i suddenly changed my mind, anyone can share?

蜜蜜

my daughter is a sep2006 girl, she was accepted by sacred heart canossian kindergarten, but suddenly, i realized that i can afford letting her study in ESF (very sorry that before, i thought i can't afford any of the IS and so i didn't even check), so i strongly hope that she can get a place in ESF kindergarten in sheung wan, will that be too late? or any suggestion for me, so that my girl can easily get into ESF in primary? should i put her into an internation kindergarten first while ESF kindergarten not accepting her at this moment? or let her study in sacred heart and wait for ESF kindergarten? is that too difficult to get into ESF kindergarten for such late application?

[ 本帖最後由 蜜蜜 於 09-6-2 02:52 編輯 ]

蜜蜜

moreover,  i've called esf kinder this morning and they said i can still send in the application for k1, they will put me on waitlist. however, i'm thinking that should i put my daughter in any of the international kindergarten or still study in sacred heart until primary? my daughter talk and think naturally in english (even dreaming in english), but i worry that once she get into shck with such limited english lessons, her english standard must drop after 3 years, any opinion from any of u? i really need some suggestion, pls help!!

lulusing

Try ESF kindergarten (Wu Kai Sha). Consider: is it far away from you? Good luck.

emmamay

If you plan to send your kid to int'l school in the future, do not do not let her study in local tradional kindergarten.
You must send her to a proper int'l preschool. That's the only way to keep up her English level.

oooray

echo with lulusing.
ESF WuKaiSha is probably the one and only one chance get on the ESF boat at this moment. I was not full a few months ago, but places will be filling up soon when August is coming soon.Take immediate action!

Other ESF kinder (Sheung Wan, Abacus, Tsing Yi) will never reject your application but as a Cat. 2 applicant I guess u will have no chance for the rest ESF kindergarten. (Don't forget Cat 1 applicants always on the top of the waiting list even if they apply late). Stil worthy to pay HK$300 to wait if you are allowed to apply both WKS and Sheung Wan.

Many threads here were discussing for ESF primary admission priorities.
Non ESF kinder will have less chance to have interview. It is the rule of the ESF game.

Studying in a local kinder for 2 years may weaken your daughter's english ability but will strengthen her Chinese...keeping a chance to go back to the local system;
Studying in a non-ESF IS kindergarten for sure will be improving here english ability to meet ESF primary interview requirement...but the first blockade is whether you would have a chance for interview.
The worst scenario is that your daughter is fluent in English in K2 but has no chance to have an interview, and her Chinese standard to too low and will be very hard for her to going back to local stream...
always preparing for the worst before thinking the best outcome.

Action is louder than Speech. Take action now! gogogogogo...

meipo28

My ultimate target is also Int'l primary school.  But I know the chance is slim. So could you enlighten me how to prepare for the worst scenario?  

1. Enrol into real Int'l kinder and home teaching Chinese  or
2. Enrol into a local kinder with a lot of exposure of English + PTH (eg. Victoria).  At the same time, join different English speaking courses / activities to boost English fluency.

Thanks.

原帖由 oooray 於 09-6-2 11:10 發表
echo with lulusing.
ESF WuKaiSha is probably the one and only one chance get on the ESF boat at this moment. I was not full a few months ago, but places will be filling up soon when August is coming s ...

蜜蜜

原帖由 oooray 於 09-6-2 11:10 發表
echo with lulusing.
ESF WuKaiSha is probably the one and only one chance get on the ESF boat at this moment. I was not full a few months ago, but places will be filling up soon when August is coming s ...

since i live in stanley, although esf WKS is the only chance of onboarding to "esf boat", however, it's nearly impossible for me to get her to school. then that means, i will have no chance of getting in esf kinder in these 2 years. so, if i aim to let her in esf primary, even the chance of getting an interview is narrow, i still shouldn't let her study in sacred heart, right?? any international kindergarten will be better than sacred heart, as studying sacred heart will surely weakened her ability in communicating in english and that esf will never consider her. besides, i heard from others that tutor time or some other famous international kindergartens (like anfield) had most students (saying 90%) got into esf in primary, is that true? should i pay $6000 for 3 years to tutor time and get a chance of getting into esf primary? how about woodland pre-school?? any of u have idea where finally their students can go in primary? thx for helping me, and pls do give more suggestion to me, thx!!

[ 本帖最後由 蜜蜜 於 09-6-2 18:48 編輯 ]

momom

If you live in Stanley, your school zone will be Quarry Bay School.  And you can try real international school instead of local kindergarten.
You can try starters school, small world, wooland, tutor time.

蜜蜜

原帖由 momom 於 09-6-2 19:09 發表
If you live in Stanley, your school zone will be Quarry Bay School.  And you can try real international school instead of local kindergarten.
You can try starters school, small world, wooland, tutor t ...

thx! but i'm wondering if u know about a small kindergarten in stanley which is called st teresa's kindergarten (http://www.teresakinder.com/html/general_information.htm) does it consider as an international kindergarten and anyone knows more about the future path after k1 & k2 in this kinder?

Pianokc

Sacred Heart 's graduates have very good english too!

