Pre-school/playgroup and a 2 year old?

J

jane01

Registered User
I live in Discovery Bay and have failed to find a playgroup for children over 2 where parents/helpers can stay. All the playgroups require you to leave the child once they turn 2 (except First Friends at the Marina Club, but we aren't members). There must be 15 different playgroups in DB and so far as I can determine all of them require you to leave your child. (Please correct me if I'm wrong).

My daughter loves the interaction with other children and the activities of a playgroup, but I don't think she is ready to be left. I'm certainly not ready to leave her.

Am I the only one who thinks 2 years old is too young to leave a child? Why the rush????

What do you think is a reasonable age? My friends in Australia didn't leave their children until they were over 3, which I think is more reasonable.
 
jane01:

You're not the only one. Please contact D.B. Alliance Community Center, 1/Fl. in the Plaza (next to CwithanE). They have several toddler classes a week, for 2-3 years old. Each session lasts 1 1/2 hours, and adult supervision is required in all classes. The teacher speaks both English and Cantonese in the class. We're non-Chinese speakers, and this has been a great way to have our boy exposed to the local language.

Good luck.
 
Thank you very much svasbt ! I'm glad I'm not the only over protective mother. It is great to hear that someone offers what I'm looking for. Thanks again.
 
Many of my neighbours send their kids to shool when their kids reach two. They think the kids can learn more in school than at home. I'm thinking of sending my daughter to school a little later. She still needs to wear a diaper for poo. So at this moment I prefer play groups with parents' supervision.
 
You do not need to be a member of the Marina club to attend First friends, please call Anna on 2987 2427 for details, my daughter absolutely loved going there. She now goes to a playgroup where I leave her 3 mornings a week, although I always said that I would never send her on her own so young, by the time she was 18 months old she was ready for this and it enabled me to have a break to get on with all the household chores (we didn't have a helper) and to spend quality time with her when she was at home. Another reason for sending her was that as most children her age were attending somewhere so arranging playdates in the morning was virtually impossible. Most of the playgroups will allow you to stay with your child for the first few sessions, some mum's/helpers have been known to attend every session for months until their child is ready to be left,
 
Yes people have been persuading me to send my daughter to pre-nursery too when she was 2 but we think it's too early. Kids might learn to be more independent after they start school but why the rush? We believe that she should at least be able to speak clearly before we leave her with the school, in case something happens and she can describe to us. So we put our daughter to a playgroup where a caregiver/parent is allowed. She's happy. When she gets a bit older, the school will ask the caregiver/parent to leave her for a short period to prepare her for real school.
 
Hi,
I also live on DB and am very glad that I have read this thread. I have a two year old son and am a teacher of 11 years experience. I know 2 years old is too young for children to be left and also the placements I have visited seem to put alot of stock into formal teaching at this age. Children at two are at such a vital stage of their development. They need care and nurturing often in small social groups; not thrown into larger groups where they may not receive enough adult support in this social situation. If your child is ready fair enough, but even as a trained professional I have felt the pressure to place my child into a kindergarten; I know he's not ready and I want to be there to support him. I agree that at three children are more prepared for the rigours of a playgroup, though I would introduce them gradually before I was ready to leave them.
This is such a precious time in their lives what's the rush to move them into a playgroup. Educationally children learn just as much at home about life through fun activities and playing games in an environment where they can feel safe. There is plenty of time to learn counting and their ABC. Why not get out there and enjoy the environment and learn about life.
Sorry, I've got off my soap box now; just my humble opinion
Jools
 
Jools - so glad to hear that I'm not the only one. I'm even more impressed that my thinking is backed up by an expert - a teacher.

I didn't mention it in my previous post, but I totally agree with you that there is no need to teach young children ABCs and counting. My daughter might not be able to read D O G, but she knows what a dog is, she knows she is supposed to pat it gently, she knows they come in all shapes and colours and sizes. She knows they go woof woof. She squeals with delight when she sees a dog. She UNDERSTANDS dog, so much more important than being able to read three letters on a card. What use is route learning??? I really hope she will be able to enjoy learning. That way (hopefully) she will end up doing what she loves and she'll be great at it. Sooooo much better than a bunch of miserable (for example) lawyers or bankers who are just doing that job because they route learned their way to high marks at school.

Ok, off my soap box now too.
 
jane01:

I think the classes at the Community Center are pretty much what you're looking for. Junior is still in the 1 1/2 - 2 years old class, so I can't say much about the 2-3 years old classes. But I can tell you about my boy's class. The under 2 years old session is for one hour. And within the one hour, the teacher divides it into 4 different quarters. The first quarter is for free play. The kids play together and learn to share toys, take turns, and tidy up at the end. The 2nd quarter is music time. They learn to use different kinds of simple musical instruments, dance to the songs (in English and Cantonese), and even learn new words through the songs. The 3rd session varies. On Mondays it's Art time, Wednesdays Story time, and Fridays Learn through Play time. We love the Art time in particular. The last 15 minutes, the kids sit down to have snacks together. The Center provides snacks, and we bring our own drinks. They learn to wash their hands before eating, take turns to serve one another, feed themselves, and tidy up after the meal. There are times that one or more kids are cranky in the class, but the parent/guardian will take care of her own charge. You pay monthly at the beginning of the month. It comes out to only $50 per session if you're a member of the Center. If you're not, it's $55. I highly recommend that you become a member as it only costs $50 a year for a family membership. Plus the Center offers different classes for older kids and adults, including oil painting and Chinese painting classes.

