澳州墨爾本寄宿家庭??

Tina2004

Hi Bamum

I understand how you feel now. You must be thinking a lot about your daughter's future.  You are evaluating the costs and benefits of all options. You want to make the right choice for your daughter.  You want to make the transition as smooth as possible for your daughter.......

I've gone through a similar process and believe me it's quite stressful and I had some sleepless nights before we made our final decisions.

Now, here we are in Syndey and we're happy and have no regrets to come here although the life here is not as easy as I thought.

I guess your situation is different from us.  We're lucky that we could come as a family.  I guess you are worried about your daughter as she will need to look after herself.  

Are you close to your daughter? I believe you have spent a lot of time to talk to her about your decision.  Make sure she understands you're doing what you believe is good for her. She may miss her friends in HK. She may have a lot of worries too. So it's good that you're coming over with her!

I wish you all the best with your choices!

Tina2004

Hi JimVan

A friend my mine recommended a Chinese school to me.  It's called Ambassadors Multicultural Chinese School. They only have Mandarin classes (once a week on Sunday). As it is subsided by a Christian Church, the tuition is  just $140 for half year.  I'm thinking of enrolling my kids to the course.  If they find it difficult, I may look for Cantonese school later.

My son has been learning piano for almost 3 years and my daughter has just started. The tuition for piano is quite expensive here (A$30 per 30 mins, double that of HK). Most of the extra-curricular activities are very expensive here, considering we have 2 kids!  

I'm also a full-time mother and my husband is the only income earner. So we have to monitor our expenses and try to save as much as we can!

By the way, how is the property market in Melbourne? The properties in Sydney are sooooo expensive!

Thanks for sharing!

BAMUM88

Tina,
我和你有一樣的共通點是將來只有一份收入,因為我現在是有工作的,也就是想可以儲備多少少,再放棄工作,陪2個小朋友去讀書,而我先生就會留港工作.現在就是我自己還有小小因素,未能把日子定下來.對於將來的生活來說,也很擔心的.此終只有先生的一份收入,所以盡量想2個小朋友讀公校,另一方面又擔心是我的個人原因而影響到囡囡入不到理想中學.所以覺得自己好煩又好無用. :cry:
不過我也希望可以跟你一樣,到所有事情都可以落實了,跟住來要做的事都可以很順利吧!

BAMUM88

JimVan,
見你這樣的分析,WCC也不平宜.每年要預算 7-8000澳元一位小朋友,如有2位就大約AUD16,000一年.比起公校真的貴了很多呢!
你的資料很有用,多謝!

ngmammy

Hi Tina,

May I join? I am so excited to join because I have found we have a lot of similarity in the life in Sydney! I have two kids, one 9 years of age and another is 5 years old too. My family moved to Sydney last year Feb so we are just a little bit longer than you are in Syd. Both my son and daughter are studying in the same public school. My son came from yr2 second term to yr 3 in here and my daughter now in kindy.

I saw i lot of concern that you have was also my concern as well.  Whether it was right to put them into a public school when i lot of others choose private. I was very tense at first cause I wanted them to , in every aspect be better than when they were in HK. (anyway, that was the sole reason why I return to Aus). After more than a year here now, I guess everything is smoothing out and as you said, life here in Aus. is really much happier to my children. It is against my wish to push my children to duck feeding rather I just want them to be happy and learn the fun of learning!I used to be a working mum in HK but now i am a newly full time mum. Woo, what a change but I have to say my family are getting much closer here that not money can meausre.

In primary 3, all students would need to take up a basic skill test. By that time, you would know how your son is doing compare against his class year and to the student across NSW. You would then know where he stands in OC as well.  My son took it the first year he came. He did had a choice not to take it as there was an exemption for first year immigrants. It was his choice to take it. Don't worry, the standard of the test are pretty easy for children coming from Hong Kong education background. Maybe a little lack behind in English but since you are giving your son some support on that so it should be alright. OC is not all the answer either. I know many kids who gone to selective school without attending oc or kids who did so well in HSC without going to selective school!

My son is taking up swimming and piano as well. He also joined the Australian Badminton Association and play it weekly. My daughter is taking up dancing and piano. Since they now have more free time to enjoy more after school activity , I did not have a problem with it as long as they've chosen what they like to do. But you are right, the fees are no lesser than that compared in Hong Kong !

JimVan & Bambum,

Hi. Nice to meet you! Indeed private school is so expensive! I wishes my kids could enjoy school life under good qualify education system. With the cost for private school, I might as well put my kids to Australian International School in HK

am i talking too much ?

Cheers...................

Tina2004

Hi ngmammy

I was so happy to read your message that I couldn't wait to write back to you. I'd rather leave my kids to play with themselves and go to bed a bit later. It's still school holiday anyway, ha!

