy with. my son LOVES going to school, so much we have decided to enroll him in fullday next year (he'll be 4.5 in september).

i have every intention of enrolling my daughter in the same school when she's old enough.
 
I must commend you on wanting to bring up a bilingual child. DD is going to do a local strand at school next year - half in English and half in Mandarin. I would have preferred Cantonese but, alias the school only does Mandarin. She is not that into it at the moment (she has been doing Mandarin once a week for the past 12 months) but I think once at school she will be fine.

As carang said - it is not something easy to learn later and if you have the opportunity for them to start at school then go for it!
 
Thanks for your sharing, I may further discuss with husband see how things goes, as carang said the teaching method in local school are not good at all totally agreed, most of tem are robot learning school. I do like to send my little one to local school to learn some canto any idea for good kindergarten in shatin or kln tong area ?
 
Oz_kid- what school are you sending your little one to? I'm also interested in sending my son to a English/Mandarin school.

Cybabe- I also want my son to be bilingual. Do you speak to your little one in English or Cantonese?
 
:milestone​


Hi Cybabe,

I am new to HK and also very much concerned about my baby who is now 8 months old. I was set on sending him to the FIS and today, after late surfingS on the net... I am also wondering Private OR Public school? But I guess that in public schools kids are not as challenged/stimulated as in private schools.

That being said, I would love to know if there are any public kindergartens that are keen and eager to have our little ones push their limits of Knowledge... to "excel" in Kowloon or Hong Kong (West Side!).


Thanks for your help.

A Mum...
 
Future Hk MOM

I speak with her in english all the times i'd said abt 95% are in english, I let her to learn cantonese when my parents around.

Lily HK
Well your concern is the same as mine the diff btw the private and the public school learning way. Actually I'm still checking the school info in here hopefully will have something good comes up . Will let u know.
 
When my children were little they went to a Cantonese kindergarten, CARITAS ST FRANCIS KINDERGARTEN, Caritas in Mid-levels. There is another one nearer Pokfulam. It wasn't free we paid about $800 a month. The children were very happy there. They used learn through play. It is definitely worth checking out. One word of warning they do their applications early - usually in the September or October the year before.
SARAH
 
Which school are they in now? Is putting them in local schools will disadvantage them later when looking for private reknown schools?

ESF/Montessori/Bilingual school is what I am thinking today! Any of you have heard of a good one?
 
personally, i don't care if my children go to the "best" school in hk... i ONLY care if they go to the "best school for them".

every child is different, every child's personality is different, every child's method of learning is different.

when your child is 45 years old, it won't matter which kindergarten or primary school he/she went to, will it really matter?

i think that parents stress about this wayyyyyyy too much in hong kong, and the problem with that is that the children feel the stress and it is passed on to them from the age of 18 months when they have to start interviewing for kindergarten...(don't get me started on the ridiculousness of that!)

don't get me wrong, yes, schoolling can be difficult in hk, but your baby is only 8 months old, you have lots of time to make the decision!
 
Hi Carang,

Thanks for your help. I am completely new to HK and want to know how schooling works here. If I was in France I would not even worry and visit forums but..... I am not! Everything is so different!!!!!! There seem to be so many options.
 
you're right, there are a lot of options.

what you need to do is make a list of priorities. what do you consider to be the most important when it comes to your child's education.

once you have that clearly in mind, then choosing a school becomes a little easier.
 
Carang, which local kindergarten is your son going to? I am in the clearwater bay area and not sure which local kindergartens are good.
 
he goes to SAI KUNG LOK YUK KINDERGARTEN. you can apply for the gov't voucher and when you receive it, 1/2 day costs $160 (this year). you pay for books, sundries, stationery on top of the fees.

he loves it as do most of the other kids in his class that i've spoken to. The ones i know are western or mixed as the local kids don't know very much english. but i'm impressed with the cantonese that he's picked up. i'm going to send him full day next year so that he'll pick up even more...

it's a church run school, but not too "church-y" if you know what i mean. the teachers all speak acceptable english and the notices are all sent home in english if you require that.
 
I agree with Cara rather than worry about getting into the best Hong Kong school worry about finding the right fit for your child. I was asked where my children went to school:

My eldest started in the local Chinese system and after P4 changed to the Canadian International School. She was much happier in the international school and the 'fit' was very good. She became confident and clever and graduated as an Ontario Scholar.

My elder son attended local kindergarten and then went to the Canadian School. He wasn't happy with the idea of doing the IB as he wanted to study mathematics and physics. So we arranged for him to study as a boarder at the Lancaster Royal Grammar School. Here he was able to take A levels in the subjects he wanted.

My third also attended local kindergarten and then moved to the Canadian School for primary. We realized that IB wouldn't suit him and so in Year 9 changed him to West Island. He is thinking of studying engineering and taking the West Island Advanced Diploma instead of IB for Year 12 & 13.

My fourth also attended local kindergarten (we really liked the school - see the earlier post) and is now in Year 3 at ESF. I don't know if she will prefer to do the IB, A levels, B tech or maybe something different.

I have learnt that the school that fits one child in the family may not suit the next. And that it may be necessary to change schools along the way in order to continue to get the best fit for your child.

All my children speak Cantonese but I must admit that their written Chinese leaves a lot to be desired.

Best wishes,
SARAH
 
carang,

Do u know any local school around kln tong area or shatin/MOS which they may have some mix kids around ? Also with good commend ? Since I live in Tai wai area dont want my little one travel too long for school every day . Thks
 
sorry, no idea...i do know that Lok Yuk has a school bus, but don't know the routes or the costs involved.

i would just go for a walk around the areas that you are interested in and drop into some schools.

i think the reason this local kindie has so many expats & mixed kids is BECAUSE it is in Sai Kung. there are so many expats around that there are bound to be more sending them to the local kindergarten.
 
Thank you very much for the info Carang, may be we will drop by there and see how things goes ,hopefully they have school bus run through shatin to there ;)
 
if you do decide to come to sai kung for a look there are other "local" kindies around, too. i just liked Lok Yuk. I felt more comfortable there. Lok Yuk is the big white kindergarten on the main road, it has a rainbow painted around the base of the wall surrounding it.
 
Thanks for the info Carang will give them a ring for arrangement after this week. Hopefully they will open by then ?
 
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