I'm not associated with the Center, just one of the moms that is thankful for the services it offers at a very reasonable price.
 
svasbt

Hi, the class you described sounds very attactive. do you know if they have branches in other locations such as Ma On Shan?

Vivian
 
Vivian:

I don't know whether they have other locations around HK but sure hope they do. Their contact number in D.B. is 2987-8780. I'm sure they can give you more info.
 
Hi Jane 01,
I like your soap box. What a great way of putting it. You're absolutely right children need to learn through actual experiences, there is plenty of time to let them grow and be children, before us teachers get hold of them and teach them how to read and spell DOG.

Jools
 
My 2 cents:
While I agree there is no hurry to teach children to read and spell from the age of 2 it also depends on the school you've chosen for your child. My son started nursery at 2and1/2 and he absolutely loves it. It gives me a bit of free time and he gets social interaction with other kids which he really needs. I used to take him for playgroups but he wanted nothing to do with other kids or the teacher and Mommy had to play with him all the time. Taking him to the park..same thing mommy play with me ! He is a shy kid and I felt he would benefit from mommy's absence and i was so right. His 3 hours at school go like this..first 50 mins of free play then snack time. They learn to wash their hands before eating and clear away their plates etc after snack time. Then it's arts and crafts time. He keeps bringing home such cute stuff and the pride on his face when he shows them to me :) THey do colouring and painting. Then they have music and dance time. They end the session with story time. The teacher reads out a story to them and then they sing the goodbye song and are ready to go home. They don't teach alphabets, no pencil control. He's learning everything through actual experiences..no sitting at a table and chair like when I went to kindergarten !The school sends home a story book every week that we read together. They don't bring home any homework. They celebrate festivals and birthdays. I made the decision to put him in school because I felt he needed it and more importantly was ready for it. The 3 hours of seperation from Mommy was what he needed. I doubt though if he was just 6 months younger I would have put him in school. 6 months make a lot of difference in such a young child right ? But having said that the school also has the local curriculum for kids (My son is in the international class) those kids have to deal with homework and loads of writing etc. Can't really blame them they have to prepare the kids for the local primary schools.
 
svasbt

thanks for the information. i called the centre and it's a pity they don't have other branches. If I cant' find a suitable play group for my daughter, maybe will send her to the nursary. I'll check with the shool if the kids under 3 need to do homework and writing. I think it's crazy to train small kids to write.
 
scr - OMG there are 2 year olds who have homework ???????? I think that is absolutely dreadful. When do they get to be children? I would be really concerned that the poor little things will burn out before they get anywhere in life. I really feel sorry for these poor children.

Your son's school (the international section) sounds great. I absolutely understand where you are coming from - 6 months makes such a difference in a child's life. Perhaps my daughter will be ready to leave me at 2.5, who knows? (more like I won't be ready to leave her!). I agree that if the child is ready, leave them. I just don't see the rush when they are not ready and I suspect lots of 2 year olds aren't.

Homework at 2 years old?????? I am still recovering from that one.
 
Hi Jane,

I must confess that I really don't know the local curriculum well..I don't know when exactly the homework starts but I know it starts in kindy itself. My son will not have homework for the next 3 years while he is in this kindergarten. But the kids doing the local curriculum do have homework..not sure if it starts from the begining. I guess they begin to teach them the chinese characters or something ?
 
My daughter is in a Caritas kindergarten and is very happy. All the children start in the September of the year they are three. (My son born in April started at 3 years 5 months and my daughter born in November started at 2 years and 10 months.) A list of their schools and nurseries is at http://www.caritas.org.hk/f5/f5.html

When my daughter was in K1 she only got homework at the weekends. (This was actually a source of upset for her ? she wanted homework like her older siblings.) The homework was mainly colouring, sticking and pre-writing skills. For example the page would have a number of cars at one side with roads to a house. The children fill in a line going from the car to the house.

Now she is in K2 she has started with very simple Chinese characters, the alphabet and numbers. The school teaches in Cantonese but also has English and Mandarin lessons. Each week she has two books to take home, one in English and one in Chinese ? the parents are expected to read these to the child ? not the child read them.

There are two types of local school: traditional ones and activity based ones. The Caritas kindergartens are activity based ones.

Best wishes,
Barb
 
Hi mom's,

I am also living in DB and have a cute 2 years old son and he is not talking yet! and I know it is a bit early to put him into a play group alone with other kids, BUT I was told by the expertise (doctors) that to put my son into the groups, so he can learn interactive with others kids while they are play together. Also, I noticed that my son is very happy there and they have schedules for a little one. Such as paintings, singing and story time...
 
barbwong,

I have that Caritas is good as the teaching method is lively. However, what do think about the English and Mandarin standards of children studying in this Group? I am also thinking of sending my kid to Carita.

Thanks
Angel
 
Discoverybay:

May I ask in which play group your son is? It sounds really nice. Is a parent required to be in the class?

Thank-you.
 
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