Victoria or Small World?

小燕子2011

Which one would you choose?

elmostoney

Depends on what you want for your child.  Victoria is academically more intensive (and more homework), has a good Chinese program, and if you plan to move on to their primary school, definitely better facilities.  The recent K2 program is teaching a child about amphibians already and they have to learn to write characters such as 陸地.  Victoria Kindergarten is designed in such a way that their students will have a choice to move on to traditional local schools.  

Small World is more play and less academics in the traditional sense.  If your child only goes to one kindy and it's Small World, the child will have a tough time integrating with the local primary system.  The child, however, will definitely have a happy childhood and caring environment.  My daughter was once at Victoria for two months, and I wouldn't say that they are exactly caring and loving to a sensitive and new child.

Having said that, I just learned that they are already teaching multiplication in the second term for the current Year 1 students in Victoria Primary vs. in past years, multiplication was taught in Year 2.  Drama was taught in Year 2 before, but now they start the kids in Year 1.  Victoria is definitely moving towards the path of stronger academics for those who like it, but more pressure for the child as well.

slamai

回覆 elmostoney 的帖子

agree

小燕子2011

Thank u very much for yr reply! It is very informative. Is yr kid studying in VSA?  How do u feel about this school?

elmostoney

No, my child is not in VSA, but a close friend's child has been in there since K1 (now year 3) and another friend's child is currently in Y1.  So I hear lots from them.  

Kids are happy in general, and will start feeling the pressure from Y3.  There is less route memorization and copying type of hw, but their hw is not easy.  Since much of it is project or inquiry-based, adult assistance is a MUST (even in kindergarten).  Both my friends (Y1 and Y3) need to spend time with their child on their hw, with Y1 and Y2 requiring the most time from the parents.  The Y1 mother said she spends 1 hour with her son everyday on hw.

Victoria's students are very competitive as well.  Many of them have sufficient tutoring and other activities after school in such a way that they are academically ahead.  Since many children already learned what the teachers are supposed to teach (in some subjects and certain areas - I don't mean ALL.  So don't take me wrong), the school would skip certain parts or speed up parts of the curriculum to accommodate the majority of the students who already know the subject. According to my friend, the music teacher  was teaching the kids to read musical notes.  When the whole class except two said they could read already (because all of them are taking piano lessons), the music teacher skipped this part.  The  child felt embarrassed to seek assistance from the music teacher since everybody could do it but him, so he asked his mother to hire some private help.  

Theoretically, there are no tests - only assessments.  Teachers will not pressurize parents to hire private tutor for their child, so it depends how the child and the parents feel in cases where the child falls behind.

Interesting from my Y3 parent friend.  She said that the school started the kids on swimming class in Y2 in school.  All the kids could do at least 3 of the 4 forms of swimming (breast stroke, free style, back stroke and butterfly), BUT many cannot even change and dry themselves!  Typical HK kids - lots of activities, but can't even take care of themselves.

elmostoney

My child was once at Victoria Kindergarten.  I didn't like it, but it wasn't the school's fault.  Just not my cup of tea and it didn't suit my daughter.  The school is well run and the curriculum is comprehensive.  She moved on to the last term at Small World, then their primary school (ICA).  It just happens that it fits her better and works out for me as well.  I don't think I could cope with the high pressure at Victoria.  Even if the teacher doesn't give me pressure, I wouldn't want my daughter to lag behind - even though she may not be faring ahead.  The reason that I put her in an international school is to give her time to develop at her own pace.  

小燕子2011

I hv read thru some of your posts, u r a really caring mama. I like SW but it doesn't provide a fully platform of Chinese learning which I am worried my boy, he will be less interested in learning Chinese. Where is yr son finally studying now? IMS?

elmostoney

he is now at ESF.  I was once like you, worrying about the Chinese program.  At the end of the day, I realized that it's not up to me.  It's up to the child.  Since mine would definitely struggle in most Chinese-medium schools (almost all are high-pressured), I decided that keeping her interest in learning alive is more important.  If your child can cope, there is no reason to deter you.  However, I am quite curious.  If you are concerned about Chinese, why even consider SWCK?

elmostoney

My daughter will be 8 in 2 months.  For her age, she has read a great deal about Egyptian, Roman and Greek history - in fact, she probably has more knowledge on these topics than most educated adults (unless they are into the history of these civilizations).  She knows about Elizabeth I, Versailles and Marie Antoinette.  She read all this on her own.  If she goes to a regular high-pressured school, she will not have the leisure to read so much on her own.  Her school taught explorers last year, and she was interested enough to read about Marco Polo and Christopher Columbus herself.  Of course, she also reads lots of fiction.

