HELP in choosing kindergarden for one year old in tung chung

Hi all,


I just moved to tc n am looking for a good international kindergarden for my one year old daughter.


Please hlp me with your expert suggestions n advice on ehich is a good one.

I hve sorted out three based on the reviews

Sunshine

Woodlands peak

ESF

But all three have contradictory reviews .so confused on what to choose


Please help

Hi Seema123,


I do not live in TC so I cannot comment on your TC choices listed. However, I've just been through the same stressful confusion as you experience and have come out the other side very pleased and knowing I made the right choice. Therefore I wish to give you my thoughts for what its worth!


The three kindys you have listed are all 'good' international schools, they have campuses all over HK and have reputable reviews. They also all have 'good' teachers. However, your idea of good may not be my idea of good, that's why you feel confused! I visited all the schools of choice at the time my son was entering and too felt confused with all the contradictory reviews. Sometimes we tend to feel that a friend / colleague or neighbour sent their kid to X school and enjoyed it which sways our opinion but then someone else make contradictory comments about the same school. This is because once we choose and find the school for our little one, we wont be dissing it and we will find reasons why we didnt go to the other kindy. Only you can decide which school you prefer for your child.


Firstly, go to all the schools you consider. They will all have welcoming staff, nice teachers, kid friendly arts and crafts to show you with structures, plans and books to show you. I was happy with all this but still could not decide, then I looked at other things:


- how far away is the school from me, do I want my kid being bused 1 hour to school and home again every day or just 20 mins

- do they have full day, half day, morning or afternoon school that works with our schedule

- how about school holidays, some finish earlier / later and some are strict on whether your child remains to the last day before summer, others are fine with taking them out early for family holidays etc;

- As a working parent will I be able to visit the school close to me without taking a full day off work / or as a non-working parent is it a place you want to travel to regularly to be involved in the school's events etc

- Does the school have the subjects you want your kid to be immersed in i.e. bi-lingual / tri-lingual or perhaps 100% english

- Some kindys claim the kids learn mandarin but 10 - 15 mins a day to me didnt think it would be sufficient - it may not be important to you but to others;

- Do you want your child to be taught by native english teachers or other nationality teachers - find out the ratio

- Are you happy for your kid to be in a class of 25/30 with one teacher or a class of 25/30 with 1 english and 2 chinese teachers

- If your kid takes the bus, where will the bus drop them off / pick them up - is it convenient for you and are you happy about how they get chaperoned into the school itself;

- Do you like where the school is. For example, one school I visited was in a housing estate with clothes hanging down on the playground which personally turned me off.

- What bearing will send your kid to X school be when choosing a primary school e.g. if you go to the nursery of Kindy X, you get priority to Primary X.

- You may wish to think about your primary and work backways to find your kindy.


From my experience I suggest you should look outside the box and not just think about the actual school itself and other people's likes / dislikes. Think about what works for you and whether you just 'like' the feel of the school with plus points that suit you and your family.


A little story to finish that just about sums its up: When my son was interviewing for primary school last year, I was sitting at an international primary school waitiing for our turn to interview and a couple was sitting beside me talking to another couple about the same school my son was at. They described the school to the other couple and I was shocked what they were saying. To me, none of their comments was any of our experiences, none of what they said was similar to the teachers they talked about, the homework they are supposed to be given or the culture or ethos of the school. To me they had a totally different experience than us and I have nothing but praise for the school my child went to and feel he is well setup now for primary in September, albeit many people questioned why I would send him to this school when most of his friends were going to another kindy as their parents did before.


I hope this help and you manage to choose what suits your family, not what other's advise or see it throught their eyes. That's not to say consider what others say but don't base your choice on it. However, I guarantee whatever you choose, you will fall in love with it and love every thing your kid does there and realise the time and effort teachers in HK put into the kids and schools here is enormous.


Good luck.