Pre-Nursery class of Kingston and Tutor Time - Which one will you choose?

gegemok

DiamondHill 寫道:
Hi siumanmama,

Yes, they hold the place for my daughter but I must settle down asap.  Otherwise, they will release the place to others.

I need go to work, so it is not workable to drive.  If take MTR, it will be from Lai Chi Kok to Kowloon Tong.  I think it needs to take around 45 minutes from home to school.  


[quote]
siumanmama 寫道:
DiamondHill,

You said you haven't registered.  Do you mean...Kingston is still holding a place for your daughter?

Can you take MTR from Lai Chi Kok to
Kowloon Tong? Or you can drive her to school. :wink:

[/quote]

I live near Kln East ..... and it also takes 30-45mins by MTR to Kowloon Tong ..... I think it's much better if you can arrange someone to bring your kid to/from school rather than let her/him take the shuttle bus alone ..... it's too dangerous for a 2 yr old kid .......

For me, I will have my helper bring my son to go to school and she will stay in the school and wait until the class finished and take my son back home ......

Do you think it's workable?

DenDenMi

I think it's not too dangerous for the 2 years old kid to take school bus, because there is an autie to take care of them in school bus.  Of coz, on behalf of parents, we still worry about that, right!!  
Gegemok, you helper will stay 3 hours in school, do you think a bit longer?  
In fact, I will also drive to school by myself, but I don't want stay 3hours in Kln Tong everyday.  That why I discuss my hubby today, the conclusion is maybe I will pick up my son to school and back home by myself in the beginning(about 2-3months), then maybe my son will take school bus to school and I will pick him in school by myself when the lesson finished, it is just our thoughts at that moment.  Because we need check out whether the school bus is available or not.

gegemok 寫道:

I live near Kln East ..... and it also takes 30-45mins by MTR to Kowloon Tong ..... I think it's much better if you can arrange someone to bring your kid to/from school rather than let her/him take the shuttle bus alone ..... it's too dangerous for a 2 yr old kid .......

For me, I will have my helper bring my son to go to school and she will stay in the school and wait until the class finished and take my son back home ......

Do you think it's workable?

gegemok

DenDenMi 寫道:
I think it's not too dangerous for the 2 years old kid to take school bus, because there is an autie to take care of them in school bus.  Of coz, on behalf of parents, we still worry about that, right!!  
Gegemok, you helper will stay 3 hours in school, do you think a bit longer?  
In fact, I will also drive to school by myself, but I don't want stay 3hours in Kln Tong everyday.  That why I discuss my hubby today, the conclusion is maybe I will pick up my son to school and back home by myself in the beginning(about 2-3months), then maybe my son will take school bus to school and I will pick him in school by myself when the lesson finished, it is just our thoughts at that moment.  Because we need check out whether the school bus is available or not.

[quote]
gegemok 寫道:

I live near Kln East ..... and it also takes 30-45mins by MTR to Kowloon Tong ..... I think it's much better if you can arrange someone to bring your kid to/from school rather than let her/him take the shuttle bus alone ..... it's too dangerous for a 2 yr old kid .......

For me, I will have my helper bring my son to go to school and she will stay in the school and wait until the class finished and take my son back home ......

Do you think it's workable?

[/quote]

My hubby said "no way" for my son to take the school bus ..... he will accept when he is K1 but not PN .....

We have discussed this matter with my helper ..... my helper is ok with this arrangement since she did same when she worked in Singapore .... she also disagrees to let my son take the school bus at this stage .....

tuotuo

Hi all moms,

My son is born in Oct 05 so, he's s "small B" too.

Now my son is joinning TT's playgroup twice a week. As we just started a week ago, so not much comments yet. I am now thinking about Kingston / Tutor Time OR Yew Chung.   

What do you think about Yew Chung's Twos Programme? Any ideas to share?

bakusensei

cissyc 寫道:
Dear Kadie mum,

TT is not IS, Victoria HMT is planning to run IS in the future, but their PN class has no mandarin (only cantonese). Seems that IS is not applicable for PN class, but my priority is to give my child an senvironment to expose to both english and mandarin. U can give an email or call to Kingston or TT, probably your daughter can apply for their PN class by Aug 2008, when she's 2 yrs old.

Hi mums,

My baby was born in Dec. (He is now around 3 months old). I have checked the info. of some nursery but found that most won't accept my baby as he won't reach 2 when the school starts at Aug. I note that Kingston only accepts kids reach 2 on 31 Oct. How about TT? When should I apply if my baby will go to TT for Nursery in 08? I am also considering International Kinder.

Grateful for your advice pls.
:)

DenDenMi

gegemok, you son born in Sep 05, same as my son.  That means you are 0905 mother, do you think we met before in 1st birthday party or gathering?

gegemok

DenDenMi 寫道:
gegemok, you son born in Sep 05, same as my son.  That means you are 0905 mother, do you think we met before in 1st birthday party or gathering?

Oh we missed the chance to join the party held last year since we went to Bangkok at that time .....

siumanmama

DiamondHill,
Any update regarding the school bus issue?

