I live in Hong Kong where there are not many choices when it comes to Montessori preschools. DD has been going to one since 2y4m. The school is run has a learning center and uses Mandarin as instruction medium. Most kids from age 3 onwards go there as a supplementary school 3 days a week in addition to their kindergartens. In addition to the practical life and sensorial areas, older kids do more Chinese language and math. The Montessori curriculum that is taught in school is not very comprehensive, e.g. the science and nature. Also, English is almost taught in all preschools in Hong Kong to some extent, but missing in this learning center. Apart from the last few points, I find the school wonderful. The teacher is genuinely caring (not the type who treats it as a job) and teacher/student ratio is very good at 1:7. Therefore, I did what many parents consider to be very risky here. Kids here usually start the first year of kindergarten by three years old. I let DD skip this first year and just went to this learning center 5 days a week.
DD is now 4y4m. I am aware that she cannot continue to stay in her present Montessori center. Not being an official school and not teaching English, dd will be at a significant disadvantage when she starts elementary school or when she goes to interviews at private schools (yes, we have a very distorted system in Hong Kong). I transferred her to a “true” kindergarten and let her go to her Montessori learning centre 3 days a week on Thursday and Friday afternoon and Saturday morning. Her new kindergarten is great in many ways, but it is not Montessori. I just never warmed up to it and felt that she is too tired running around to 2 schools and sacrificing a lot of her exercise and play time. Especially since she has problems in spatial judgment and concentration, both assessed as conditions requiring more exercises to stimulate her hippocampus, I feel that learning in the Montessori way is better for her in the long run. There is only one Montessori school with kindergarten to year 6 in Hong Kong. At the end of last month, we applied and was informed of admission early this week.
I have always known this Montessori school. I didn’t consider it before because our present Montessori teacher is SO wonderful that I am sure it is extremely difficult to find another one who is as caring and patient. Also, the new school’s teacher-student ratio is 1.5 to 25. Each class has one AMI teacher and one Chinese teacher. The Chinese teacher has some “in-house” training.
Having received verbal confirmation, I submitted dd’s withdrawal letter to her regular kindergarten on 9/30 so that she could make it to the new Montessori school by November 1. However, the official offer letter which I received yesterday was a huge surprise. They asked dd to enroll in the fullday program from 8:15 am to 2:45 pm! Their school have half-day program (finishes at 11:45 am), extended-day program (1:15 pm) and the full-day program. From my understanding, kids at dd’s age are usually asked to do the extended-day and by age 5, the full-day. However, the extended-day program, for some reason, is not offered to the campus which dd will be going to (they also have a primary campus at another location).
This completely threw me out of balance. One of the reasons I transferred her to the new school was hoping that she will have more time to do exercises and play. Of course, this will be better than running around between 2 schools. In addition, because this campus is new, there aren’t so many older kids. At least 70% of the kids in casa are age 3. Other than circle time, they have music and PE about 2 to 3 times a week totally. Outdoor playground time is once a week max. With very cramped spaces in Hong Kong, the school itself has no outdoor area. The playground is a public playground across the street.
I requested the school to place my daughter in half-day program, but they said that dd is considered as lagging behind according to their standard. Since the afternoon session is for old kids and there are fewer of them, the teacher can focus to work with them more on complicated work such as language and math. It is obvious that in the morning, with so many younger kids, teacher cannot afford doing much work with older kids. I have heard from other parents that, even for older kids, in the morning, it will mostly be practical life, sensorial, and going through work with younger kids (e.g. pink tower, brown stairs).
I just don’t like the new situation I am in now. I almost want to move dd back to her Montessori learning centre 5 days a week and supplement it with a phonics class. (DD can speak English, and her comprehension is good. She needs to learn how to read and later write).
Can anybody who is familiar with Montessori casa give me some advice? Is this normal practice?
DD is now 4y4m. I am aware that she cannot continue to stay in her present Montessori center. Not being an official school and not teaching English, dd will be at a significant disadvantage when she starts elementary school or when she goes to interviews at private schools (yes, we have a very distorted system in Hong Kong). I transferred her to a “true” kindergarten and let her go to her Montessori learning centre 3 days a week on Thursday and Friday afternoon and Saturday morning. Her new kindergarten is great in many ways, but it is not Montessori. I just never warmed up to it and felt that she is too tired running around to 2 schools and sacrificing a lot of her exercise and play time. Especially since she has problems in spatial judgment and concentration, both assessed as conditions requiring more exercises to stimulate her hippocampus, I feel that learning in the Montessori way is better for her in the long run. There is only one Montessori school with kindergarten to year 6 in Hong Kong. At the end of last month, we applied and was informed of admission early this week.
I have always known this Montessori school. I didn’t consider it before because our present Montessori teacher is SO wonderful that I am sure it is extremely difficult to find another one who is as caring and patient. Also, the new school’s teacher-student ratio is 1.5 to 25. Each class has one AMI teacher and one Chinese teacher. The Chinese teacher has some “in-house” training.
Having received verbal confirmation, I submitted dd’s withdrawal letter to her regular kindergarten on 9/30 so that she could make it to the new Montessori school by November 1. However, the official offer letter which I received yesterday was a huge surprise. They asked dd to enroll in the fullday program from 8:15 am to 2:45 pm! Their school have half-day program (finishes at 11:45 am), extended-day program (1:15 pm) and the full-day program. From my understanding, kids at dd’s age are usually asked to do the extended-day and by age 5, the full-day. However, the extended-day program, for some reason, is not offered to the campus which dd will be going to (they also have a primary campus at another location).
This completely threw me out of balance. One of the reasons I transferred her to the new school was hoping that she will have more time to do exercises and play. Of course, this will be better than running around between 2 schools. In addition, because this campus is new, there aren’t so many older kids. At least 70% of the kids in casa are age 3. Other than circle time, they have music and PE about 2 to 3 times a week totally. Outdoor playground time is once a week max. With very cramped spaces in Hong Kong, the school itself has no outdoor area. The playground is a public playground across the street.
I requested the school to place my daughter in half-day program, but they said that dd is considered as lagging behind according to their standard. Since the afternoon session is for old kids and there are fewer of them, the teacher can focus to work with them more on complicated work such as language and math. It is obvious that in the morning, with so many younger kids, teacher cannot afford doing much work with older kids. I have heard from other parents that, even for older kids, in the morning, it will mostly be practical life, sensorial, and going through work with younger kids (e.g. pink tower, brown stairs).
I just don’t like the new situation I am in now. I almost want to move dd back to her Montessori learning centre 5 days a week and supplement it with a phonics class. (DD can speak English, and her comprehension is good. She needs to learn how to read and later write).
Can anybody who is familiar with Montessori casa give me some advice? Is this normal practice?
