Posted by
elane
19 yrs ago
My son was just offered a spot in Kiangsu Chekiang's nursery. He is only 2 and I was not planning on sending him to school until 3 or 4. However, he was offered a spot to start this Sept.. so I am having to decide really quick... by tomorrow actually or they will offer the spot to someone else. My only motivation for sending him would be for him to learn Mandarin. If it was in English, I would not even consider sending him to school yet. My biggest concerns.. is 2 too young to start school? Is the 1 to 14 ratio offered there reasonable for my 2 year old? Also, any general comments about what you've heard of Kiangsu's nursery program or your child's experiences in their nursery program would be greatly appreciated!
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My daughter goes to Kiangsu, been there since K2. To me the school satisfies all our language needs as our focus is on Chinese and the English standard is reinforced at home. My daughter now speaks lovely Mandarin. The school adopts an old fashioned approach in a lot of things, some teachers in the primary section still adopt the old PRC model in teaching, but there is no right or wrong, what matters is effectiveness. To me, I accept a degree of discipline as I believe it is essential especially for Chinese language training. Some teachers on the contrary are very modern, caring and give the children a lot of room to be creative. The campus is not ideal but we can accept that. A lot of children in the school come from very good family background. On the whole, I think Kiangsu is a unique school with very good standards and caring teachers.
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elane
19 yrs ago
Thank you Passon for your input. I really appreciate it! Sounds like Kiangsu is really quite good. What do you think of the ratio of 1 teacher to 14 students for 2 year olds.. do you think it is reasonable,especially with most 2 year olds being still quite dependent? I worry about the needs of my child and others being neglected ie. overlookig improper behavior from students(for exp. hitting and other aggressive behavior), not changing a wet or soiled diaper in a timely manner, ignoring comforting a sad and homesick child, etc. Any other thoughts from you and others would be greatly appreciated as my deadline is today. Thanks in advance!
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elaine, just for info, Woodland Montessiri I think has something like 1 to 8 or 9 ratio for that age gap... So 1 for 14 for 2 yeard olds (most not potty-trained I guess!) seems a bit high...
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From what I understand, each class has a teacher and an assistant, if they have two adults to 14 children, I would say it is good enough. My daugther went to Kiangsu when she was 4 so I can't comment on the nursery section. My daughter is on the same school bus with two little American girls, 2 and 3 when I first met them, they are so cute and well mannered, they speak fluent Mandarin which is so impressive. In Kiangsu, you get the bonus of small school environment which you don't get in a lot of large international schools. You get to communicate with the teacher about your child easily and directly, which is also something I like about the school.
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May be too late for me to comment. But anyway, my son was in KCS nursery last school term. I didn't count how many children were there in the class though but know for sure that there were 3 teachers and an assistant in the Nursery. Agreed with previous poster on the small and friendly school environment. I do go to school very often and teachers (my son's and my daughter's teacher) are very approachable.
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elane
19 yrs ago
Thanks everyone for your input. HC the scissors and hot water scenario is a little worriesome to me. Passon and jamiekoh, it is good to hear that the school has a small school atmosphere and teachers are approachable. Good to hear too that kids are actually learning mandarin there. Jamiekoh, would you please provide feedback regarding if the following needs were adequately addressed in your son's classroom?: toileting, comforting sad children, addressing aggressive behaviors and overall safety issues (ie. making sure kids don't handle dangerous items or run off). I managed to get an extension for my decision until Sat. so any input would still be greatly appreciated! Thanks!!
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elane
19 yrs ago
Thanks everyone for your input! I decided I will send my child to Kiangsu after all. I decided that if it doesn't work out, I can always pull him from school. Thought I should give it a try at least.
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sks00
19 yrs ago
Hi elane,
My girl started study at KCS (pm class) when she come 2. However, she got sick frequently, I think it is due to the big class size and do not have enough time for nap.Therefore, after 2 months, I decide not to let her go to KCS and turn to playgroup which is only 10 child max.
The mandarin teaching approach should be good, my girl love to listen to the CD which contains the mandarin songs. Those her spoken mandarin is not good, but she could understand the meaning when others talk with her in mardarin.
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hoeve
19 yrs ago
Hi
My girl go to KCS N1 class last academic year. She adapted well to the school and the coming Spetember she will go to the K1 class. I think it is just fine for a 2 years old to explose to a new language environment. We didn't speak any Mandarin at home but she can still pick up the language quickly.
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