Why do you send your child to IS?

harrierwong

Dear all,

Since my daughter is almost to the age of getting into kindergarten, both my husband and I are thinking whether we should send our daughter to IS or local school.

Both my husband and I are Chinese, daddy went to UK study after he was 14. I was brought up in HK. We are very concern about the bringing up of our daughter especially her education.

Would like to know parents here sending kids to IS, why do u send kids to IS? I am a greedy mom, I want my daughter can speak fluently both cantonese and english. More importantly, the writing and reading ability of both CHinese and English. How or what do u do to help your children? Would it be better to send kids to local school ensuring better chinese standard then send her overseas to learn English? There are good local schools which i think at the same time have a lot of homework.

I want my daughter to grow up happily, loves going to school, love learning, and have ability to speak chinese and english. OH, I am so frustrated and confused!! Can anyone give me some insights???

wicked

My choice was due to disappointment with local system, especially the fact that Cantonese is being used to teach the Chinese language and the feeding approach in teaching. Recently I met a P4 kid attending a local school who had no idea nor experience in using a Chinese dictionary. I hope he is only an exceptional case.

One of the dads here shares his expectation of his kids to be 3 Hs (happy, healthy and harmless - hope not quoted wrong). I like that a lot.  I dont have much insight to share about IS as yet but one thing for sure is my kids are happy there.

NatMom

My kid is studying in both IS and local kinders, although many people said it's too tiring for a kid attending 2 schools, I still insist it because I really want to find out what's the difference between these 2 systems, and which system is the best for my kid.

My daughter is K2 now, and I finally made up my mind--IS system. Here are my findings:

Local school
- needs to write 2 words everyday, each word 20 times
- not enjoy doing homework, once even told me that she hated writing, her teacher also complaint her handwriting was awful and threaten not to give her homework (but I could remember she show interests in writing when she was small)
- teacher taught too fast and she couldn't follow
- routine learning - everyday is writing, recognizing words, drawing... although she can write so many chinese words now, but seems not enjoy school life too much
- observation: local system tends to make kids lose interest in learning

IS system
- a lot of free playing time, no homework at all
- teach by topic, 1 topic lasts for 2-3 weeks
- kids are encouraged to bring one item that related to the topic to do show and tell, so everyday we will discuss what to bring to school
- kids would do various artwork related to the topic at school, parents are invited to be a helper in assisting them to do the artwork (in fact it gives us chance to observe and participate their school life)
- after completion of each topic, kids will bring all the artworks home, which are very interesting (for example, a dinosaur fossil that made by flour and toothpicks, and a dinosaur egg that use newpaper wrapping a balloon)
- every kid has a smiling face after school
- observation: creative, enjoyable and happy school life which induce interest in learning

So, I would say the most important thing that affect my decision is not "language", but "the way of learning".  Of course I'm just talking about my own kid's case.  Each kid has different character that suits different system.  It also depends which type of parent you are.

[ 本帖最後由 NatMom 於 08-12-3 21:09 編輯 ]

harrierwong

Natmom,

Thanks for your reply. It gives me some idea of the current education system although I had the same impression with the two system as what you experience. I think I value the happiness of my daughter more than her language ability. With the interest in learning, she probably will pick up language soon as long as we expose her to the environment.
My idea of local school is pretty much like what you said, a lot of writing and homework. children hate goiing to school, hate learning and doing homework, never want to pick up a book and read. Friends of mine sending theirs kids to IS, they like reading a lot. Students going to local school seems enjoy playing computer games or playstation more. I'm not saying only children go to IS like reading, but kids around me going to IS like reading more than those going to local schools.

I think I will try to teach chinese at home or find some tutor for my daughter in order to keep her Chinese up to MY standard.

Btw, which IS does your kid goes to?? Thanks for sharing!:loveliness:

NatMom

My daughter is studying at KBCK (Kowloon Baptist Church Kindergarten).  It has no spacious campus, no fabulous furnitures, and not even a computer for the kids to use.  But they have loving and caring teachers, plus happy kids that learn thru play.  A lot of my daughter's classmates got siblings studying in ESF primary schools.  Their parents prefer sending the younger child to KBCK rather than ESF kinders.  I will send my younger one to this school next year if she pass the interview in January.

Eh-oh

I also support to send the child to go to IS. They will have a very happy school life and good learning envirnment there. But if  can't afford the IS high fee, any suggestion of local IS is nearly streamline of IS? CKY is a best choice or not?
Pls share...Tks!

almom

I believe we are talking about "education" and not merely international schools vs local schools

My personal believe is that, education is a process and education is a basket of many ingredients. If a school can provide what one parent want, then it is a good school in the eyes of this parent. And because everyone expects differently from a school, there is no single school that can be qualified as "the best school" that makes everyone happy.

I chose an international primary school many years ago because I was only able to get what I wanted in international primary schools.

I believe that children should be inspired to learn on their own and should have the skills to learn on their own. Learning is a life long process and is not limited to those who are still in school. There is unlimited knowledge or information out there. If one has the skills to learn on his own, and he loves to learn, then basically he can acquire unlimited knowledge.

