Montessori School of Hong Kong vs. Highgate House School

C

courtbas

Registered User
Hello,

I am looking into the Highgate House School and the Montessori School of Hong Kong for my daughter. I'd like to know if anyone out there had any experience with these 2 schools. Your comments are much appreciated.

I'd also like to have your thoughts/comparison on the Montessori method vs. the Steiner Waldorf method, if you happen to have done research on these. Which one had you chosen and why. Thank you so much in advance.


Courtney
 
There are 2 interesting articles - One from Waldorf Education, a Family Guide (with an obvious bias towards Steiner Education) and another callled ' Montessori and Steiner, 'A pattern of reverse symmetries' - by D. Coulter. Another objective comparison is made in a book called 'Early Childhood Education', by Tina Bruce. I am trained and qualified in early childhood in both Montessori and Steiner Education and am one of the founder members of Highgate House School and Knapton Montessori School, UK. Please contact me if you would like copies of the articles or would like to discuss aspects of both educational philosophies.

Julie
 
wish to share your thoughts

i am a new comer to this discussion group.
i have the same question regarding montessouri and highgate. shall appreciate if i could share your thoughts on this if you don't mind repeating.
thanks a ton.
 
Steiner and Montessori

We are away in UK at the moment. My wife, Julie will be the best person to answer questions on both Montessori and Steiner. She is attending a Steiner Waldorf education conference in Switzerland untill end of this week. If you would like to have a hard copy of the articles mentioned by her earlier please contact Nicky, our school secretary on 28496336. she will be happy to fax you copies of the various articles. You can also easily find the relevant articles on the net. Try Google which is pretty accurate in searching. Our school website will also have some additional information you might find interesting. www.highgatehouse.edu.hk

Man
 
hi, i am bringing this thread up again. cos i have the same concern re: courtney's questions. so what did u choose, courtney? and any other input would be appreciated. i googled the subject, and seem to find they are 2 approaches that compliment each other. whatever one has, the other lacks.
 
Montessori School of Hong Kong vs Highgate

Hi courtbas,

Hope it's not too late to reply. My kid who were studying in the Montessori School of Hong Kong in Caine Road/Arthbunolt Road Mid-Levels from nursey to K3. During my kid's 4 years there, there's a very high teacher turnover. Teachers keeps changing every few months. The school has no transparency at all as parents were not informed if a teacher has resigned. Furthermore the administration is really a big problem. My kid had left the school for a year and the school still didn't refund the deposit that that I paid 4 years ago which is a huge sum although I have chased the school in many different ways. I would suggest you consider Highgate as that's a good school. Pls let me know if you would need more information on Montessori School of Hong Kong. Thanks.
 
Montessori School of Hong Kong vs Highgate

Hi lovingmom

The Montessori School of Hong Kong on Caine Rd you mentioned, do you mean the Woodland Montessori on Caine Road or the International School of Montessori (IMS) near Pacific Place III? As I wanna ensure which is the one you've had "bad experience" with since my daughter has been accepted in both the Woodland Montessori and IMS starting this coming Sep when she will be nearly 3, and we still haven't decided which one we should go to.

Any one got any idea which Montessori is better?
 
Chances are that its the other Montessori school. Its not a Woodlands and its not affiliated with the IMS near PP3. Its right at the beginning of Caine Road opposite the Caritas. I tried to find out about it when we started looking but there wasn't much info and when we toured the IMS and asked they said that most Montessori schools are in touch with each other but they had not yet managed to get any response from this one. This was a year ago though, so perhaps its more transparent now.
 
Montessori Schools - confusion

There seems to be some confusion on Montessori Schools

1. The International Montessori School / IMS
They are quite pricey, but you get what you pay for: all their teachers are Montessori trained, low student-teacher ratio (just go and visit their classes), large classrooms, most complete equipment and library, complete full-time teaching by one English and one Mandarin teacher. The founders are very committed, and they have a primary program, so good for `through train`. Also, they have great placement record for Primary International schools and ESF. This is the Rolls-Royce of schools if you want Montessori and can afford it.

2. Woodlands
This is also good Montessori program, and most likely closer to home, so more convenient and cheaper than IMS. But it is more of a chain of schools / business, so smaller classrooms, not full-time bi-lingual. Many of my friends have done playgroup at Woodlands, then transfer to IMS at age 3/4. This seems like good solution.

3. Montessori School of Hong Kong (Caine Road)
This is not even real Montessori School: they didn`t have Montessori trained teacher when I visited, and the premises are very poorly equipped compared to IMS and Woodlands.

I`m saving to attend Rolls Royce.
 
Gail Gail said:
Hi lovingmom

The Montessori School of Hong Kong on Caine Rd you mentioned, do you mean the Woodland Montessori on Caine Road or the International School of Montessori (IMS) near Pacific Place III? As I wanna ensure which is the one you've had "bad experience" with since my daughter has been accepted in both the Woodland Montessori and IMS starting this coming Sep when she will be nearly 3, and we still haven't decided which one we should go to.

Any one got any idea which Montessori is better?
Click to expand...
Hi Gail, so which school u finaly decided to go ? Let chat. I am chosing pre-school for my baby marcus for next year.

Emily
 
I visited Montessori School of Hong Kong, because their website said that they offered bilingual classes, even a creche (under 2). It was terrible trying to contact them, we had to leave a message and then wait for our message to be returned. Then the staff member insisted that we must bring our daughter for the initial visit (so she could be 'assessed') when we just wanted to visit to see if there was enough to warrant applying and going through the interview process.

