Think International Kindergarten

HelloMoto

Hi,

Anyone will join Think - Kowloon Tong, Lower Nursey Class in Aug 07 ?

Seems most of the posts are not referring to the KLN Tong campus, can any parents please provide comments as my daughter has been admitted and I'm still having a bit of hesitation to join this school.....

IJJK

My kids are studying there. The parents and myself are very happy with the Chinese and English standard of the kids. The turnover rate is not high in KLN Tong campus, I am not sure the other campuses. You can pm me if you have any specific question.

IJJK

HelloMoto

Hi IJJK,

Thanks for your info.

My girl (2 years old now) is studying in Tutor Time's nursery now (3 days/week), and it seems that she is quite happy with the school.

The reasons that I am considering to change to another kinder is because:
(1) The school fee of TT is quite expensive
(HKD4300=3 days/week and HKD6500=5 days/week)
(2) I would prefer my daughter to study local primary school rather than international but would like her to acquire better language skills - English,  Madarin, Cantonese.
(3) THINK is closer to my home.  My maid can bring my girl to school by less than 5 mins walk.

As you may notice the campus of Think - KLN Tong is a bit old-flashioned when comparing to TT (my wife said it is already way better than Funful - Boundary St.), and also I'm worry about the standard of the teacher of Think.   Are your kids studying from LN -> UN -> K2/3 ?  Any comment about the teachers in the KLN Tong campus ?

When I was visiting the school some day in January 07, I figured out that the students are not having a desiganted class room for each class.  Am I right?  Is it good to do that?

What do you think of the environment of Think - KLN Tong?  I'm also worry about the busy traffic right in front of the main entrance of the school.

Many Thanks!      

minggrace

Hi,
I went to the Kowloon Tong campus before. Personally, I don't quite like the environment as it's very noisy (traffic) and it's too small to accommodate both primary school students and the kindergarten students. The only good thing I can see is that the school places much emphasis on Mandarin/Chinese learning as compared with the other international schools.

HelloMoto

IJJK

According to the parents of several graduates (kids are now in ESF, Yew Chung, Maryknoll, and Heep Yan primary), their kids can follow the pace and curriculum without any difficulty. Think starts Mandarin class (no more Cantonese class) from Reception (K2). The Chinese teacher motivates my son who is now in K3 to write and read. He writes weekly book report and diary by himself with interest.  For English, the teachers teach phonics starting from Reception. He reads Oxford Reading tree level 4 by himself, not really high as I did not spend much time with him to read.

Another thing I like is that they arrange a lot of activities for the kids, usually twice or three times a month without additional charge. For example, for K3 students, they visited CX's plane, and police station, fire station and horse riding school, orchestra performance in cultural center; K2 visited HK park, Ocean park....

Class size : 15 in UN, and 19 in K3
- with an experienced Chinese teacher and the Class teacher who is a NET. Some schools may assign a teaching assistant to a class teacher, but Think will arrange two experienced teachers to each class.

In terms of space and hardware, Think is not attractive. Another disadvantage is that if you woud like your girl to enrol famous primary school, e.g. DGS..., you might not have advantage.

IIJK

justjust

完全同意IJJK。

九龍塘朗思硬件講真毫不吸引(但也著實真的好過界限街方方樂趣 )﹐但勝在課程設計同軟件出色。如果你是著重語言發展(兩文三語)﹐朗思著實不錯﹐小小年紀約5/6歲﹐已經全部掌握得好好﹐甚至張部份大人比了下去﹗

HelloMoto

Hi JustJust & IJJK,

Many thanks for your info/comments.

As I'm quite concern on the language development of my girl (coz' my language skill - Chinese & English is poor), it seems Think shall meet my expectation.

One question would like to ask IJJK, is your kid studying in Bilingual or International class?  Are they sharing the same NET ?  Thx!

gegemok

Hi all,

I am considering the Lam Tin campus. Anyone can share your experience for this campus. Thanks

justjust

gegemok,

my kids attend classes in the lam tin campus.  any specific questions you would like to ask?

for us, Think works fine.  it is near our home, our kids are happy there.  never did they once cry when they go to school.  some parents complain that the teachers change quite frequently but we have witnessed only 2 changes in the last 3 years.  we are happy with the teachers and the course design, especially the loads of extra-curricular activities and projects which make learning much more fun and enjoyable.

there is an open area as kids' playground in the middle of the school campus. so it may be too hot in summer time and wet during rainy days.  however, it just gives some fresh air to the children rather than keeping them indoors all day long.

one thing you need to bear in mind is that the academic level of Think students are not as high as other highly regarded kinders as they place more emphasis on language development rather than doing maths or spelling vocabs.  even the principal and staff of Think admit this.  so when the children enter the popular-highly regarded local schools, they might need some time to adapt.

gegemok

justjust:

Thanks for your sharing.

