URGENT! KBCK or YMCA?

piyanmum

How much is the tuition?

Is it too late to apply this school now?

Thx :

Sandrine

piyanmum,

The fees for KBCK is $2,200 per month for 2004/05.  I'm not sure if they still accept applications for this year's K1. Even if they do, it will be for the p.m. session only.  You'd better call the school to find out.  Their waiting list seems to be very long.  I was told that if my child wanted a spot in the morning session, I should have sent mine in in mid 2003, i.e. two years before the child starts school.

JessMama

Dear all,

I have dropped by KBCK during one Sunday to have a quick look!  Is it located on 2nd floor, on top of a Church?

But it looks quite small, am I correct?

Pls. comment.  Thanks

justjust

Sandrine,

Interested to know what's your choice right now.

We also have opportunities for both schools but we've pushed them back to Sep so that we have more time for think through it.  We've already declined an offer from ESF for us to join in Feb.

justjust

Sandrine

justjust,

We still haven't made up our mind about which school to send her to.  The only decision we've made was to decline the Apr offer of both YMCA and KBCK.  So you're deciding between them too?  Did you get the morning session? How about your girl's present school?   How are you going to choose?

Jessmama,
Yes the school is small, with only 3 classrooms.  But I think the classrooms are spacious enough for 30 children.  And they can use the public playground next to the church for phys. ed.

justjust

Sandrine,

Our girl is currently studying at Think (int'l) lower nursery.  We quite like it.  Our girl is happy there and the school is only 5 minutes' walk from home.  We don't like changing schools in the middle of the school year because it is a lot of interruption and we have a lot of other issues to handle right now.  We can't afford to change school at this moment.  That's a major reason why we turn down ESF.

Yes we have am sessions for both KBCK and YMCA.  Between the 2 YMCA is the preferred choice as we quite like the program at YMCA, esp. the full day classes as the activities in the afternoons are quite attractive, e.g. gymnastics, swimming, golfing, etc.  I don't think this can be matched by the other schools.  Our girl has been going to YMCA for other activities and she knows her way around already.  Yet it is further away from home.  School fee is more expensive than Think ($3.4k for half day and $6.4k for full day; vs. Think: $3k for half day and $5k for full day) but this is a secondary factor only.

Language is another major consideration.  If our girl stays at Think, we will put her in full day classes, half day bilingual and half day int'l to increase her Chinese exposure. YMCA cannot offer any of this.  Whether we want the Chinese element or not depends on whether we will relocate or not, and when, which we don't know yet.

We didn't think much about the connection to primary schools as we are pretty sure that she will go to primary schools elsewhere.

Sandrine

justjust,

So it all depends whether you want Chinese or not.  If you want your daughter to learn Chinese now, then you'll stay with Think.  Otherwise you'll choose YMCA.  Right?  But I thought YMCA only offers full-day program from K2.  

Can you tell me why you prefer the program at YMCA?  I know they use the child-centred approach.  How is it different from the theme-based approach at KBCK?  Any idea?

justjust

Sandrine,

Yes YMCA offers full-day program from K2 only.  Another criteria is for the child to be 3 yrs and 8 mths old, and our girl will reach the requirement by end of Sep 05.   

Susan said if we specify in the reply slip that we want full-day classes, she could put us in the queue as they give priority to K2 and K3 students.  On the other hand, Susan and the other teachers kept on saying that our daughter performed even better than their existing K1 students given her English proficiency and sociability.  She knew exactly what she was doing there when the teacher took her to the K1 class when Susan was talking to us.  Susan said she would put her together with the elder K1 students who were there since Sep to match her level.  Honestly I don't quite understand if this means she will be together with the future K2 students.  As you said, their Montessori approach is child based, they will monitor the progress of individual child while arranging/grouping the classes. We just trust their arrangement.  

We prefer the program at YMCA not because of the approach, although we like it, but because we like the various activities offered in the full-day program.  And we can tell that our girl would love the activities.  We have seen the full-day programs of other schools and they don't offer such a rich curriculum.  Having said this, we have decided to send our girl to full-day school the coming school year.  So whether YMCA accepts her to the full day program will also be a critical factor.

