I am having a tough time deciding which is more suitable for my child. Any comments?
| Jennifer203 | 2006-03-25 20:17 |
| Hi all, I have to make up my mind before this Monday. Any YMCA (TST) or ESF (TY)'s parents who can share their thoughts? My child is currently studying at YMCA and he is very happy. YMCA has Letterland and a more structured class, ex. they teach ABC, numbers, bible songs etc. I have been to ESFTY once for parent visit and they have a more free-style patterned class. They have an hour of open program which children get to choose what they like to play. I am not sure if this method works for my child...... Anyone can share???? |
| Fattymom | 2006-03-25 20:39 |
| Hi! Jennifer, I've turned down ESFTY's offer in Feb.06. Before I visited the school, I feel it's very difficult to make a decision. My son, I & my husband love the current school very much; however, ESFTY students can have priority over other applicants to the ESF Primary school. I visited the school at 9:00a.m. and therefore I can see the actual "classroom" situation. I feel that it's just like a carnival, children can go to different booth according to their preference. A ex-student parent said. The teachers will not encourage the kids to try different activities and therefore a kid can play with the same activity everyday! One terrible incident is that the parent said she decided to quit the school after one term because: her daugher told her that she felt bored and then took a cushion to sleep on a corner! But nobody interfere with her! I agree with a free-style education for the little kids but not like this! All above are what I saw and what I heard. Just for your information. Anyway, I also know a parent who loves ESF very much. The answer may be: what do u want :-? |
| sofiama | 2006-03-26 16:52 |
| Hi Jennifer203, I've turned down ESFTY because they didn't offer AM session which I preferred. I visited the school with my husband in February. We agree that our daughter will learn English there but I'm not comfortable having to bring her through the shopping centre (very tiring). And although look big, there're too little space to walk about, i.e. not spacious. After we turned down ESF, YMCA accpeted my daughter in AM session, so we decided to let her go to YMCA. One of the reason I chose YMCA is because it's a Christian school & provide lunch (optional). I don't reject mixed age, but since YMCA is more convenient for me & is a Christian school, I opt for it. BTW, I also enrolled my daughter to Pui Ching KG PM session coz both of us think that she should learn Chinese, too. Hope she could keep up with the schedule. |
| chuchuma | 2006-03-27 12:49 |
| Hi Jennifer203, I think YMCA got a good word of mouth than ESFTY, however, it depends where you want your son go after completing the kindergarten. If you want him enter the ESF Primary School, then choosing ESFTY may be more play safe. Otherwise, YMCA will be a good choice. For me, I will place my son in ESFTY so as to gain a higher priorty to the ESF primary school. |
| Jennifer203 | 2006-03-27 18:23 |
| Hi all, I decided to enroll my child at ESFTY finally. It's a really tough decision for me because my son is adapting so well at YMCA. First of all, we lived in Tsing Yi, so ESFTY is more convenient. Moreover, I think I should let my son to try out for one term to see if he likes the open program or not. Although there are lots of BK negative comments on ESFTY, I think I should give it a try ;-) My son is a very active, smart and fast learner. He has a very strong desire to explore his surroundings. Therefore, I think ESFTY has the appropriate environment which can train him to be even more confident because he has to make his own decision (ex. to have snack or not, to play which activities, go to washroom or not, etc) I know this free-style teaching approach may not be a good one for some children, but it may work out for my little devil. :-) |
