Kindergarten with English&Putonghua program

[lili]

Hi,

I'm looking for a kindergarten for my 3 years old daughter. She speaks french and mandarin. Is there anyone who knows which kindergarten has Putonghua and English program? We're living in Kowloon Tong.

Thanks in advance for your help.

[mary_spc]

Hi,

My newphews attend Yew Chung in Kowloon Tong which has bilingual programs. The classes for the younger boys (age 2-3) are more English / Cantonese, while Mandarin is introduced gradually thru songs & play. But by the time they get to Primary1 and 2, Catonese gets replaced fully by Mandarin.

Also I beleive they have many different programs which you could look into.

[spsmok]

My daughter goes to Tutor Time in Kowloon Tong once a week for playgroup. For playgroup, 45 mins of the class is conducted in Putonghua and the other 45 mins in English.

Tutor Time now has 2 campuses in Kowloon Tong. You can call them for a tour of the school before you make your decision. Their website is www.tutortime.com.hk

[lili]

Thank you for your advice.
Now my daughter has choices between the kindergarten of Yew Chung, Tutor Time and Anfield. Do you know which one is better?

[lili]

Hi, Spsmok,

I went to Tutor Time yesterday and my daughter seems to enjoy a lot. My only concern is there is no school bus in Tutor Time. Kids need to take a private bus to school.
Do you know anyone taking this bus? Is it safe for kids?

[Sleuth]

Hi,

This will be slightly off subject, but at what age do kids start school in HK?

[spsmok]

Hi lili,

I bring my daughter to school myself, so I have no experience on kids taking school buses. But I've read several threads here where some parents have the same safety concern as you do. You might want to look it up.

Hi Sleuth,

In HK, kids attend K1 when they're 2 yrs 8 mths. At age 2, they can go to nursery which is just like a kindergarten setting. My daughter started going to playgroup when she's 1.5 yrs - only once a week though.

Some people think it's a bit too early to start school at 1.5 or even 2. But my daughter really loves it, and to her, it's just singing and playing with people other than me.

[Sleuth]

Spsmok,
That does seem early, but it is hard to argue with the results. Asians generally have no problem getting into the best schools in the US. I know this leaves me open to the memorization versus free-thinking argument, but we'll only be there for 5 years or so. Maybe this will combine the best of both worlds.
I see "playgroups" for even younger children on the site but I have been guessing those are more for moms.