Sandrine

justjust,

I think a full-day program will be ideal as your daughter will be older then and you'll need the time for the baby too.  

I'll go for half-day school for my daughter for now.  YMCA is a good choice.  It's relatively close to where I live.  My daughter has learnt a lot from Toddlers' World. She's been there for only a few months and I am amazed about how much she can pick up in such a short time.  She learns a lot thru singing and can sing a song about whatever she sees.  And she's learnt to be loving too to pray for her classmate who's been sick and absent.  Perhaps kids that age can learn in an incredible rate no matter where we put them but I think she can excel in the YMCA learning environment.   

On the other hand, I heard that KBCK has excellent teachers.  The children are English-speaking.  They are happy and my daughter likes it there from our last visit.  

It's always easier to offer your advice to others but when it comes to making your own decision, it's no easy task.

justjust

Hi Sandrine,

I am sure that KBCK has excellent teachers and provides a good English environment as well.  Otherwise it wouldn't be such a reputed school for good value for money.

About ur comment that the children are English speaking in KBCK, what I observe is that in general in the int'l schools, the kids are really talking to each other in English, regardless of their own nationality. Of course it would be better if you can pay a visit to observe the classes (even play time) if possible.

Sandrine

If my preferred primary school is the International Christian School, does it matter which one I choose?  Whether the YMCA or KBCK will prepare my child better for ICS primary?  Any advice please?

minggrace

Sandrine
ICS does accept kids aged 3 only. YMCA International Kindergarten offers K3 but not for KBCK. If your child was born before September, then that makes no difference. If not, you should consider YMCA as there's K3. Do you see what I mean?
Any concern is that you mentioned about your maid accompanying your child at YMCA playgroup before. Can your child work independently now? Will it be ok for your child to get used to a new school environment for KBCK?

Minggrace

Sandrine

minggrace,

My daughter is already 3 years old and so age is not a concern.  My husband prefers YMCA as it has K3, very much closer (only need to take one bus from where we live) and we can have the morning session (so no need to adjust our daughter's schedule) plus she's already in their playgroup (so less adjustment).  

My daughter is more independent now and she finally let my helper staying outside the classroom.  It sure took a while.

bbych2004

Hi all,
how much sch fee for ICS? how to get a seat? where's it? Eng is the only medium of instruction? teaching method? which sec sch will ICS graduates go to?
tks.

bbych2004

Hi all,
how much sch fee for ICS? how to get a seat? where's it? Eng is the only medium of instruction? teaching method? which sec sch will ICS graduates go to?
tks.

minggrace

Hi Sandrine

Have you made up your mind yet? KBCK or YMCA? If your choose the former one, your daughter and my son will be schoolmates. Like you, my son got accepted by both YMCA and KBCK. Is it am or pm school offered by KBCK for your daughter? Honestly, AM school is better. For YMCA, it's AM school. Personally I think this is the only advantage over the KBCK one.

Minggrace

Sandrine

bbych2004,

Please visit the ICS website for details about the school:

International Christian School

Click here for summary

Sandrine

minggrace,

No haven't decided yet.  We have the afternoon session only.  If you take the offer, how do you adjust your son's schedule?  My daughter needs a nap after lunch every day.  

Shown媽媽

Sandrine,

For my own case, I train him during long holiday. Sleep a bit late. Don't wake him up so early in the morning. Give him a bottle of mike. Let him sleep as much as he can. Delay his breakfast but a little bit heavy than before to around 11:00/11:30 (depends on where you live). Play a while. Give him snack at 2:00(school also have snack at the same time) . Try to delay his nap. You can feed him something at 4:00. Give him milk at 4:30 before nap. Wake him up at 6:30 and have dinner in normal schedule.   
Don't worry too much! You can easily change his schedule back to normal if you take am class later. Not that hard! I love to share if you want. Some children no need to take nap when they're in K2. So, really depends on your kid.  

CherylMum

Re: URGENT! KBCK(Apr) or YMCA(Aug)?

[ 本帖最後由 CherylMum 於 09-11-13 14:54 編輯 ]