Two kinders (Local & IS) at the same time??

OKmom

We (including the helper) speak mainly cantonese at home, and we want our 2-yr-old girl to become bilingual. At the beginning, we put her to a Bilingual (English/Cantonese) prenursery but found that the class size was big and all classmates are local, although there was a native speaking teacher, the classmates were communicating in cantonese.  Now, we switch our girl to an IS prenursery, and sometimes I speak to her in English.

For Kindergarten, we're planning to put her to two schools, morning in a local kinder and afternoon in a IS kinder (or the other way around),  this is because we want her to have a good foundation in both languages and I don't think bilingual school can make it. But we worry it may be two much for her, and wonder if she can really become good at both languages with this arrangement. Any moms here could share your experiences?

For primary school onwards, we have to decide either local or IS school. Is it better to put her in an IS and improve her chinese by doing additional course, or the other way around? Pls share your experience.

Thx..

hoeve

OKmom
我個女讀蘇浙k1,上午國際班下午本地班，情況都ok，但我會比佢晚上8:30睡，因為佢食飯後得45mins ~ 60 mins睡，我覺得唔多夠，所以夜晚要早d睡。雖然呀女返左國際班2個月(N1得本地班=說普通話），但見佢講英文好左非常多，其實佢國際班D同學大多係本地人，反而本地班重多外國人！以我呀女情況，我覺得返兩班對佢語言發展有利，佢真係識多左好多野，因為佢國際班同本地班課程係唔同的。唔好處係我要睇兩本手冊，呀女唔可以日日落屋企樓下PLAYGROUNG同佢D朋友仔玩，亦較難就時間學其他野，同埋學費好貴。

原文章由 OKmom 於 07-11-6 11:20 硐表
We (including the helper) speak mainly cantonese at home, and we want our 2-yr-old girl to become bilingual. At the beginning, we put her to a Bilingual (English/Cantonese) prenursery but found that t ...

OKmom

Hoeve,

Thanks for your sharing. It is happy to hear that your girl is doing well in both streams. I understand that there is a tradeoff with this arrangement, it means less time for both leisure and extra-curricula, and the school fee is expensive. So I would like to hear any sharing to see if it is worth doing so and how to make it effective.

May I ask what language your family speak to your girl at home, putongua or English? Do you provide bilingual environment at home as well? And what is your plan for primary onwards? Local school or IS?

Thx
OKmom

owenmami

OKmom,

Be very cautious and not too aggressive, I would say.
It's better if you provide bilingual environment at home first and see how the child adapts to it.
Moreover, it only works if the child study in the same kinder, i.e. half-day local class and half-day international class.
I know some kids cannot adapt very well in International Kinder (in PTH and English class, but the family speaks only Cantonese) and eventually, the child need to attend speech therapy and switch back to a local kinder.:-|

原文章由 OKmom 於 07-11-6 18:27 硐表
Hoeve,

Thanks for your sharing. It is happy to hear that your girl is doing well in both streams. I understand that there is a tradeoff with this arrangement, it means less time for both leisure and  ...

[ 本文章最後由 owenmami 於 07-11-7 14:41 編輯 ]

OKmom

Owenmami,

Thx for your feedback. Yes, I agree we have to be cautious in doing so. As our mother tongue is Cantonese, we'll consider to put her in a local kinder (cantonese instead of PTH) and an English kinder.  

原文章由 owenmami 於 07-11-7 12:28 硐表
"Moreover, it only works if the child study in the same kinder, i.e. half-day local class and half-day international class...

But, do u know any kinder which has two streams (cantonese and English)? At the moment, we are planning to put her in two different kinders which are in the same district.

BTW, how old is your child? And which school is he going to? A local or IS? Pls share.

Thx
OKmom

[ 本文章最後由 OKmom 於 07-11-7 13:37 編輯 ]

owenmami

OKmom,
I only know "THINK" have got both streams. But they'll switch from Cantonese to PTH at K2 (or K3, don't remember).
"Victoria" kinder is also a good choice for bilingual school. You may also try CCKG at K2. For CCKG, all subjects are taught in English except Chinese lessons.
I do have stronge reservation in studying at two different kinder even they're in same district. The child will be exhausted everyday.
My elder child is in Y.1 of a bilingual school.
Another child in a local nursery.

