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preschool for below 2 years old
Posted by siska (992 days ago)
We are moving to hongkong early next year. our son will be around 1 year and 2 months by the time. both my husband and i will be working. we will hv full time maid however we would like to send our son to school for better stimulation. is there any preschool for kids below 2 years, no need parents/helper to join, everyday, half day or full day ?
also because my husband is from denmark and i am from indonesia, we would like to send our son to english preschool.
really appreciate any advise. thanks
/siska
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Posted by cara (989 days ago)
just a question...
would you want to have a group of children all below 2 years of age in your care?
i teach a playgroup that takes children from 6 months... but they ,MUST have a caregiver(ie. parent, helper, grandparent) with them at all times...i can't imagine having 8, 18 month olds in my care without having someone there to take care of them...
never mind 14 months!
Posted by siska (980 days ago)
in taiwan, there are some english language playgroups accepting kids from 18 months (no need caregivers to join). also there are some chinese language playgroups accepting kids less than 18 months (no need caregivers to join). of course they limit the number of children in the class. this is the type of playgroup we are looking for. appreciate if anybody know this information in hongkong
Posted by mumof1 (977 days ago)
Cara,
I think that your playgroups parents are lucky if they have family around or can afford a helper to accompany their child.
This isn't always the case - some parents have to work and leave their child in a playschool/kindergarten. In the UK & US some parents only have a month or two of maternity leave and have no choice but to drop their babies off in the morning before work and pick them up again after work.
Siska, the Education and Manpower Bureau of Hong Kong supervises the kindergardens and they have a list that they can send to you of kindergardens in your area. Likewise the Social Welfare Department can fax you a list of the nurseries and daycare centres in your area.
Don't worry, there will be something for your child - lots of HK mom's leave their child whilst they work.
Posted by siska (977 days ago)
Hi Mom of 1,
thanks for your information. will contact those departments for more information. in feb, we plan to go to hongkong to find apartment. once we decide which area we will live in, i will post question here again on what daycares are recommended in that specific area
/siska
Posted by Top Totty (976 days ago)
There is a playgroup in Sai Kung that takes children from 17months - 3yrs. There are only 6-8 children in a class and they attend without a helper. The price is reasonable and it is all taught in English. It's Called Inspiration.
Posted by cara (976 days ago)
T this age... 3 or four months makes HUGE difference...having a group of 13 months old children and a group of 18 months old children is a completely different situation...
and in HK MANY people have helpers, so it isn't a problem for the helpers to come with the child....
that said, i have fathers, grandmothers, grandfathers, mums AND helpers come to the class...all are welcome
Posted by lammum (970 days ago)
I was led to believe, and am sure it is still the case, it is illegal to run a pre-school for children under 2 years olds to come unaccompanied! Any licensed pre-school doing this would definitely raise my eyebrows, but there are a good few unlicensed ones in HK - no names mentioned!!! A daycare centre however is under different legislation and has facilities for napping and providing meals. Unfortunately there are no daycare centres in Hk catering for expatriate families, all are cantonese speaking. If you are comng to Hk with a full time helper I would recommend she attends some playgroups with your child until your child settles into a new home and country and is ready to attend the pre-school alone aged 2 plus!
Posted by my thoughts (969 days ago)
Hi Siska--
Do you really want your child someplace all by himself so soon? I've always felt badly for kids back in the US who are shuffled off to daycare classes all day while their parents work. It may be my bias, but the daycare kids I see when we go home are pushy and grabby and demanding of attention--survival skills from being thrown into a big group so young.
Don't you think loving one-on-one attention in your own home, even from a good helper, is nicer for them until they've learned to play well together and are really ready to be on their own? Lots of working parents sign their toddler/helper up for a couple of classes or a parent/child program at a nursery school for some social interaction and change of environment.
But back to your question, I've heard that it's fire regulations that prohibit children from being on their own before the age of two in HK. It makes sense though, can you imagine trying to get a classroom of little ones, who can barely walk let alone climb stairs, out of a burning building?
I just re-read this--didn't mean to sound preachy! But we have the luxury of full-time at-home child care here and many helpers are kind and loving toward their children. Of course many are unnecessarily rough and insensitive too...
