THINK N1 Interview

angusbbma

My baby will have an interview (N1 class) this week in THINK, any mommies can give advice on the interview e.g. what questions they will ask, what criteria they are using on selecting kids.    

Thanks   

*leshita*

不用擔心,無咩突別野考的.  玩玩具及和家長傾下,好簡單.

angusbbma

Thanks for your tips.  As this is my baby's and our first time interview in kindergarten, we have no such experience at all  

So do we need to dress in formal or just casual wear

DMJ103

The interview is really easy, don't worry. For the dressing code, personally, I prefer wearing 西褲. It is not good/polite to dress too casually but wearing skirt is not very convenient for me to take care of a toddler. So I would dress decently with 西褲.

gegemok

which campus will you go?

My kid will also have his PN class in Think this coming Oct, at Lam Tin campus.

psps

Hi my kid will go to PN class this coming Oct too..at Lam Tin campus.  Nice to meet you.  Our sons will be classmates soon..

bebemon

psps 寫道:
Hi my kid will go to PN class this coming Oct too..at Lam Tin campus.  Nice to meet you.  Our sons will be classmates soon..

Nice you meet you here. My kid is currently attending the playgroup at Think. Does your son attend any playgroup?

psps

Yes, he is attending the playgroup in the Little Gym TST every Sat.  But I found that he can't learn anything from there except running crazily around the gym because my son always tries to stay away from other kids.. but since he has been attending the class for almost 2 months, he is much more better and tries to join the activities.. before he was quite reluctant to join the group.  So how is the playgroup in Think?.. I think I am interested to take him to attend their playgroup before he enters the PN class.  Can you give me some comments about the class running so far?? Does your son enjoy going there?
Do you live in Laguna City? Actually I live in Kwun Tong.  Nice to meet you again and my son is called Jayden and your son's name is???We can be parent friends later..

   

elegant

My son has an interview at Ma On Shan Think a month ago, sorry to say but I think the principal of this centre is a BIG SALE.  She commented that my son is not up to standard for the morning N class and pursuade me to put my son in the coming afternoon class.  

She was very firm at that moment that there is no chance for morning class as it is full up and she pushed me to reserve the seat by saying there is not much left for afternoon class.  When indicate that I will check somewhere else, she immediately ask if I could come back in June/July and she will find a seat for morning class for my son.

This is my second time approaching Think, the last time was 5 years ago when my girl was about the same age.  Both time I got bad impression of this principal so I don't think I will let any of my child join this school in future.

    

cupnoodle84

My baby also had an interview last Saturday at MOS THINK. It was just a casual chat and she got accepted into the morning session. There was another boy who was running around and pulling down things. The principal asked him to come for a second interview in 3 months. Did the principal ask you to have the second interview in June/July or did she offer you the morning place ?

angusbbma

Hi elegant

May I know more about your bad impression on THINK for your daughter 5 years ago.  And finally which kindergarten did you choose for your daughter?

As I'm a new mommy with no such experience, I want to search more whether THINK is suitable for my baby.

Thanks a lot     

elegant

I am supprised that she is still accepting morning class kids.  If that is the case, she was definitely lying at the time of my son's interview.  My son did not run around at all, instead he was very quiet and played the toys, he was only 18 months at the time of interview so of course he will not be able to respond much.  

angusbbma,

Five years ago I wanted to let my girl joining the play group at THINK because it is near my house, but in the very first session, while waiting to settle the payment, I saw the teachers ignored the kids and left them with the maids.  Incidentally, there were no parents at that session but only the maids.  The kids was running around the areas in bare feet.  I then immediately picked up my girl and withdraw from the class.

angusbbma

Hi cupnoodle84

Based on the opinion got by elegant from the principal, the standard of morning session seems higher than the afternoon session!  I don't know whether it's the technique of the principal to sell afternoon session (because many mommies prefers their kids to join morning session rather than afternoon session)   

The running boy you mentioned will need to re-interview after 3 months.  Do you think the principal  will reject him if his condition has no improvement or will she accept him finally

angusbbma

Hi elegant

Hum.... I'm quite confused of the policy that the principal on accepting kids

As this kindergarten emphasis both English and Chinese will be taught at the same time.  This attacts me to apply for my baby.

But I also have a point not quite understand.  Based on my knowledge, they only have English playgroups.  But their nusery class only teaches in Cantonese with little English.  The language taught seems quite confused and not consistent if my baby joins their playgroup first and continues on their nursery class.

elegant, do you have any opinion   

WYmom

angusbbma,

My daughter studied in Think for a few years since 2.  As far as I understand, the language concept in Think is that the principal believed that kids at 2 should learn their mother tongue well first, then will gradually learn English and Mandarin starting from K1.  They will have English and Mandarin class fully at K3.