Anyway, we brought our daughter, filled out all the required paperwork, and went to visit the school. On the day we visited, there were two separate classes and it seemed that there were two or three teachers per class (perhaps 3 for the younger class, and 2 for the slightly older kids). I don't remember clearly anymore (this was earlier this year) as I have tried to block it from memory.

What struck me most was the furniture was being held together (decorated?) with tape! Not just some of the furniture, but practically everything--the chairs, shelves, tables, and even the tape was falling off. The Montessori materials were in terrible condition, some of them missing knobs, essentially rendering them useless. The woman who led the tour told me she didn't think anything was wrong with this, when I asked her how the children were expected to pick up the flat geometric shapes when the knobs had fallen off. Her reply was that they manage. She was rather defensive when I asked her to show me.

What they actually offered was completely different from what was advertised. No creche, for example. The children seemed to wander about the room pulling toys (not work) off the shelves randomly. It was a dirty, dark, horrible place. They claimed to be affiliated with AMS (I think) but when I checked the AMS website for affiliated schools in Hong Kong, they were not listed.

I think the teachers tried hard, but it did not seem as though they had Montessori training, and they seemed sad, not enthusiastic. I wonder why anyone would teach there, let alone send their children. The fees are comparable to Woodlands, from what I remember.

Absolutely stay away.
 
Does anyone has any experience/comments on Montessori School for Children in Stanley? It is a very small Montessori school located in Tai Tam Village in Stanley (behind St.Rose church). Someone told me it is a very good Montessori School.

Would love to hear some advice from you
 
AMI trained teachers at Schools

:haha:One of the articles mentioned (in this forum) a newer school where the teacher was AMI trained? I think that is not the case. Ask to see the original diploma with the signature for that person. I believe her training was not AMI but TMI or St. Nicholaus in this person's case. There are many training courses in London and America and Ireland... only a few training centres are Association Montessori Internationale. :grouphug:
 
Hong Kong Schools are not AMI schools

AMI-USA does not recognize schools outside of North America... it is too expensive for them to do it. Ask the AMI type school in Hong Kong to bring in AMI trainer to discuss Montessori Education to the parents and offer workshops to the teachers and staff... that is what they do.:Butbut
 
Montessori School of Hong Kong is VERY SHADY

lovingmom said:
Hi courtbas,

Hope it's not too late to reply. My kid who were studying in the Montessori School of Hong Kong in Caine Road/Arthbunolt Road Mid-Levels from nursey to K3. During my kid's 4 years there, there's a very high teacher turnover. Teachers keeps changing every few months. The school has no transparency at all as parents were not informed if a teacher has resigned. Furthermore the administration is really a big problem. My kid had left the school for a year and the school still didn't refund the deposit that that I paid 4 years ago which is a huge sum although I have chased the school in many different ways. I would suggest you consider Highgate as that's a good school. Pls let me know if you would need more information on Montessori School of Hong Kong. Thanks.
Click to expand...


Hello. I felt that I must write to warn all parents about this school too! What Lovingmom has said is all absolutely true!! My child was there for years, we paid the deposit, and I too had chased the school for the refund of the capital levy once my child left. During the time my child was attending, the teacher turnover was outrageous! A new English teacher every 3-4 months. Like others have said, the teachers are dedicated but once they realize the lack of transparency and criminal activity that the school engages in, most leave immediately. Many parents still have not received their refunds. The enrollment is dwindling and I presume the school will shut down any day now. Please warn all your friends, family, co-workers about this school. I wouldn't want to hear of more people being cheated out of their hard earned money.
 
I am concerned

Hi AMI,

Which school are you referring to?? I am really concerned if you are talking about the one my l.o. is going right now. Because we don't like it much after the first week of school. Would you please further explain?? or pm me. I became so desperate and concerned about my l.o.

Thank you very much.

Chillyrose

ami said:
:haha:One of the articles mentioned (in this forum) a newer school where the teacher was AMI trained? I think that is not the case. Ask to see the original diploma with the signature for that person. I believe her training was not AMI but TMI or St. Nicholaus in this person's case. There are many training courses in London and America and Ireland... only a few training centres are Association Montessori Internationale. :grouphug:
Click to expand...
 
alanlam said:
We are away in UK at the moment. My wife, Julie will be the best person to answer questions on both Montessori and Steiner. She is attending a Steiner Waldorf education conference in Switzerland untill end of this week. If you would like to have a hard copy of the articles mentioned by her earlier please contact Nicky, our school secretary on 28496336. she will be happy to fax you copies of the various articles. You can also easily find the relevant articles on the net. Try Google which is pretty accurate in searching. Our school website will also have some additional information you might find interesting. www.highgatehouse.edu.hk

Man
Click to expand...
:Butbut

I went to the Steiner Fellowship of United Kingdom website and couldn't find the Highgate on the worldwide list of schools and there seem to be no listing for Hong Kong. How do I ensure the school/teacher are accredited?
 
Please check out http://www.steinerwaldorf.org.uk/digitalmagazine/issue3/lam1.htm
and the school is recognised as Waldorf Kindergarten by the Steiner Fellowship in UK and by the Waldorf International Kindergarten Association - currently 3 people have the full training and other teachers, although qualified in Kindergarten/early years in mainstream undergo weekly in house training. Please come to the talk on 25th October at Helena May by Christopher Clouder, CEO of the European Council for Steiner Education.
 
I went for the CDB parents introdduction meeting and was quite impressed with their setup. Have applied for my son , but he is on waitlist for April. U can call them and visit the school
 
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