Unfortunately, it appeared to me back then (and it seems to still be the case) that local primary school education do not appreciate or encourage the curiosity of young people's mind. Their main focus in local Hong Kong style primary school education is the structured and rigid syllabus. Students are asked to study for what is inside the textbook or what is within the syllabus. Lots of time and effort has to be put in preparing for the tests and exams, because there are so many tests. In fact, most of the school hours are wasted to write the tests. The main pointer of whether you are a good student is the score you get. When you get 100 marks in tests or exams, you are a good students. If you ask too much questions or even challenge the teacher, you are a trouble maker. Things are so clear cut and students are so easily categorised to be either "good" or "bad".

Local primary education teaches children a predetermined "syllabus" of knowledge.

International schools primary education teaches children the skills to be learners.

In an international primary school, children are encouraged to be curious about everything. Teachers do not mind being asked about something that they themselves do not really know. Everyone is a learner, including teachers and parents.

Children get the skills they need to be learners. They learn to read so they can read any books they love, or any books that can provide answers to their curious minds. They learn how to search for answers, by looking for information in the relevant books in the library, by researching on the internet, by asking people around for answers, etc. They learn how to extract the information they need from amongst all the information they got. They learn how to present what they have learnt, as a written work, a drawing, a drama. They learn the basic math skills relatively slower, because they are expected to understand what they are doing, instead of being trained to be a walking calculators. Et cetera.

All these skills learnt would form the strong base for what they are going to encounter in secondary school, university, and beyond.

Of course, the above are my own views. What I think is good is probably not good in other people's eyes. I am sure a lot of local schools are really "good schools" according to many other people's needs.

almom

I am a greedy mom, I want my daughter can speak fluently both cantonese and english. More importantly, the writing and reading ability of both CHinese and English. How or what do u do to help your children?

Unfortunately, I think international schools in Hong Kong do not have strong Chinese programs.
Bear in mind that all other classes are conducted in English and many students are non-Chinese. The main common language used in school is still English and the opportunities for the children to speak in Chinese is few. It is very hard for children to be really good at Chinese.
Even for those few international schools with more Chinese, they are probably only able to keep up with their spoken Chinese and still not able to keep up with good written Chinese.

Would it be better to send kids to local school ensuring better chinese standard then send her overseas to learn English? There are good local schools which i think at the same time have a lot of homework.  

If you are looking for more chinese exposures, then yes, because local schools uses chinese as a first language both inside and outside the classroom. Students definitely have more exposures to the language itself iand even local Chinese cultures. However, more exposures does not equal to higher standard.

almom

原帖由 thankful 於 08-12-7 00:50 發表
I beg to differ with you on this point as my personal experience tells me that SIS does have a strong Chinese program.  In fact, when one gets to the Higher Primary, the Chinese is so hard that it mig ...

I am sure you know more about SIS than I do. Okay, SIS might probably be the one and only that have harder Chinese. However, I think SIS is also quite different from most international schools adopting western curricula in other ways.

almom

原帖由 thankful 於 08-12-7 00:39 發表
When one talks about Chinese language, one must make a clear distinction between Cantonese and Putonghua.  One must also distingush between traditional Chinese characters and simplified Chinese characters.  My understanding is that a lot of the international schools in HK teach Putonghua and simplified Chinese characters.  So if you want a school that would teach your kid to speak fluent Cantonese, then you may need to rule out a lot of them.

You know what, if my children can be that good at Chinese, I am willing to take anything: cantonese or putonghua, simplified or traditional characters.

almom

I am a greedy mom, I want my daughter can speak fluently both cantonese and english. More importantly, the writing and reading ability of both CHinese and English. How or what do u do to help your children?  

Want to come back more on this point.

I think the best is to find a school that have a balance of Chinese and English according to what your want. If you want your child to have good Chinese, find a school that teaches more Chinese.

May be, you might want to consider SIS, now that someone mentioned that they do have hard Chinese. A couple of other choices may be YCIS and ISF.

My observation is that, it is very hard (if not impossible) to do anything outside school. I know so many students that have been sent to extra Chinese classes (for spoken Chinese or written Chinese) but the result is never that good. In fact, a lot of students already have very Chinese background, ie Chinese parents that speak Chinese (cantonese or putonghua) at home, however, a lot of children (particularly those who have been in IS since P1) still prefer to use English. And like I said, even those who manage to keep up with spoken Chinese (cantonese or putonghua), the written Chinese is probably still not good.

foolish.mom

Chinese International School also has strong Chinese program teaching traditional characters and leading to bilingual ID diploma for certain group of students.

NatMom

Hi almom,

Very agree with your point of view on education.  My daughter is going to attend CAIS interview next month.  Are you familiar with this school?  Grateful if you could give some comments on this school.  Thanks.

harrierwong

Dear all,

Thanks for all the inputs. I have discussed with my husband and we come to an agreement of sending our daughter to IS as we want our daughter learn happily and willing to learn.

Of course, btw all those IS I would do a bit more research. Like one parent said SIS put a lot emphasis on CHinese, however, we live in NT, it's too far for us. Think of RC, like the IB all the way through, but seems like it's a new school, haven't got lots of comments about it. Any idea??

Thanks!

oooray

My reason is very simple. I don't want my children experience what i experienced in local system.
Of course, it is a costly decision...

popolung

原帖由 oooray 於 08-12-8 14:15 發表
My reason is very simple. I don't want my children experience what i experienced in local system.
Of course, it is a costly decision...

I agreed, and good stuff always cost more (though I don't mean free local education in HK is no good, but in most of the cases, both kids and parents will be going via a very painful process for 10-15 years)