I am considering between half day PN class and full day PN class for my son. What did you choose for your kids for their PNs class? Pls share. Thanks

justjust

gegemok,

for pre-nursery, I let them go half-day only.  they are still so small.

starting upper nursery (i.e. K1), I let them go full day, half day int'l stream, half day bilingual stream.

gegemok

justjust:

Thanks foir your info.

  

I want to ask ... how is the English standard of Think. Could your kids speak in Eng fruently?

Will you consider the Think Primary School? Or what is your plan for their Primary school? Pls share, thanks

justjust

gegemok,

as I said before, Think emphasizes on language development and I observe that Think students do speak fluent Cantonese, Putonghua and English.

my elder daughter will start primary school at ESF this Sep.  so it is likely that the little one will follow her path.

DMJ103

My son is currently studying in Think PN whole day. The class teacher is very caring. She calls me almost once every week to tell me what happened to my son, although I have never demanded that. More importantly, I think she cares about him, not just  fulfilling her duty. She also shows great patience when dealing with my kid.

Apart from that, my son enjoys going to school and he learns a lot in how to take care of himself, such as self feeding, drinking from a cup and etc.

I am satisfied with the school so far. If I have to say, the one drawback is Think is not as famous as some other very famous kinders, though I am not sure if that really has some kind of direct impact in applying to primary schools. But having said that, the fact that a lot of kids from Think got offers from EFS schools and other DSS schools pretty much tells you their academic standard.  

Hope it helps a bit.

gegemok 寫道:
justjust:

Thanks for your sharing.

I am considering between half day PN class and full day PN class for my son. What did you choose for your kids for their PNs class? Pls share. Thanks

bebemon

DMJ103:

When did your son start attending the whole day class? and Which campus you son is attending?

Thanks a lot.

bebemon

DMJ103

Hi bebemon,

My son is in Lam Tin Think. He started school in last Oct, half day at the beginning. But we want him to have more chances to socialising with other kids instead of staying home and playing toys alone with our domestice helper, I requested to change from half day to whole day, starting from Feb. It may sound like a bit too early to let a child that young to stay outside for a whole day, but the situation is so far so good.

bebemon

hi DMJ103,

I am intending to send my son to Lam Tin campus too. How do you think about the hygiene of the campus? Any comments on the teachers and the teaching method? Pls share, thanks

bebemon

psps

My son has been admitted to the lower Nursery class in Lam Tin too but he will join in Oct,2007 because he was born in Sept.  
I want to know about the school teachers and their teaching attitude.  Can anyone share their experience about this school?  

DMJ103

Regarding hygiene, I feel it is alright, though from time to time, parents complained about their kids were bit by mosquitos. It did happened to my son every now and then too, but as it is not so severe, it does not really concern me.

The school use thematic approach in teaching. So everything they learn (Eng, Chinese, songs, etc.) and do (art work, mini projects, out-of-school visits, etc.) evolves around a particular theme in a period of time. For example, X'mas, Chinese New Year and so on. That was once my son said "Chinese" out of the blue at home for a several times. My husband and I had not taught him that and we were sure that came from the school. Later on, from his handbook, I knew he was learning about Chinese New Year at that time, maybe that's where the word "Chinses" came from.

They also use activity approach, which I do like. They organised a lot of activities for pupils, e.g. visiting flower market before Chinese New Year, visiting a home of a schoolmate who lives nearby, Halloween party, X'mas mini concert and so on.

They also encourage reading by lending every kid a book every week.

Hope it help to let you have a clearer picture of the school.

bebemon 寫道:
hi DMJ103,

I am intending to send my son to Lam Tin campus too. How do you think about the hygiene of the campus? Any comments on the teachers and the teaching method? Pls share, thanks

bebemon