原文章由 OKmom 於 07-11-7 13:16 硐表
Owenmami,

Thx for your feedback. Yes, I agree we have to be cautious in doing so. As our mother tongue is Cantonese, we'll consider to put her in a local kinder (cantonese instead of PTH) and an Engl ...

hoeve

OKmom
我在家中與女兒說廣東話，工人姐姐說英文，其實學多種語言對大部份小孩並無困難，有研究話小朋友20%時間接觸一種語言已可達native程度，我都唔係諗住女女要native咁犀利，可以一般聽、講，亦唔抗拒就ok了。

原文章由 OKmom 於 07-11-6 18:27 硐表
Hoeve,

Thanks for your sharing. It is happy to hear that your girl is doing well in both streams. I understand that there is a tradeoff with this arrangement, it means less time for both leisure and  ...

mosesdaddy

Dear OKmom,

Hi, I have started a thread in Baby Kingdom on whether it is advisable to put the child in two kinders.  The weblink is as follows.  See if you are interested in sharing your views there:

http://forum.baby-kingdom.com/vi ... age%3D2#pid19764182

mosesdaddy

Dear owenmami,

I am also planning to put my child to study in two kinders., but receive many negative comments from other BK users (pls see this thread started by me: http://forum.baby-kingdom.com/vi ... age%3D2#pid19764182).

Our kid is now 2 yr 3 mth.  At home, my wife (full-time mom) speaks mainly Cantonese and English with him, while I speak Putonghua and English.  As I observe, our kid broadly understands the three languages.  Hopefully I wish he can adapt well in his K1 in Sep 2008.

However, you mentioned some kids might not adapt well and evetually required speech therapy.  Could you pls elaborate a little bit more on the background of such kids, e.g. whether these kids attended bi-lingual playgroups before, at what age, etc?

Fyi, our kid has attended bilingual (PTH/Eng) playgroup since he was 6 mth old.

OKmom

原文章由 owenmami 於 07-11-7 14:14 硐表
OKmom,
I only know "THINK" have got both streams. But they'll switch from Cantonese to PTH at K2 (or K3, don't remember).
"Victoria" kinder is also a good choice for bilingual school. You may also try ...

Owenmami,

Thx for your info.....

How is your elder child doing in bilingual primary school? Like the fluency of both languages (in terms of oral, reading, writing). It seems to me bilingual (cantonese and english) school only works for those english-speaking children who want to learn chinese, as most classmates are chinese. But for chinese-speaking children, they can't benefit much. Pls share your view.

[ 本文章最後由 OKmom 於 07-11-7 21:19 編輯 ]

owenmami

OKmom,

<How is your elder child doing in bilingual primary school? Like the fluency of both languages >
So far so good. No problem in oral/reading/writing but I won't say it's on par with a native English speaker.

<It seems to me bilingual (cantonese and english) school only works for those english-speaking children who want to learn chinese, as most classmates are chinese. But for chinese-speaking children, they can't benefit much.>
I don't think so.

mosesdaddy,
Good for you that you have a full-time-mom wife.
If I were you, I'd rather let my child attend half-day kinder and let my wife teach him at home for the rest of the time.
Agreed with hoeve that "其實學多種語言對大部份小孩並無困難". Therefore, you don't have to be too pushy in order to achieve this.
Those who need speech therapy is only a minority. Don't worry.

原文章由 OKmom 於 07-11-7 21:04 硐表

Owenmami,

Thx for your info.....

How is your elder child doing in bilingual primary school? Like the fluency of both languages (in terms of oral, reading, writing). It seems to me bilingual (canton ...

