Montessori or ESF K1 as a stepping stone?

jolalee

[This is a repost of my previous thread, which I think I've made a wrong title for. Apologies!]

I have or is planning to apply for my currently 2 years old son the following schools:
HKIS, CIS, CDNIS, AISHK & ICS

He will be attending K1 equivalent kindergarten this coming August.
He has several options, but mainly i'm struggling between:

1. The Montessori system [DMS Discovery Bay]
2. The ESF system [ESF Tsing Yi]

I wonder which school can better prepare him for the reception application / interview (both in terms of the schools' reputation and the actually learning)? Any comment or suggestion is deeply appreciated. Thank you in advance!

jolalee

In Response to: 菠蘿媽媽  my daughter is current Victoria PN student, Victoria is good, but compare to ESF, Victoria is more local, but compare with local which is more international...
------
Actually i like Victoria over ESF because it teaches Chinese better. Just wondering, they are trilingual at earlier age, but how about at Primary age?
Is it also English/Mando? I know ESF teaches Mando too but i heard kids there don't like learning Mando. How about Victoria?

jolalee

Yes, I'm definitely going International. (i was just curious how he'd do on some LS interviews). Thank you for your timely reminder Shrimpiggy. Most probably i'll stay with ESF K1 if he gets a spot. In which case, our kids may be classmates!

Just curious though, between ESF & Victoria, which one do you think is better in terms of kindie and primary education?

Shrimpiggy

That's why you need to have very clear path, if you spread your legs over two boat, the worse scenario that u can imagine...

jolalee

elmostoney 發表於 13-2-26 11:54
your school list is basically comprised of the most competitively applied schools.  I think you need ...

The 2013-14 K1 class will be the last batch to have P1 interview priority, all the more reason why I want to keep it if he gets a spot.
ESF could be one of my backup, and also he's interviewing for Victoria PN the end of this week (K1 didn't take him since he's so young). We're also lining up for Anfield K1 (no spot this coming year because i registered too late, but i might just apply for their Primary now...), and waiting for Harrow PN to reply (another impossibility).

Just to cross compare, I've also applied for York K1 which he got in but i'm not considering (since our aim is IS), and St. Catherine PN (since his birth month did not make their cut off for K1). If he gets into any one of those PNs above, my head will grow even bigger in turns of options (since he will not be able to apply for CDNIS & ESF primary in the future if he goes to PN instead of K1 for 2013-14).

Anyhow, as you mentioned, i should keep all my options open.

jolalee

mister 發表於 13-2-26 11:47
I would go for ESF if I were you. As others already pointed out that it's not easy to get into your  ...

We applied for IMS but i am sure my son flunk the interview. He just recovered from a fever that day and was running around like a bullet train. They were supposed to complete tasks at at least 2 stations but i only saw him at 1, so that was that. we shall try again next year... (since he was born in November, so he can be considered a 'small B' this year and a 'big B' next year).

elmostoney

your school list is basically comprised of the most competitively applied schools.  I think you need to broaden it to include a few other choices.  I have found so many people just "get stuck" once their choices didn't materialize, and the child has no where to go but to go with LS.

elmostoney

I am not too familiar with the new ESF policy, but is it true that children from ESF kindgarten no longer has priority in primary school interviews?  You'd better check this out first.

英基收生優先面試次序

1.全職教職員的子女
2.有兄弟姊妹正就讀英基中、小學或賽馬會善樂學校
3.持有英基50萬元提名權
4.曾就讀英基3年或以上的舊生的子女
5.其他需要以英語教學的學童
註：新制度今年8月生效，正就讀英基國際幼稚園或今年8月入學的學童不受影響

資料來源：英基學校協會

mister

I would go for ESF if I were you. As others already pointed out that it's not easy to get into your target schools, you have to have plan B with consideration of his primary school education too.

Actually I am not familiar with Montessori at all, but since you like it a lot, and is okay to move, would you consider train through school like IMS etc with         primary school as back up ?

jolalee

回復 elmostoney 的帖子

That's why it's so hard to let go of the ESF opportunity with the final year of P1 interview priority...Again, i like Montessori personally, but where could he go after K3 if no good primary school accept him?

elmostoney

other than AISHK which I don't know much about admission rate, all the other schools you listed are very tough to get into.  CIS has 88 openings, half of which goes to people with connection (e.g. sibling, alumni's kids, perhaps staff's children, people with corporate debenture, etc.).  lately, I have heard that if you are Chinese, they prefer to take those who has better Putonghua instead of Cantonese.

I think you need to research more to have a back up plan.  It is not unusual that a child couldn't get into any of the schools on your list.

jolalee

maggieho_1218 發表於 13-2-25 19:24
It is very difficult to make a decision like this.  Both of them r really good schools and it seems  ...

I already know that my son would prefer ESF, but that doesn't mean it's better for him (just like he'd prefer ice-cream over rice, hands down). The ESF environment is very free. In fact, they have 1 hour of 'studio time' each day, where 88 kids from the entire grade mixes and play together, with minimal supervision. It's a survival of the fittest kind of situation. Knowing my son, he will learn and turn into a bully.
At the moment he is used to Montessori; i wouldn't say he loves it, but he learned to cope. He learned a lot there, but perhaps it does not entice his creative side (he is very very creative and a bit unrestrained at work). If i have a choice, i do hope he'd get into one of the schools i listed here.

As to independence, he has no problem in that area. His weakness is self-restrain and emotional control, which i am working on with him right now...

21Ckid

What are the characteristics of montessori compared to the conventional approach, and what are the pluses and minuses? what type of kids are suitable and who are not?

jolalee

回復 Shrimpiggy 的帖子

Thank you Shrimpiggy and all parents here who made the effort to help analyze the situation. I can tell some of you really put your heart and mind to it, and given it'd require the understanding of both ESF and montessori systems as well as the entrance requirements for each target school, I'd say no one parent can solve this alone, and every tidbit you put forward here does add to the big picture. Please accept my heartfelt appreciation!

Yes, i think any parent who's been researching a bit knows how difficult it is and must apply for several schools. Actually the list I have here is only a partial list (there's a few more backup schools but those listed here are the main targets). As for debentures, I know ppl who works in CIS admin and they are still dealing with requests from TEN years ago!...

Anyhow although my son passed the ESF assessment, he is still on the wait list due to the sheer amount of applications this year, so most probably he will stay at Montessori, but if a place becomes available at ESF Tsing Yi, then i have no idea how i should choose....

Shrimpiggy

sorry that I detracked again, I should say both schools are good. no one can answer this question without doubts.

Shrimpiggy

hi Jolalee,  it is a hard discussion but we have to apply all. it is not uncommon in this form the parents failed their expectation as they applied for only one or two.
Also it is too later for debenture for  both HKIS, CDNIS require 5-7yrs on subscription waiting list.
also, it is not the same as  taking pubic examinations that you can retake next year. if one can't get into the school at the first year, it is harder to get into the higher grades as the turnover is low.
Be realistic as both you and the schools are selecting and being selected.

elmostoney

CIS is in the mid-levels of North Point, not island south.

jolalee

Of course we'll be moving in that case. The advantage of living soooo far away right now is that I can consider CDNIS & AISHK on equal footing regardless of location, since we'll be moving anyhow.

shadeslayer

原帖由 jolalee 於 13-02-24 發表
回復 Shrimpiggy 的帖子

We live in Tung Chung, and both schools in question are about 1/2 hour door  ...

CIS and HKIS are located in island south, long travel time in a year's time.