I guess different parents have different perception and requirements, some like kids running around, some like kids standing still.  For me, I believe small kids should be allowed to run around.  Actually, I feel that the discipline requirement in Think is high and can be loosen a bit.  

If you want to know more comments, you can take a look at the thread under "Think International School".  The school told parents that all morning classes have been filled up, so the principal prefer to accept kids into the afternoon class.  But there may be some withdrawal in June/ July, so she asked you to come again by that time if you really want to join the am class.  

cupnoodle84

To Angusbbma
I was told that morning and afternoon classes teach the same things. There are fewer children in the afternoon and so the children to teacher ratio is lower. The running boy I saw was not responding to the principal. Since my baby joined their playgroup in the afternoon, I did not see any running boy at school in the afternoon. I don't know if the principal would accept the running boy if his condition has not improved after 3 months, may be another 3 months until he improves ?

DMJ103

From my personal experience, it is true that the student-teacher ratio is lower in the PM class. As my child is a bit shy and quiet, I did found that to let him start schooling in a smaller class is beneficial as the teacher can spend more time with each child individually.

Regarding the princiapl, to be honest, kindergartens are under such keen competition nowadays. It is quite understandable and natural that she might grab every single chance to promote her school whenever possible. To me, the most important point is whether the school can really deliver what I have told.

angusbbma

Cupnoodle84,

Thanks for your comments and of WYmom.

I've applied THINK's playgroup in Chinese for my baby.  However, there are not enough students and finally cancelled.

What do you think of the playgroup in English?  Is it difficult?  I have a problem that my mommy cannot understand English if she attends the playgroup with my baby.

justjust

angusbbma,

I have my both girls going to Think as we like their teaching approach, the teachers, the school location, the peer group, and most important of all, the girls like it too.

As for the playgroup, honestly, I think the standard is far lower than that of the kindergarten.  My elder daughter tried it two times, i.e. 1 mth, with a couple of mths' break, then another mth.  I didn't like the playgroup at all.  There was no planning, no preparation work done by the teachers/instructors:  they didn't know what to do next and had to spend 5/10 mins looking for materials for the next task; and kids were given similar handicraft every time: pasting pre-cut paper on a drawing of an apple today, on a drawing of ice-cream, or on a drawing of a sheep.  The teachers/instructors were inexperienced: they seem to be hopeless in grabbing the attention of 6 to 8 kids~~they simply watched the kids running wild in the classroom without even attempting to bring them back to the tables; the maids were happy to sit back and relax; the only ones who restored order were the parents who brought the kids back to the tables.

Honestly, if you are looking for playgroup for your son to pass 1.5 hrs of meaningful time, learning anything like concentration, English, songs, etc., it would be a waste of time.  Any other playgroup would do better.  But if your aim is to let your son be familar with the environment, spend some time with other kids rather than home alone with the helper, it could still work.

My different views towards the playgroup and the kindergarten are stemmed from the fact that the principal hire green teachers as playgroup instructors.  She let them get the training from the playgroup before moving them on to kindergarten work.  I have seen inexperienced and boring playgroup instructors turning into good and popular teachers.  So it is not a question of the qualification of the teachers, it is one on how the principal assigns her staff.  She assigns the greener ones to the playgroup, and naturally the quality of the playgroup is lower than that of the kindergarten.

About your question, if your mother cannot understand English, she might have difficulties to understand the instructors in the playgroup.  But she can always follow what the other parents/maids are doing and ask them for help.

cupnoodle84

Angusbbma,
There were mostly maids with the babies in the playgroup, a few grandparents and a few parents. So, the English playgroup was fine. The grannies were kind of following along the activities. It is like watch and do. They understand the instructions by watching what others are doing.
I did raise questions about the qualifications of the playgroup teachers and the change of teachers. I was told that the more experienced the English teachers are, the more reluctant it is to ask them to do the playgroup. Their training is not to entertain the parents but to teach children according to their age.  They do not like to teach the parents. So, the principal set up the rule that all new on board teachers need to do the playgroup. They can be exempted when there are new comers. That is why the playgroup teachers keep changing. What they did in playgroups back home (UK, Canada, Australia)  is very different from that in HK. Here you keep the children busy by giving them work. there you keep them busy by letting them play.