Yew Chung kindy or Discovery Montessori School (Sheung Wan)
- Thread starter jojojo
- Start date
In my opinion, it depends on the education path you're choosing for your child. Are you planning to continue with the International School system, and even if you are, how much Chinese do you expect your child to learn? (Even with International schools the difference in the level of Chinese can be huge).
The exposure of the Chinese language would probably be greater in Yew Chung. I'm not sure about the Sheung Wan campus, but my 1.5 y.o. son is enrolled in DMS-Discovery Bay, and many of his classmates are non-Chinese. Personally i do not expect my son'd be able to read and write Chinese solely based on his DMS exposure.
Both Yew Chung and the Montessori system emphasize self-reliance and learning through all senses, which i think are very sensible ways to teach young children. Yew Chung would have more moral teachings whereas DMS seemed to be more academic.
Are you expecting your child to continue primary and secondary education in Yew Chung, if so, i think Yew Chung have a wonderful Kindy and you should stick to it. He/She would learn much Chinese as well. If you wish to apply for other International Schools, especially the ones that are more English based, then DMS would be a better option.
The exposure of the Chinese language would probably be greater in Yew Chung. I'm not sure about the Sheung Wan campus, but my 1.5 y.o. son is enrolled in DMS-Discovery Bay, and many of his classmates are non-Chinese. Personally i do not expect my son'd be able to read and write Chinese solely based on his DMS exposure.
Both Yew Chung and the Montessori system emphasize self-reliance and learning through all senses, which i think are very sensible ways to teach young children. Yew Chung would have more moral teachings whereas DMS seemed to be more academic.
Are you expecting your child to continue primary and secondary education in Yew Chung, if so, i think Yew Chung have a wonderful Kindy and you should stick to it. He/She would learn much Chinese as well. If you wish to apply for other International Schools, especially the ones that are more English based, then DMS would be a better option.
Thanks Jomama,
We speak English at home and so we're actually looking for something that is more mandarin based. We are actually planning for the little man to be at DMS for only a year and then he's going to hopefully ICS for kindy. We've paid fees for DMS. We're hoping that he's going to have a great time there.
We speak English at home and so we're actually looking for something that is more mandarin based. We are actually planning for the little man to be at DMS for only a year and then he's going to hopefully ICS for kindy. We've paid fees for DMS. We're hoping that he's going to have a great time there.
howardcoombs
Registered User
If you are looking for "more mandarin based" you should really be looking outside of DMS/ICS; your child is not going to be picking up much more than just rudimentary and cursory mandarin skills at the places mentioned.
Some names you should consider and investigate:
YewChung, KCS, SIS, CIS, VSA
Some names you should consider and investigate:
YewChung, KCS, SIS, CIS, VSA
I agree with Howard regarding the mandarin part. In HK, choosing which school to go to would determine which language(s) your child would pick up as his main language. (Of course there's so much more to education then just language, but it is a big part, and language links to culture and the way we think).
I see which path jojojo you're gearing towards. I'm onto that path too, choosing school with good learning programs. A year or 2 in a school wouldn't do much to language exposure in the long run (i heard kids who went to English kindies but end up in local schools and forgot all the English he learns, including the ones taught at home). In the end i think only the parent can decides what are 'must haves' and 'good to haves', and determine which school to go based on that.
Anyhow i once had a chance to talk to the wonderful kindy principal of Yew Chung, and like many educators i later come across, she indicated that teaching one core language to a child 0-3 is the better way to go. That's how i'm teaching my son too and at 1.5 he is speaking quite well and shall be ready for a second language when he turns 3.
I think you made a right choice jojo and all the best to your little man
I see which path jojojo you're gearing towards. I'm onto that path too, choosing school with good learning programs. A year or 2 in a school wouldn't do much to language exposure in the long run (i heard kids who went to English kindies but end up in local schools and forgot all the English he learns, including the ones taught at home). In the end i think only the parent can decides what are 'must haves' and 'good to haves', and determine which school to go based on that.
Anyhow i once had a chance to talk to the wonderful kindy principal of Yew Chung, and like many educators i later come across, she indicated that teaching one core language to a child 0-3 is the better way to go. That's how i'm teaching my son too and at 1.5 he is speaking quite well and shall be ready for a second language when he turns 3.
I think you made a right choice jojo and all the best to your little man
We also want our little man to go to a Christian school and so, we're looking at ICS or CAIS. Currently we have a postgrad lady that comes to our home once a week to play with little man in Mandarin. But she might be leaving soon. We want to expose him to Mandarin but at this stage, we are not insistent that he needs to be proficient in both languages.
Yes, once a week exposure at this stage is fine. A small group of moms in my neighborhood were planning to do that as well, but we never got around to really finding one (and we live in Tung Chung!!) 
Do let me know how DMS (Sheung Wan) turns out. I hope it's as good as the one in DBay!
Do let me know how DMS (Sheung Wan) turns out. I hope it's as good as the one in DBay!
howardcoombs
Registered User
I'm curious : how are you able to conclude something to be "fine" when you haven't even tried it...Yes, once a week exposure at this stage is fine. A small group of moms in my neighborhood were planning to do that as well, but we never got around to really finding one (and we live in Tung Chung!!)
Once per week exposure maybe fine for some but infact is pretty ineffective and pretty much a waste of money.