澳州墨爾本寄宿家庭??

Tina2004

Hi JimVan

Our family has just moved to Sydney last Nov.  We have 2 children -  8 year old son and 5 year old daughter. Both of them are studying in a public school. My son is in Year 3 and my daughter is in Kindy.

My son had just finished Year 1 in HK  last July. When we moved to Sydney, we let him try the final month of Year 2.  At first, I wasn't sure whether he could cope but both the class teacher and the principal said he was find and suggested us to let him proceed to Year 3 according to his age.

JimVan, do you think we had made the right decision? I've just found out that it's quite competitive to get into a good high school (selective high school). Many parents registered their children at different private schools just in case they can't go to selective high school. In this case, will it be hard for my son to catch up with the OC class exam and selective high school exam?

I was shocked that people had little confidence in the government high schools here.  Is the situation in Victoria the same? Can you share your opinions with me please.

Thank you!

Tina2004

Hi JimVan

Thanks for your encouraging comments.

I don't think we can afford the expensive school fee (A$16-18K) of those famous private high schools.  The school fee for private Catholic colleges are generally lower (A$8-10K) but we don't want to get our kids baptised just for that reason.

Therefore, we just hope that our kids can do well in their studies and  go to one of the good public high schools.  Yet, many parents are concerned about the discipline problems in public high schools.  What do you think, JimVan?

How long have you been in Australia? Did you come from HK?  Were your kids born in Australia? It's good to share my concerns with you as you're so positive.  Most of the Asian parents I met put a lot of pressure on the kids and themselves to ensure their children do well.

My daughter is in Kindy now and she has no problems fitting in.  She is already speaking English to me and I have to remind her to speak Cantonese at home. For my son, I put him in a tutoring course to improve his English and he is adjusting fairly well.  However, he does complain about not doing well in English and sport from time to time.  

Thanks for your sharing and look forward to hearing more from you!

Tina

Tina2004

Hi JimVan

I agree to your views on teaching our kids the right values. I do believe their academic results are not as important as their behaviours.  

When they are kids we can still teach and guide them.  When they become teenagers the peer group pressure will outweigh our influence.  So we should really treasure their childhood!

JimVan, do your kids go to Chinese school to learn Cantonese or Mandarin? Is it just for conversations or reading as well? What other after school activities do they join? My kids join swimming, tennis and piano once a week.

I read your blog with your kids' photos. They look so smart and lovely! Are you the mum or the dad? Just curious!

Thanks again for your sharing.

Tina

Tina2004

Hi Bamum8

I'd like to send you a Chinese message but my Chinese typing is not good.

Is your daughter ready to continue her studies in Australia? There must be a lot of things to prepare.  JimVan was right, it's better to sort out which school your daughter is going before finding a place to live. That's also what we did here in Sydney.

All the best to you and your daughter.  Please keep sharing!

Tina2004

Hi Bamum

I understand how you feel now. You must be thinking a lot about your daughter's future.  You are evaluating the costs and benefits of all options. You want to make the right choice for your daughter.  You want to make the transition as smooth as possible for your daughter.......

I've gone through a similar process and believe me it's quite stressful and I had some sleepless nights before we made our final decisions.

Now, here we are in Syndey and we're happy and have no regrets to come here although the life here is not as easy as I thought.

I guess your situation is different from us.  We're lucky that we could come as a family.  I guess you are worried about your daughter as she will need to look after herself.  

Are you close to your daughter? I believe you have spent a lot of time to talk to her about your decision.  Make sure she understands you're doing what you believe is good for her. She may miss her friends in HK. She may have a lot of worries too. So it's good that you're coming over with her!

I wish you all the best with your choices!

Tina2004

Hi JimVan

A friend my mine recommended a Chinese school to me.  It's called Ambassadors Multicultural Chinese School. They only have Mandarin classes (once a week on Sunday). As it is subsided by a Christian Church, the tuition is  just $140 for half year.  I'm thinking of enrolling my kids to the course.  If they find it difficult, I may look for Cantonese school later.

My son has been learning piano for almost 3 years and my daughter has just started. The tuition for piano is quite expensive here (A$30 per 30 mins, double that of HK). Most of the extra-curricular activities are very expensive here, considering we have 2 kids!  

I'm also a full-time mother and my husband is the only income earner. So we have to monitor our expenses and try to save as much as we can!

By the way, how is the property market in Melbourne? The properties in Sydney are sooooo expensive!

Thanks for sharing!

Tina2004

Hi ngmammy

I was so happy to read your message that I couldn't wait to write back to you. I'd rather leave my kids to play with themselves and go to bed a bit later. It's still school holiday anyway, ha!

You're right, we have so many things in common.  How did you adjust your lifestyle from a working mum in HK to a homemaker in Australia? From what you told me I can tell you are a very positive mother and you must have settled down very nicely. For me, I've been a full-time mum for almost 4 years now.  So it's not that difficult for me except I have to improve my cooking,ha!

I'm also happy to share with you that our family has never been so close before.  As my husband used to travel a lot when he worked in HK. Now, as he doesn't need to be away from home, he can spend a lot more time with the kids.

Ngmammy, thank you for sharing your insights about the education here.  So your son is now in Year 4 and your daughter is in Kindy, right?  Our kids are at North Sydney Demonstration School. What about yours?

We chose this school because of its multi-cultural environment.  The school really respects different cultures and they offer ESL lessons to new migrants.
The students there are very active and cheerful !

I can't tell how much I appreciate your sharing.  It's so easy to be influenced by those ambitious parents. I should relax more and let our kids have a happy childhood here!

By the way, we just came back from a 15 mins walk from the newsagent.  It's so quiet here at night!

I'd better get back to the kids for the bedtime talk!

Cheers,
Tina

Tina2004

Hi ngmammy

I understand exactly what you meant by giving your children the intimate care from their mummy!

I was fortunate to have a maid since my son was born  for almost 8 years.  It made my life so much easier! Over the last few months since we came here, I found myself so busy with the kids' activities and domestic chores that I had little time for myself.

When I was in HK I would arrange time to keep fit like playing tennis and doing aerobics.  I would meet friends for lunch and tea and I would meet parents and do voluntary work at my son's school.   However, I tended to leave my little girl with the maid who slept with her every night.

Now, here's the trade off... I give up the free time but I gain the intimacy with my kids especially my daughter. Also, my husband is now much more involved in the kids' activities and the housework (he's a handy man who enjoys fixing things and he's proud of that).  He also enjoys his 9 to 5 job here although it doesn't give him the sense of "high authority and responsibilities" he used to get from his previous job.  Again, it's the trade off, less responsibilities mean less pressure and less workload. Is that right, ha!

Guess what, we went to Hurstville Public School and met the Deputy Principal last July before we selected the school for our kids.  Wow, we were so surprised with the high percentage of Asian, particularly Chinese students there.  I heard that its academic standard is very high with hard-working students and parents!

My husband and I chose the North Shore to settle down as this area is safe and nice.  We live in North Sydney and one of the advantages is I don't have to drive as the trains and buses are very convenient and accessible.  What about you? Do you drive? My husband drives to work and I drive on weekend occasionally.

Yes, we always go the parks on weekends but would like to go to the beaches more often.  Any good suggestions for weekend activities?

I'm also getting too "long air", ha!

Bye now.