小燕子2011

Glad to hear you and yr girl like the school so much, especially she enjoys going to school everyday. That's what the happy school life is about. Why did you choose ESF, not IMS or CIA for yr son? Sorry I am asking too many questions!!!

elmostoney

esf has secondary - that's the main reason why I sent my kids there.  My son did OK, but my daughter wasn't very happy there.  

My daughter's personality doesn't suit Montessori.

Do you mean CIS?  I didn't even consider although my kids' cousins all graduated from CIS - not to say mine could get in.  聽得太多唔同人都係講同一樣野, 部份學生家境太privileged, 有時會帶左d我唔願我d 小朋友見到嘅態度去學校.  不竟返學唔單單為學習, 仲有生活態度, 觀點同與人相處.  當然仲有好多其他, 但我唔方便公開講.  CIS有好多好處, 但係我立場, 個d好處唔outweigh 我覺得更重要嘅野.  我只可以話, CIS好積極幫中學畢業生向所申請嘅大學講好說話, 會為學生爭取, 幫佢地選擇升學, 而好多中學未必做得咁好.  佢地係y7個年會intake一班好勁嘅本地學校學生, 呢班人幫學校爭不少分.  至於老師, 近年香港同大陸越開越多 IS, 老師流動性好大, 所以任何學校retain好師資都有難度.  一位cis畢業生同我講, 佢係北京讀master, 就碰到中學數學老師去左北京教, 呢位老師係havard畢業.  

我無意話cis唔好, 只係每個人想要嘅野唔同.  cis有名氣, 有錢, 有facility, 有connection, 小班教學, 係is中有個幾ok嘅中文program.  但都係個句, 我個人選校, 最重要係is it suitable for the child?  同屋企文化夾唔夾?  我唔想佢係學校見到一樣野, 我返來又要解釋一大輪點解我地唔係咁.  

當然每間學校都有唔同人, 但最重要係學校嘅取態同學校注重嘅事.  I feel very comfortable with ICA and I am OK with ESF.  

But really curious, why did you ask about SWCK?  it seems Chinese is very important to you.  I understand completely because it was once, the top factor on my list.  It still is, but I have made peace with myself.  I just hire a tutor and do more at home.

tpking

elmostoney - thanks a lot for your sharing. it's very helpful

i have some questions
1) when did your kid switch from ica to esf? is it that easy to do the switch? i like small world and agree with you about local schools, but as you said, secondary school is a concern.
2) so you have hired a chinese tutor for your kid? how does it work out?
3) does ica have a priority for kids from small world?

thanks a lot!!!

chansiub

Wow VSA starts teaching multiplication from P1?  So they are even faster than local school?

elmostoney

1) when did your kid switch from ica to esf? is it that easy to do the switch?
My older one switched to ESF after she finished Y2, and my younger switched after Y1.  I transferred my older one back to ICA after 2.5 months at ESF.  She didn't have a problem academically, but smaller class size just suits her better.  ESF has 30/class vs. her class now at ICA is 15. 平心而論, 個人認為ICA教學上要求高一點, 主要一班人少d, 老師可以跟得貼d.  高一點未必=深點, 大家其實差唔多.  但ICA做出來d野會認真d, 細緻d, 練習會多d.  雖然而家所有學校都需要家長某程度上參與小朋友教學/功課, 但係英基, 我覺得你想小朋友得著=ICA相同的話, 家長要參與更多. ICA而家刻意將Y1係新學年一年班開學時每班keep住16 - 18人, 上到Y2或以上, 都係20 - 22人 (大部份係20人), 所以雖然佢地話可以收到Y1 22人, Y2以上25人, 但重未咁做過.  但佢地並非冇waitlist的.  我道聽途說, 多少有d不明文規定故意咁做, 因小班d, 對小朋友始終係好d. 將來會唔會變, 去到數量上限我就不知道了.