[ 本文章最後由 owenmami 於 07-11-8 11:47 編輯 ]

mosesdaddy

Owenmami,

Since both my wife and I are not native speakers of Putonghua and English, we still prefer to have our kid to be immersed in the right language environment as far as possible.

olima

hoeve,

你好，我相信你女兒的語言天份不錯(因我在其他post見你讓女兒讀西班牙文)，我想請教︰

1.  你安排女兒上午國際班、下午本地班是否刻意安排﹖我的意思是為何不上午本地、下午國際﹖
2. 國際班KG只有2年，本地班有3年，那即是說你女兒到K3時只可讀本地班﹖又或是到時放棄本地班，直上國際小學﹖
3. 其實是否已決定讓女兒讀LOCAL PRIMARY或IS PRIMARY﹖
4. 其實本地及國際班的作風不盡相同，你女兒能否適應﹖

小兒已獲蘇浙LOCAL下午班取錄，也想加強他英語的培訓，但擔心上午及下午均上課很辛苦，而且他比較傳統，不喜歡國際學校老師的開放作風(他現在讀IS幼兒班)，可否給我一點意見﹖

原文章由 hoeve 於 07-11-6 16:27 硐表
OKmom
我個女讀蘇浙k1,上午國際班下午本地班，情況都ok，但我會比佢晚上8:30睡，因為佢食飯後得45mins ~ 60 mins睡，我覺得唔多夠，所以夜晚要早d睡。雖然呀女返左國際班2個月(N1得本地班=說普通話），但見佢講英文好左非常多，其實 ...

hoeve

HI olima，
其實我個女真係無乜特別的，只係我對學語言有一套諗法，所以才有此安排
1.  你安排女兒上午國際班、下午本地班是否刻意安排﹖我的意思是為何不上午本地、下午國際﹖
－＞因為我最想個女讀國際班，我唔知佢會唔會適應到全日，諗住如果讀唔倒到時就CUT本地班
2. 國際班KG只有2年，本地班有3年，那即是說你女兒到K3時只可讀本地班﹖又或是到時放棄本地班，直上國際小學﹖
－＞KCIS國際班有K3的，因為好多小朋友都係讀兩班，聽個老師講做兩年K3都有17個學生係咁樣讀，所以國際班都開K3＝＞到K3都可以本地＋國際
3. 其實是否已決定讓女兒讀LOCAL PRIMARY或IS PRIMARY﹖
－＞我未決定讀IS定LOCAL，其實我鍾意IS，但學費真係好鬼貴，諗起要供成十幾年。。。
4. 其實本地及國際班的作風不盡相同，你女兒能否適應﹖
－＞我開頭擔心本地班會好嚴，諗住個女會唔鍾意返本地班，但係佢話佢鍾意本地班個老師多D！不過我覺得這安排都OK好，舉例說上兩個禮拜KCIS教緊 5 sense，會試唔同的感觀如聞唔同味，聽唔同的聲音等，但本地班唔會專登感教，本地班係教書，要認字讀書，兩班個取向唔同，咁重平衡D亦唔會悶。

你仔仔下年入蘇浙真係好呢，上午及下午均上課開頭都有少少辛苦的，有D小朋友到K2先KCS＋KCIS。

原文章由 olima 於 07-11-12 17:09 硐表
hoeve,

你好，我相信你女兒的語言天份不錯(因我在其他post見你讓女兒讀西班牙文)，我想請教︰

1.  你安排女兒上午國際班、下午本地班是否刻意安排﹖我的意思是為何不上午本地、下午國際﹖
2. 國際班KG只有2年，本地班有3年，那即 ...

olima

hoeve,

多謝你的答覆。

好多父母(包括我自己)都認同小朋友可以從小學習不同語言，但老實說，也要看小朋友能否適應，會否有語言混淆的情況，所以相信你女兒應能駕馭不同語言你才作此安排，對嗎﹖

原來蘇浙國際班有k1至k3，太好了，我想在k2才開始local 及international 也是一個不錯的選擇。

請問像你這樣安排，每月花費多少﹖(local+inter K1 sch fee, 加lunch+school bus+sleeping arrangement?)

