Education options and worry that son is too young

[Peggy&Tony]

My son is 14 months old and my wife is considering sending him to playschool / nursery. I worry that he will be too young for the coming September 2011 (1 yr and 10 months) but too old for the following 2012 (2 yr 10 months). Should we consider nursery or just wait and skip to kindergarten.

Also, we live in N.T. so we are unsure about which N.T. playschool / nursery is best. And, my son is mixed so I'd like him to be in an environment with a mix of western and Chinese.

Any thought's / recommendations?

[lottieclee]

You can still apply for nursery, but most schools will offer you a place but won't let you start till your son turns 2 years. I think according to the categorizations in HK, they would let your son start kindergarten in 2012.

There are quite a few good playgroup and nurseries in N.T. Which area are you looking at? Informal groups like regular moms and children get-together are good enough for the little ones. They learn to interact, share and play. We used to do that with our children and the parents take turn to read stories and sing songs to make it seem a little more "structured". That's all they do at school anyways.

[lesliefu]

playgroups are nice for them to learn how to interact with others and learn how to share, make friends (or at least play in the safe room nicely with others)....it HAS it's benefits too.

I wouldn't skip nursery all together - there are benefits too:

1) does the kindergarten you eventually want your child to go to have a nursery? if so, the earlier you enter, the easier it will be for your kid (as there will be more spaces)
2) it looks good of your kids application when applying for Kindergarten - having said that though, as long as you fill it up with activities of sorts, it's OK - it's just better than leaving that space blank and then having to find the principal to explain that your kid did in fact do a lot of things during that year he was in nursery
3) if you don't have time to bring him to classes or they are not conveniently located then it would be a nice easy way to do things, that's all.
4) learn that there is someone called a teacher and you should listen to them, not just your mommy and daddy.

[yonge]

This website allows you to search by area and provides a brief profile of each kindergarten: http://www.chsc.hk/kindergarten/en/index.htm

Kindergarten made a huge difference for my children. Having grown up in the States where I didn't start school until I was 5, I can see how much more stimulated, socially-skilled and mature my children are compared to me at that age. Most of all, they LOVE it!

[0ze_Kid]

Agree with others.

Rules are adhered to in HK so whatever the cut off date is for your child then that is when they will start school (I have a Dec baby (youngest in the class) and a Jan baby (oldest) and was not able to ask to 'hold' off a year for the Dec baby, she had to start with all the other children born in her year).

Playgroup is a wonderful socialisation tool and prep for school and you can find some that are parent accompanied so that you get to attend with them.

You will be surprised how much changes with DS over the next 12 months but it is important to start thinking about it now.

Good luck with all.

[Zenith_Teacher]

Hi, I am a kindergarten teacher who also teaches Nursery classes. 1 year 10 months is ok for nursery and its not too young.

From observation students who have not attended nursery fall behind in kindergarten quickly and because most students attended nursery the teacher would not have the time to spend 1 on 1 time with your child. It will also cause him or her to cry less. New students will cry for weeks when coming to school and will not learn until he or she stops.