一般收入的家庭會否讓子女讀國際小學

yyyy

Kareese,

妳都講得對架, 呢間IS都幾Local, 不過又唔可以話佢只bear一個IS的名, 話到底佢都有國家背景的, 不是為了賺錢, 相反國家要投資很多錢落間學校處..

講深一層, 我都覺得Local school有一定的好處, 程度夠深, 特別是小學, 所以無論去到邊個國家升學都無有怕…

假如local school沒有做不完的巧課; 沒有什麼也罸什麼也寫手冊; 沒有升精英班的壓力; 沒有要考無數extra certs為要入一間好中學的壓力; 沒有一年考3次試的壓力;沒有5-6年班要考呈分試的壓力; 沒有無數的補救; 英文可以說得流利, 國語可以說得流利,巧課不多又不用重覆抄寫;學校可以提供足夠的課外活動而不用舟車勞動;每年有提供擴闊視野的活動如出外旅行;home-stay計劃…我一定會讓自己的小朋友讀local school. 我家只是一個普通的家庭, 沒有大屋也沒有靚車, 有壓力係要教導佢成為一個懂得的孩子,不要與同學比較, 幸好佢學校比較之風不明顯, 可能是一山還有一山高, 有錢的父母也知道比他們更有錢的人多的是…又或者這個國家的人本來就比較踏實, 比較看重小朋友的成績!

雖然local school有無數的好處, 最後都選擇用錢買一個快樂的童年給她! 最重要是給她一個愛閱讀的環境, 讓她成為一個有深度的人! (Hope)  

Kareese 寫道:
yyyy,

What IS is your child studying at ? The IS that my girls are studying have no textbooks, no homework, no test, no exam, no dictation. They just bring back some reading books and it just take about a few min to finish reading. So they really have too much leisure time after school which make me headache. I'm now planning to let them join the after school Chinese lesson so that they will not always fight for the computer games every day or watch TV which both are not good for their eyes.

As mentioned by you, it seems to me that your IS is just like a local school but bear the name "international"

Ruby1219

Yes, I strongly prefer IS over local school. My son studies in IS since pre-school till now (P.2). He's always happy and self-contented and he never compares himself to the others. That's becos' IS always respect and appreciate every individual. Every kid is a unique individual that we should respect his/her own different qualities, strengths and weaknesses. Teachers are focusing on children's individual progress and improvement, they compare the same kid versus his/her past records, rather than with the other kids. My son always say "I'm better today at XXX", but he won't say "I'm better than who who...." And, he is a very happy kid, almost everyday in his diary, he writes "This is a good day" "This is my best day".  I would credit this to the appreciative culture and happy environment of IS.

Ruby

RJSM 寫道:
Annie&Jimmy,

If you want your child to enjoy learning and develop self confidence, IS is a better choice for you. In general IS provides a more caring environment for children and shows more appreciation to a student's all-round strengths, e.g. social maturity, creative ability etc. Local schools tend to focus too much on academic, and hence homework pressure etc.

Development of English language and reading habit is stronger in IS but Chinese ( if available) and Maths levels are generally lower. But balancing all factors and if cost is not a major concern, I would recommend IS since a happy childhood is very important.  

OKMa

Dear yyyy
I totally agree with what you said in this message.  Originally I also sent my child to your child's school as well but finally turned down as I was afraid that I still had to face the pressure coming from this school as it provided a little bit difficult level than others.  
Anyway, I still love your school.

Mrschan1980

Hi everyone,

Q1:  "一般收入的家庭會否讓子女讀國際小學"

I also want to know if children aren't come from rich families or their parents are not professional or their english is fair, can they are eligible to study in IS.

Q2:  "Apart from School fees, any other fees?

Q3:  "Any comment of CAIS?  Is it hard to entre?  Do parents need to have very good english / educational level?  

Please give details answers.  Many thanks

yyyy

如果由幼稚園開始讀就好d, 好似我地覺得d讀名校的學生好辛苦, 但如果佢地一開始就在那里讀可能就沒有很大的感覺了!

OKMa 寫道:
Dear yyyy
I totally agree with what you said in this message.  Originally I also sent my child to your child's school as well but finally turned down as I was afraid that I still had to face the pressure coming from this school as it provided a little bit difficult level than others.  
Anyway, I still love your school.

RJSM

Annie and Jimmy,

Re. cost other than school fees - it varies with schools. But do pay attention to the requirement of debenture. For some schools, the amount can be huge ( as much as $500,000!) but the sum will be returned to parents when a child leaves the school. If debenture is not available, parents will have to pay the capital levy ($10,000 plus or minus per year), but no refund. But not all schools require that (e.g. ESF schools), so you better check out the websites of the IS.

You should also budget for possible school overseas trips (but usually not compulsory), school bus, lunch fees if you have no time to prepare packed lunch for your child. In one of the IS I know, the lunch fee is as much as $42, which I think is unreasonable.

Re. IS students being admitted to local universities - the answer is yes. These days local universities admit students from a wide variety of sources, not just those who sit for the local  A Level exams. IS students usually have better English ability and they are generally very welcomed. But students from IS may have difficulties in coping with the science and engineering programmes in local universities due to the level of their maths and science training.

Rjsm

RJSM

Hi Mrs Chan1980,

I can answer your Q1 and Q2.

Q1 -- What IS cares more is whether a child can get English language support from their parents, which is very important to their learning since English is the medium of teaching. So there may be a general tendency of favoring children from middle class families. But I won't say that if your English is not good, you should not send your child to IS. I think it is very important for parents to develop a child's reading habit at an early age, so that they don't rely that much on parents as they progress through the curriculum. Good reading ability is crucial to success in learning. So please encourage your child to read and help him or her develop a love for books. The benefits will be enormous!
Q2 -- see my response to Annie and Jimmy.

Rjsm

WYmom

Very much agree with Annie123, the Maths and Science concepts taught by IS are very deep and clear, which is really important for further studies in secondary and thereafter.  The kids raise numerous questions when exploring those topics, which stimulate further interest and research.  Their levels are not lower than local students.  People just like to compare the speed of numerical calculations, and never consider that P.1 kids in IS are in fact K3 in local schools!!

Mrschan1980

Thanks Rjsm.

My husband and I'll try my very best to train my BB (even though my husband is very afraid of speaking Eng).  Hopefully she will find her own (positive) ways in her studying and will not fully depend on her parents.  

May I ask if your child / children are studying in IS.  Which school?  Actually, I'm looking for few good and affortable IS.  The only one I know is CAIS in Kowloon City / To Kwa Wan District.  Have you (and other MaMa) ever heard this IS?  

In fact, I had left a few questions in another topic (CAIS primary parents) in BK the same days I posted my last message here.  They don't respond to me yet.  Do you know where / how I can get more information about this IS or any other IS, except looking at the school webpages?  I eager to hear some objective comments for those IS.

Thanks again.

Mrschan1980

If everyone of you don't mind, please share to the BK reader, how much you pay for your children to studying in IS  (kindergarten / primary / secondary) each month, including school regular fees, lunch fees or any other necessary expenses?

Thanks alot.

Sweetiebarney

Mrschan,

You may find the information in a book called "全港18間國際學校精選" (荷花出版).   

bigbighei

hi 各位mami,

我都好想知, 請各位多多指教!!!

Mrschan1980 寫道:
If everyone of you don't mind, please share to the BK reader, how much you pay for your children to studying in IS  (kindergarten / primary / secondary) each month, including school regular fees, lunch fees or any other necessary expenses?

Thanks alot.