olima

原文章由 hoeve 於 07-11-12 23:10 硐表
HI olima，
其實我個女真係無乜特別的，只係我對學語言有一套諗法，所以才有此安排
1.  你安排女兒上午國際班、下午本地班是否刻意安排﹖我的意思是為何不上午本地、下午國際﹖
－＞因為我最想個女讀國際班，我唔知佢會唔會適應到全 ...

hoeve

Olima,
local section K1 School Fee = $1800
inter K1 sch fee = $5100
lunch 我個女係自備的 （可由學校訂大家樂午餐）
School bus depend on where you live
You can check on the web
http://www.kcs.edu.hk/intro.htm

原文章由 olima 於 07-11-13 09:32 硐表
hoeve,

多謝你的答覆。

好多父母(包括我自己)都認同小朋友可以從小學習不同語言，但老實說，也要看小朋友能否適應，會否有語言混淆的情況，所以相信你女兒應能駕馭不同語言你才作此安排，對嗎﹖

原來蘇浙國際班有k1至k3，太好了 ...

sks

我認識兩個是安排local +IS, 我覺得真的要看孩子可不可以適應, 要不要午睡. 而兩個孩子給我的感覺是屬於"乖", "聽話"的孩子, 即使睡睡吓給人叫醒也不發脾氣.

至於費用, 我覺得蘇浙(KCS+KCIS)是相對抵讀, 而且她的school bus及其他野都有local的學生可以share,所以價錢都合理.

但是若是只有IS的kinder, 除學費外, 其他如school bus, school uniform都較貴(不是貴少少), 所以費用真的要看妳是選哪間local, 哪間IS.

sks

另外, 我覺得語言這方面, 屋企的語言環境影響好大.
我女兩歲前, 我的helper是說廣東話, 而我先生成日出差, 屋企便主要用廣東話, 當我用英文和女女溝通, 她拒絕, 并耍求我唔好說英文. (當時她也有上英文playgroup, 在家主要聽英文歌, 甚至識晿英文歌)

後來換了個說英文的helper, 開始女女都唔用英文同helper溝通, 但由於屋企對話的語言多了英文,她也慢慢用英文溝通, 且懂得因人而說英文或廣東話, 公公婆婆等便說廣東話, 我們便兩種語言都說.

其實要孩子雙語, 屋企最好也有雙語的環境.

OKmom

原文章由 sks 於 07-11-14 00:30 硐表
另外, 我覺得語言這方面, 屋企的語言環境影響好大.
我女兩歲前, 我的helper是說廣東話, 而我先生成日出差, 屋企便主要用廣東話, 當我用英文和女女溝通, 她拒絕, 并耍求我唔好說英文. (當時她也有上英文playgroup, 在 ...

Hi,sks

I agree with u that the language environment at home is very important, just rely on school to learn a 2nd language is not enough. I am in the similar situation, our main language at home is Cantonese, and my helper speaks cantonese only. Before my little girl attend an IS pre-nursery, I started speaking both Cantonese and English to my little girl, let her listen and sing many English songs. She is now picking up the language and is doing well in an IS pre-nursery.

[ 本文章最後由 OKmom 於 07-11-14 09:19 編輯 ]

WYmom

原文章由 owenmami 於 07-11-7 14:14 硐表
OKmom,
I only know "THINK" have got both streams. But they'll switch from Cantonese to PTH at K2 (or K3, don't remember).
"Victoria" kinder is also a good choice for bilingual school. You may also try ...

Just like to clarify about Think International Kinder, it has bilingual class and international class, half day and full day options.  They have classes of Cantonese + Mandarin + English in bilingual classes.  For international class, it is English only.

For both type of classes, it uses activity approach and theme basis.  The bilingual class has more homework.  So it's a combination of local and international kinders.

If take half day international class and half day bilingual class in Think, the kid can take lunch at school, or even has a nap after lunch, so it's better than taking the kid to attend 2 different kinders which is too tiring for the kid.

Think has different branches in different regions too.