kindergarten review

[Neha]

yes u can get it at dymocks or u could get it free sometimes from B2B or if u dont get it call 29736131 and they will send u the copy

[rani]

We have a list of schools here:

Kowloon
List of Preschools and Kindergartens in Kowloon and New Territories

Hong Kong
List of Preschools and Kindergartens on Hong Kong Island

[wwong68]

Depending on whether you are putting your kid to a local or international school. If you read chinese and want to know more about the local school system. Eugene Club has an annual review on the kindergartens. You can get it in any local newstand or Eugene Club. But most schools in HK do need to send in their applications a year ahead. At least the more pouplar ones that I know.

[Konradsmom]

unfortunately in HK, if you decide to join then local stream then which kindy your kids go to has some influence on which primary schools you get into, and to be honest, there are not a huge number of local schools which I would like to put my kids in....

I wish it is diff here in Hk but thats the reality ( as I have been told by a number of parents !)

[carang]

sorry, i still don't buy into all of that. if you spend time with your child and teach your child and take your child out, join occasional playgroup/gym whatever classes, you should NOT have any problems getting into a primary school. it is NOT where your child "studied" (it is kindergarten afterall) that is important in interviews... what IS important is confidence, oral ability, aural ability, understanding, confidence, confidence, and confidence.

at least that is my experience after teaching young children in hk for the past 14 years...

i do know that many local parents believe that the only ways for your child to develop the above qualities come from attending school.

[thanka2]

depends on the school. we applied for the gov't voucher in january and once we received it in May (?) we sent the application to my son's school. he was admitted in september. we LOVE his school and would highly recommend it to anyone. it is a local school but they have a lot of expat children. the language of instruction is cantonese with a few classes in english.

we only went to see a couple of kindies in our area at the time and knew instantly when we went into his school that that was the school we wanted. it was very laid back, not stressful and the kids looked happy!

i know a lot of parents really stress out about finding a kindergarten, but i think it is really unnecessary and only plays into the system. it is, afterall, just kindergarten... it's not going to affect their entrance into Oxford or Cambridge or something like that.

again, just my opinion, and i know there are plenty of people in hk that disagree with me on that...

good luck!

Hi cara,

Which school is your son going to? How much are the fees? It's really great that you qualify for the voucher scheme with this school. Do you know when the earliest is that you can apply for the voucher?

t2

[carang]

because my son's birthday falls in february (as does my daughter's), we had to wait until he was almost 3 before we could apply. i think they have to be 2y8m by sept 1 to apply in january of that year for the following september...

does that make sense?

so, if your little one will be 2yr8m by sept 1 (or is it 30?) 2009, then you could have applied back in january this year.

my kids miss the deadline by 5 & 4 weeks respectively, so they have to wait another year to start school. when the smallest kids in my son's class were 2y8m, my son was one of the eldest at 3y7m.


ANYONE here on a work visa, with a valid hkid or a permanent resident can apply for the voucher.

it is ONLY able to be used at kindergartens that follow LOCAL curriculum AND charge less than a certain amount per month.

the way it works for us is thus:

the fees at my son's school are $XXXX. the gov't pays a HUGE portion of the fees to the school for us. we pay the remainder. for us, that comes to $160/month. some other schools will be more. it just depends on their fees. you'll have to ask around if they accept the gov't voucher and how much the fees are.

we are EXTREMELY happy with the arrangement.

he goes to LOK YUK KINDERGARTEN in sai kung town.

[fingerscrossed]

yes, as Cara has said, it depends on when your child was born. my son was born in Jan so he won't be going to K1 until he's 3yrs8mths, which i'm delighted about. i personally wouldn't want him to be doing formal schooling any earlier than that. i also know another mum whose daughter was born in november and qualifies to enter school this coming year, but the mum has decided to delay that one year and let her be the eldest in the class.

a lot of kindergartens welcome school visits any day of the year (except summer hols) so it's just a matter of ringing them up and arranging a visit. also, most of them have their own websites so just do a bit of googling.