DiamondHill 寫道:
Hi siumanmama,

Yes, they hold the place for my daughter but I must settle down asap.  Otherwise, they will release the place to others.

I need go to work, so it is not workable to drive.  If take MTR, it will be from Lai Chi Kok to Kowloon Tong.  I think it needs to take around 45 minutes from home to school.  


[quote]
siumanmama 寫道:
DiamondHill,

You said you haven't registered.  Do you mean...Kingston is still holding a place for your daughter?

Can you take MTR from Lai Chi Kok to
Kowloon Tong? Or you can drive her to school. :wink:

[/quote]

DiamondHill

Hi siumanmama

Not yet finalized.  Hopefully can settle down asap.

[quote]
siumanmama 寫道:
DiamondHill,
Any update regarding the school bus issue?

[quote]

siumanmama

DiamondHill,

Good Luck.  I tried to call Kingston again to see whether there's any vacancy in their am class but they just said that I am now in the waiting list and priority will be given to existing pm class students.

crystalsum

I have just registered in the Toddlers Activity Class in TT yesterday after site-visit.  I found the new campus is very clean, beautiful and interesting.  All the toys are new and the environment is good for toddlers.  

I think everyone who plan to change to Kingston PG is for getting a higher priority to join their PN and then K1.  But sometimes I think if I am not going to continue primary school in Kingston, perhaps staying in TT or switch to K2 in CCKG / K3 (pre-reception) in GSIS or CNDIS will also be a good choice.  So I can take a break in school hunting from now till my boy's 2 yrs birthday.

siumanmama

crystalsum,

I don't think so...
Most of us visit both schools before making choices and, as far as I know, are not mainly for guaranteed place of PN and beyond.
As we said before, most of us just don't like TT's reception lady, administration and so many visits by other parents which are disturbing to existing students.
Moreover, CCKG's competition is extremely keen and there's no guarantee that your kid can get a place even though he is outstanding.

crystalsum

Ooops,

Thank you for your information.  I am quite ignorant as this is my first child so I don't know CCKG is very difficult to enter.  Then perhaps I need to send an application form to Kingston and put my son on the waiting list of their playgroup (1-2 years old).  

olima

Hi Moms,

My son will have an interview in TT (nursery program) this Sat, can anyone tell me how long and how much do I need to pay (deposit) if they accept my son?

My son is in the waiting list in Keen Mind which is my first choice. I am still waiting for the results despite the chance to get a place is limited.

Anyone investigate about Yew Chung? What are the differences btw TT and Kingston? Can we still get a place (am class) in YC at this stage?

Sorry that my hubby and I start to think of letting my son studying in IS nursery these days, not much research in this aspect. Your advice is highly appreicated.  

olima :

siumanmama

olima,

Don't worry. I don't think that is an "real" interview on saturday. One month tuition fee is required to secure a place in TT.  TT is so commercial that as long as parents can pay their higher than average tuition fee, they will try their best to give you a place. Hahaha!

For Yew Chung, as I haven't applied for my daughter, I don't have much real comment about this school but just some info from my friends:

YC's tuition fee for am/pm class is a little bit cheaper ($4x00 something for 2yr-class) than TT and Kingston (both are $6500/m for PN).
YC has limited putonghua classes while both TT and Kingston offer 50-50 putonghua and English environment. TT clearly divides Eng and PTH speaking time and so 2 classes share the same PTH and Eng teachers with another class (ie PTH teacher in classA when Eng teacher in classB, vice versa). For Kingston, both PTH and Eng teachers stay with the class and need to share with another class.

Anyway, it is easy to get more info about these schools in BK if you search for old threads discussed b4.

olima

siumanmama,

Thx so much for yr advice.

Indeed, I am not nervous on the interview or what, my major conern on TT is too commercial and afraid that the teachers are not caring enough. $6500/m, not cheap ah. However, as I would like my son to take the am class, so choices are limited (from the old post, Kingston only has pm class for those walk-in new comers, right?)

Have you made up your mind yet? Which nursery your daughter is going to attend? It is really not easy to make a decision for our kid's education.

kadie

I had interview in kingston on 1/6/2007, and it was good ----gives me a thought of no problem being accepted to the 1-2 yrs old PG! They said they will inform us the result within 2 weeks, but now still no news yet!
I start to worry if Kingston may decline my application??      can anyone share your experience? thanks!

siumanmama

olima,
I finally choose Learning Habitat, for my little girl as it is much closer to my new home.
It was not one of my choices originally, but my friend told me to try, so I applied as a "back-up". But I have good impression about this school after interview and they can offer a am class to me, I choose it instead.  Though this school doesn't have daily PTH class (like TT, Kingston), I just let my daughter keep her existing putonghua class as her PTH teacher also said her learning progress is good now.
Yes, making the final decision about kid's education is not easy.  But my husband insists to choose a nursery closest to our home to avoid too much transportation as they are just 2-yr old. Next year when they are a little bit older, we can have more choices in Kowloon Tong as they study K1 next year.