You're right, we have so many things in common.  How did you adjust your lifestyle from a working mum in HK to a homemaker in Australia? From what you told me I can tell you are a very positive mother and you must have settled down very nicely. For me, I've been a full-time mum for almost 4 years now.  So it's not that difficult for me except I have to improve my cooking,ha!

I'm also happy to share with you that our family has never been so close before.  As my husband used to travel a lot when he worked in HK. Now, as he doesn't need to be away from home, he can spend a lot more time with the kids.

Ngmammy, thank you for sharing your insights about the education here.  So your son is now in Year 4 and your daughter is in Kindy, right?  Our kids are at North Sydney Demonstration School. What about yours?

We chose this school because of its multi-cultural environment.  The school really respects different cultures and they offer ESL lessons to new migrants.
The students there are very active and cheerful !

I can't tell how much I appreciate your sharing.  It's so easy to be influenced by those ambitious parents. I should relax more and let our kids have a happy childhood here!

By the way, we just came back from a 15 mins walk from the newsagent.  It's so quiet here at night!

I'd better get back to the kids for the bedtime talk!

Cheers,
Tina

BAMUM88

ngmammy,
Nice to meet you!!

ngmammy

Hi Tina,

It is so sweet to hear your family have gotten so much closer and I could imaging the happy smiles on your children 's faces! Do your family go out to parks and beaches on the weekends? My husband was travelling all the time too when he was in Hong Kong. He was responsible for the Asia Pacific region so this week he would be in Japan, the next in Korea. Fortunately, he would never missed out a weekend with the family.  Now he enjoyed the 9 to 5 and spent more time with the kids!

I am living in Hurstville and my children are studying in Hurstville public school.  Yes ar. my son is now yr 4 and my daughter is in kindy. We've chosen this school solely because we would like to live close to my sister who has already settled in Hurstville for 6 years. Her daughter is studying in Hurstville public school & I thought it is pretty good. The school also emphasis on multi-cultural and they respect your origin and treasure students' mother's tongue. Though feel like my kids are studying in a International School in Shanghai or Beijing sometimes, ha ha

So you must be living in North Sydney lor. Heard that the North side is good in every aspect of living. You & your husband must have given a lot of thoughts when chosen what is good for your children. What suburb are you living in the North?

I have to say both been a working mum or full-time mum are not EASY!   It is not easy at first as a full time mum. I did not know how to operate a washing machine, a vaccum or of course , no idea about PROPER cooking. (ha, instant noodle can not classified as proper cooking). After a year, I guess i am doing ok. I still missed my maid who worked 8 years for me but i am also glad I could overcome it and had giving my children the intimate care from their mummy

Aiya....too "long air" again la...

Cheers.......

Tina2004

Hi ngmammy

I understand exactly what you meant by giving your children the intimate care from their mummy!

I was fortunate to have a maid since my son was born  for almost 8 years.  It made my life so much easier! Over the last few months since we came here, I found myself so busy with the kids' activities and domestic chores that I had little time for myself.

When I was in HK I would arrange time to keep fit like playing tennis and doing aerobics.  I would meet friends for lunch and tea and I would meet parents and do voluntary work at my son's school.   However, I tended to leave my little girl with the maid who slept with her every night.

Now, here's the trade off... I give up the free time but I gain the intimacy with my kids especially my daughter. Also, my husband is now much more involved in the kids' activities and the housework (he's a handy man who enjoys fixing things and he's proud of that).  He also enjoys his 9 to 5 job here although it doesn't give him the sense of "high authority and responsibilities" he used to get from his previous job.  Again, it's the trade off, less responsibilities mean less pressure and less workload. Is that right, ha!

Guess what, we went to Hurstville Public School and met the Deputy Principal last July before we selected the school for our kids.  Wow, we were so surprised with the high percentage of Asian, particularly Chinese students there.  I heard that its academic standard is very high with hard-working students and parents!

My husband and I chose the North Shore to settle down as this area is safe and nice.  We live in North Sydney and one of the advantages is I don't have to drive as the trains and buses are very convenient and accessible.  What about you? Do you drive? My husband drives to work and I drive on weekend occasionally.

Yes, we always go the parks on weekends but would like to go to the beaches more often.  Any good suggestions for weekend activities?

I'm also getting too "long air", ha!

Bye now.

ngmammy

Hi, Tina,

woo, you know, i could just use half of what you wrote, cut and paste and write back to you would be something I want to say!

Would you mind if we could move to 澳洲 BK Mummy and keep chatting? since this is a thread about 墨爾本寄宿家庭 by bambum, it seems we had talking too happily but away from this topic!

Pls. look for a new topic under BK mummy 澳洲, ok?

Macusmama

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