Too late for Mandarin kindergarten this fall?

M

metsfan

Registered User
We just learned that we are moving to Hong Kong this summer.

Is it too late to get our 3-year-old son into any of the Mandarin-dominant kindergarten or nursery schools for this fall?

Thanks!
 
i haven't heard of any "mandarin dominant" kindergartens... but i could be way off on that.

there are generally:
local (with CANTONESE being the language of instruction)
international (with ENGLISH) being the language of instruction)
bi-lingual (with ENGLISH & MANDARIN being the languages of instruction... sometimes this is ENGLISH & CANTONESE, though)...

as for getting in? it all depends on the school. it will also depend on where you live... you don't want your child trekking for 2 hours to get to kindergarten, i assume...

once you have an idea of where you will live, then you can look for kindergartens... or you can do it the other way round. look for the kindergarten first, then find a place to live.
 
Thanks, Carang.

We don't know where we're going to live, but we were thinking about picking a neighborhood after finding the school. Preferably on Hong Kong side, I suppose, as our offices will both be there.

As for Mandarin, yes, we'd want bilingual English and Mandarin, or something like Kiangsu Chekiang that is mainly Mandarin.

But I'm worried that it's probably too late for this fall. Both Victoria and ISF websites say application deadline has passed, and I was thinking that may be the case for all the schools?
 
i would contact them anyway, it can't hurt! just tell them that you only found out about your relocation recently and see what they say.
 
I think you'll have more chance on bi-lingual streams at Woodlands and Tutor Time (only bilingual), but agree definitely try.
 
I think you should try the kindergartens anyways. Otherwise, you do have a better chance of going to Tutortime.

There's also Singapore International that uses mandarin and english
 
Thanks everyone! We've called around and most places are full. I think we prefer the Kiangsu Chekiang local stream, because it seems to use the most Mandarin, and we put our son on the waiting list. There's also a Tutor Time near there in Braemar Hill with space, so perhaps we will move somewhere in that area and send him there if nothing opens up at KCS.

Does that make sense? Any other Mandarin alternatives?

Someone mentioned Woodlands -- do you know how much they use Mandarin?
 
Our 4 year old is about to start at the Woodlands Peak which is a private pre-school that offers afternoon sessions in Mandarin and morning sessions in English. He'll be starting in the Summer term (in a week or so) attending both English and Mandarin (i.e. a full day) though you have the option of one or the other or both. When he turns 5 he'll have to find a different school, but that's down the road a bit and we'll apply for those slots shortly.

I just got a call that we've also been accepted to this Fall ESF Hillside K-2 program for the afternoons. I'm still juggling all this in my head to figure out how this will all work out.
 
metsfan said:
Thanks everyone! We've called around and most places are full. I think we prefer the Kiangsu Chekiang local stream, because it seems to use the most Mandarin, and we put our son on the waiting list. There's also a Tutor Time near there in Braemar Hill with space, so perhaps we will move somewhere in that area and send him there if nothing opens up at KCS.

Does that make sense? Any other Mandarin alternatives?

Someone mentioned Woodlands -- do you know how much they use Mandarin?
Click to expand...

Are you going to be in Hong Kong a long time? If the answer is yes, then consider Cantonese kindergarten.

We are non chinese family (both parents english speaking) and we put our 3 kids thru Cantonese kindergarten, followed by Kiangsu primary and slowly transitioning to English secondary school. Your kids will come out trilingual and will be able to join almost any activity in Hong Kong. You will also save a ton of money as swimming lessons (and many other activities) in Cantonese work out a lot cheaper than trying to find english only activities.

Good luck,
HC
 
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