Question on K3

T

temajie

Registered User
Hello everyone,
Are there parents here sending their kids in K3 when they turn 5 years old. I am talking of kindergarten upper class, international stream. It looks like a lot of English-speaking kids go to international schools or ESF at that stage but given the long waitlist I was wondering if K3 was an option for us.
Thank you.
 
it depends on where your child will go afterward....our children are doing K3, but they are going to local schools, so they don't start P1 until they are 6 years old.... some international schools are the same (i think CDNIS is the same), whereas ESF they start when they are 5....
 
I agree with carang ... what are your plans after K3? It won't get any easier to get spots after K3. In the end you still need a space, just in a different class. Also it depends where you want your child to do K3, not all schools offer K3 (some basically have them kind of repeat K2). Where is your child now?
 
We will leave HK just before my daughter turns 6 years old so she won't do primary here. All I need is find her a spot for her last year of kindergarten next year. She is currently in K2 in an international kindergarten. In her school, they have K3 but indeed it looks like a second year of K2: the K3 students (they are only 5) are actually taking part of her K2 class, probably with different tasks to do and different homework, but still... That is why I am not too keen on sending her there for another year. However I do not have much choice since I cannot afford international school and I don't think she will have a spot in ESF as English is not her mother tongue, she does not speak it (although she understands enough in class) and besides she is very shy, which makes her chances to pass the interview very thin. EMI starts at 6 years old. So I feel stuck. May be I should just send her to another kindergarten that offers K3 so that even if it is a repetition of K2 it will be kind of new for her: new environment, new teacher etc. Or I don't change anything and let her go to K3 in her school: after all it is just for one year and she is very young, it is not a big deal. What do you think?
 
i would say leave her where she is, especially if you will be leaving at the end of the year.... at least she will know the teachers and some of the classmates and not have to start everything again...
 
Thanks.
We will leave HK in August 2013, that is at the end of her K3 academic year, and she will turn 6 in November 2013.
 
Sunshine House, Woodlands, etc. all over K3 / P1 programs. However, fees (since it's full day) are actually higher than ESF (probably in the range of $7000-8000 a month). Why not send her to FIS (French / bilingual stream) especially since you're leaving (are you going back to France?). French nationals would get priority and French section should be easier to get into. I guess in the end it depends where you're going afterwards, and where she needs to go to school and what level she is expected to be at. Doesn't matter where in the world.
 
If you are French then they have to accept you in the French stream at FIS, however there is a waiting list for bilingual. The fees for FIS kindergarten are less than Woodlands, Sunshine House etc and a little bit higher than ESF - not sure where your daughter is currently but it is likely the cost is not much different. If you want to focus on English though maybe just leave her where she is if you think she will be happy - I know someone who moved her daughter to a different kindy as she just missed the ESF cutoff (Jan birthday) and she is happier having moved because alll her friends had gone to 'big school" and she didn't want her to just redo the same stuff again...
 
Yes we are French but we don't know where we will be in two years: either the US or Switzerland. I do not consider the FIS although they indeed told me there would be a spot for my daughter because 1) I cannot afford $60000 debenture right now 2) I would have to find a kindergarten for my 2 years old son (he will be 3 next academic year) close to Jardines Lookout where the FIS is and manage to drop them both at the same time but at different places. I guess my daughter would have to take the school bus which I would have preferred to avoid that young. Currently, my children are at the same school and it is 10mn walk from home so you can imagine how handy it is for me who have no help with the kids and also nice for them. 3) I'd rather keep on sending my kids to an English-speaking school in case we move to the US, given that they already learn French from home. For the cost, sending my daughter to the FIS would also make a big difference since all I pay today is a half day in a kindergarten, that is $7000 in total for both of my kids. After making a lot of research on education in HK, I finally realize how expensive education can be in HK. We are even planning to move next year to a cheaper apartment just to save money for their education. TNT, what you say about the girl who was happier to go to another kindergarten rather than repeat her K2 program is what I dread most. The good point of doing K3 in the same school would be that it would give her more confidence in English and she needs that. Harsh decision though.
 
i would just stay put, especially if your daughter likes the school and teachers now - you have the luxury to not have to
"worry" about what the next step is because you won't be here! :) learning should be fun and if she's having fun - don't worry!
 
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