Posted by siska (969 days ago)
thanks for the info. our reason to send him to daycare alone is to give him better stimulation and to interact with other kids. we think this is better than spending time with the maid all the time (inside and outside the house). but if we can't find the nursery that we feel comfortable with, then we might hv to end up to send him to toddler/helper classes.
Posted by noramis (968 days ago)
Siska,
There's a new children's club in north point called qq club. They have a whole range of playgroups and classes for kids ranging from 4 months to teens. This is the website: www.qqclub.hk Hope this might help.
Posted by my thoughts (968 days ago)
Hi Siska--
Wanting some "stimulation" is one thing, but wouldn't you rather have someone your son knows and trusts there to stand up for him when another child grabs a toy he was playing with? Someone he cares about to give a cuddle when another child pushes him over or hits him?
I like the idea of parent(carer)/child classes when they're so young. They need to learn how to play well together and that means something close to a one-on-one adult ratio, I think anyway.
You might want to do some reading on this...everything I've come across says if it's not the parent for the first 3(!) years, then the next best is the same person based in your home, then the same person based in their home, and then, last choice, group care outside the home. They're vulnerable little ones :-)
Anyway, I really don't mean to be hard on you. In the States, where I'm from, the vast majority of kids are in group care. We just don't need to do that here.
Posted by siska (955 days ago)
hi all, thanks for all your comments.
we understand the positive(s) and negative(s) of groupcare. we are thinking either to send him to half time or full time daycare. most probably we are going to live in tai tam area. anybody can recommend daycare/nursery in this area ? how about "tutor time" ? anybody can give us insight about this daycare ? thank you
Posted by Rocco (926 days ago)
Hi Siska,
I am not sure whether you are still requiring this info, but we live in Tai Tam, at The Manhattan and my children go to Woodland Montessori and it's great. I have my older one in the PreSchool and the younger one in Playgroup (with adults). They are well organized, the teachers are great and it's a beautiful facility. Tutor Time is meant to be OK, but there's very high staff turnover and I know some of the parents who go there, and they're not very happy.
Posted by siska (926 days ago)
Hi Rocco,
thanks. we are going to live in the manhattan as well !! hope to see u soon. we visited both woodland and sunshine, and we finally signed up with sunshine (not yet started). do you have any info about this preschool ? thanks
Posted by HappyHongKongers (884 days ago)
Are there day care centres in Hong Kong that cater to working parents?
Posted by clueless (883 days ago)
I was going to send my child to Sunshine, but on the day I went to pay my deposit the head teacher was busy on the telephone, so I decided to walk around the school and see what it was like. Sorry to say but I was VERY DISSAPOINTED. As a result I cancelled my childs place. The place sure looks glam and clean etc....but please just scratch the surface a little. A friend also taught there, and had some really shocking stories to tell me. What you see and what you get are 2 very different things there....
Posted by bbky (882 days ago)
Hi Clueless,
Hi clueless,
OMG! Which Sunshine are you referring to? I was going to inquire about the one in Pokfulam...haven't taken the tour of the school yet. Can you elaborate a bit more on what you saw that was so shocking? Please PM me.
Posted by siska (882 days ago)
Hi Clueless,
my son has been in sunshine since 2 weeks ago. he is joining the playgroup class. we are happy with them so far. however it would be nice if you could elaborate further on your dissapointment. it could be one of our consideration when he needs to move to older class
thanks
Posted by lammum (876 days ago)
Do check if Sunshine in Pokfulam has now been registered with Social Welfare, my friend who worked for them said it was opened without having been fully licensed, she did not have anything bad to say about the schools, but she did say lots of staff didn't stay long.
Posted by gherron (665 days ago)
Hi all, just reading through all the opinions and I have to say I'm very surprised. When I studied my boys were in a daycare with children of mixed ages. Seperate area for babie up to two and no more than 4 children per teacher, however never less than two or three teachers and only ever 8 babies int he group it seemed. It was fine for mornings while I was in classes, they slept in their own cot at the daycare and played the rest of the time and ate together with their group. I also taught here with my children the days I didn't study. They both loved it. They got to interact with children of all ages up to 5 years old and play so freely. They went from 6 months old.
I would love so much to find something like that for my two year old here in Hong Kong. Somewhere with a big sandpit and a bit of grass for himt o run around outside in. Anyone know of any in Sai Kung or Ma On Shan area?
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