I would let her go to SH and then put in your application in ESF, if you are that keen about it.

However, I believe a child should have a good chinese foundation, at least for kindergarten, and then move onwards to Intl' school for primary or secondary if that's the right path.

During your years at the kindergarten that is more local, since your child is natural and native in English, all you need to do is supplement with English courses and your child will remain advanced and excel in the English skills in comparison to others.

Many ESF kids are local, and I don't find their English much better than the ones who are attending local kindergarten but have English supplementary lessons.

In Primary years, you will see a big difference. Hence, I think it's good to have a chinese local kindy, then go to Int'l primary school as an option.

I did the same thing with my daughter, my daughter's chinese level is higher than me after 3 years at KV, and now we move on to the int'l school system.

She is native in English, and now her Chinese writing and reading are very advanced, but daily speaking and daily usage, still a second language for her (chinese).

Good luck.

Onsen

My child used to study at Sacred Heart Canossian Kindergarten too!  I found the present principal not up to par and the studying is too much into the traditional Chinese mode.  My child used to have very good teachers.  However, the new teacher that the new principal hired was so bad that we just dropped the school.  So far, we have no regret in doing so.

Pianokc

Hmm, my friend's daughter is there, and they are from Canada. Very good comments so far.

Traditional- yes, SH is a very traditional school.
I don't know about the kindy, but the people I know who are graduates of the school (finished secondary)... have good english, and are very strong academic background.

To each its own I guess.

[ 本帖最後由 Pianokc 於 09-6-2 20:18 編輯 ]

oooray

原帖由 meipo28 於 09-6-2 15:12 發表
My ultimate target is also Int'l primary school.  But I know the chance is slim. So could you enlighten me how to prepare for the worst scenario?  

1. Enrol into real Int'l kinder and home teaching C ...

There are still many IS (other than) in Hong Kong. not too difficult to get a place from one of them if u strive for it. Send more application forms to those u can afford should be the best way;
If only ESF is your ultimate target, option 2 can avoid the "worst scenario" i mentioned; studying in local stream is not the end of the world...esp you have good english after intensive training;
personally i don't think studying in IS kinder and home teaching Chinese works..maybe mine are not smart enough.

oooray

原帖由 蜜蜜 於 09-6-2 18:20 發表


since i live in stanley, although esf WKS is the only chance of onboarding to "esf boat", however, it's nearly impossible for me to get her to school. then that means, i will have no chance of getti ...

If ESF is your only target, let's spend HK$300 to apply the kindergarten first.
Think later after u have got an offer.
The rest of non-kindergarten are good but all are the same in term of chance for getting Year 1 interview from ESF school. (lower priority than ESF kindergarten).
don't rely upon "historical" hit rate of any kindergartens. Situation is changing every year and competition is getting keener and keener.

蜜蜜

原帖由 oooray 於 09-6-3 00:25 發表

If ESF is your only target, let's spend HK$300 to apply the kindergarten first.
Think later after u have got an offer.
The rest of non-kindergarten are good but all are the same in term of chance for ...

in that case, u suggest me not to apply any other international kindergartens other than esf, and just let her study in SH and see if any chance of getting an interview when primary 1? but once my daughter starts her school, her english standard might drop and when she return home, i don't know if she still want to talk to me in english. i did teach my daughter putonghua at home, and i think she can really learn from what i taught so far, that's why i'm thinking of putting her into any international school this year if any of them accept her (i know it's not easy, since it's really very late). if really none of them accept her, then i have nothing to think of and let her stay in where she is at the moment.

蜜蜜

原帖由 Pianokc 於 09-6-2 19:30 發表
Sacred Heart 's graduates have very good english too!

I would let her go to SH and then put in your application in ESF, if you are that keen about it.

However, I believe a child should have a good c ...

i'm from SH, i do believe that SH can teach a good english standard student but not a native one. besides, the teaching methods of hk traditional schools really make me disappointing, i don't want to waste all my time in studying with my daughter in stead of going everywhere to explore herself, that's why i want her to get in IS once i know i can afford one of them.

[ 本帖最後由 蜜蜜 於 09-6-3 07:46 編輯 ]

popolung

study in any IS kinder, then also put your kid in waitlist of any ESF kinder. Somehow the queue may not be as long as you think, just try. Still have plenty of time to get within the term of K1. Teach her good English yourselves too for the time being.

Pianokc

Some IS kindergartens are "terrible."

I wouldn't just go to ANY.

蜜蜜

原帖由 popolung 於 09-6-3 01:22 發表
study in any IS kinder, then also put your kid in waitlist of any ESF kinder. Somehow the queue may not be as long as you think, just try. Still have plenty of time to get within the term of K1. Teach ...

thx! this is what i'm going to do. i just want to try my best, if turn out no IS kinder accepting her, then i have nothing to say, at least i tried.

蜜蜜

原帖由 Pianokc 於 09-6-3 03:04 發表
Some IS kindergartens are "terrible."

I wouldn't just go to ANY.

thx for reminding me! of course, i'll choose carefully and let her go into those with good comments, if it is too "terrible", that's no way that i put my daughter into it.