2) so you have hired a chinese tutor for your kid? how does it work out?
My kids have Chinese private tutoring 4 times a week.  Actually, my ESF son doesn't need 4 times.  For him, probably twice a week is enough if I work with him a bit myself.  He is in the native stream at school, and their program is quite OK for an IS.  ICA 的中文 program不行, 所以私人老師來主要為大女.  But sometimes, it isn't just the school.  My daughter has a hard time with Chinese, but my son doesn't.  He is the type of person who can be pressurized to fit the environment if needs be - even LS.  所以學習進度好睇個別小朋友.  我個女都係近呢一年學中文先穩定d, 但同學校冇關.  始終學習態度最緊要, 我個女係個種未做自覺難, 然後已打退堂鼓的人.  我個仔就冇物所謂, 只要合乎佢程度, 佢唔會未睇就掉頭, 所以佢學得very ok 的.

3) does ica have a priority for kids from small world?
Yes, ICA gives priority to SWCK children, BUT that is based on English ability.  I have heard of cases which the child was transferred to SWCK during the last year.  His English didn't measure up, so he was rejected.  They don't ask you to read and write, but do require the child to have the ability to communicate in English.

elmostoney

My friend whose child is now in Y2 said that they started teaching multiplication concepts during the second term of Y1 at VSA.  My other friend who used to have very high opinion of VSA such that I was almost persuaded to consider it as an option for my son --- oh, well, she is transferring her child (upper primary) out of VSA.  Just too high pressure.  She said that during the last two years, VSA has transformed and become more like a local school in some ways.

elmostoney

For those of you interested in knowing the textbook which my son uses in school (I don't know if they use this at other ESFs as well):

http://www.hwjyw.com/textbooks/downloads/zhongwen/

He is now at Y3, upper stream.  They are expected to complete 1/3 to 1/2 of Book 3 by the end of Y3.  Y4 is expected to write short compositions about 120 to 150 words during the first term.  They are expected to know (write as well) about 1300 characters when they finish Y6, but the teacher told me that the 1300 is an absolute minimum.  If the child is in upper stream, usually they would easily know a few hundred more.

My daughter now uses the same textbook at home with our tutor, and I found that the system works out very well for her.

tpking

回覆 elmostoney 的帖子

thanks. very informative and helpful.

So do you teach her traditional or simplified characters at home? would she be confused if you are teaching a different type of characters from what the school is teaching her?

mamavee

May I know more about the Chinese curriculum in small world ? And besides after school sports program run by private institution , how is the physical education curriculum within the school hours ?
And does the school encourage arts and music development ? In what way ? Any involvement in inter school competition ? Thanks !

elmostoney

You mean ICA (SWCK's primary)?

ICA has their own PE teachers now.  They run a basketball team and soccer team.  My daughter just went to her first interschool soccer match against IMS last month.  However, the team will temporarily be disbanded for the 2nd term (Jan ~ Mar) and resume in April.  I believe they are doing a tennis and ballet class as well.  I haven't checked into what they have.

My daughter is also in their Christmas musical performance.  It is not a permanent orchestra, but I can see that could be a possible direction they are striving at.  They also have a choir.  

Their art class is all heart, 但我覺得不是太特別.  (英基其實也沒有正式美術課).  Art is something integrated with their learning units.  E.g. they did a pharoah's wig when they were on a unit of ancient history.  This year they had one big unit on art (artists, techniques) and that time, they did an impressive exhibition.  So it all depends.  他們教美術不是說: 現在上美術課了, 今課做XXX. 不能跟主流學校模式比較.  他們會視乎學校這期所教的主題而做相關的東西, 中國新年可能會畫點水墨畫之類 (當然就不要expect好專業了).

如果你是說小學, 中文對本地人來說, 是真的不夠的.  你一定要自己安排補習. 我自己在家讓孩子學簡體, 但老二(他在英基)吸收能力比較好, 所以寫是一定用簡體, 但認字我保持教他繁簡, 老大中文不太好, 純簡體為主, 偶然會指出繁體.