Looking in the Crystal Ball

[HKfornow]

Lately I feel like I need a crystal ball to "plan out" which school would best suit my son. Aside from the competitiveness of the school system here, there is also the Local vs International vs local school with International stream to consider, English only or with Cantonese and/or Mandarin?

My husband and I are struggling to find the "right" primary school for my son who is an ABC, so of course the need for English is no brainer, however, since we've relocated back to Asia, we want to take advantage of this and have him learn his Mandarin (putonghua), as we believe that is the language for the future.

So which brings us to our next question of looking down the road to the future (hence the need for the crystal ball), where would he go to secondary then university? If back to the US, obviously an international school might be more ideal as he would already be exposed to a lot of "western" ideas, sports, terminology, etc. But if he decides to stay in Asia and continue his studies here, I would think that a local school would better equip him, so he can blend in better either here in HK or in China. Does this make sense or am I just being truly paranoid or worrywart?

Sorry for the rambling but anyone else in the same boat?

 

[Klam]

Hi, we were in the same situation just before my daughter started kindergarden. We're British chinese so in a similar situation as you. The school decision had to be important as I do not speak, read or write mandarin, I am just able to speak cantonese. So, the support from the schools had to be good.
We also decided English and Mandarin was to be her main languages throughout her education as they are languages that would be widely used in the future whether she returns to the UK or stays in Asia.

We eventually decided to send her to an English Kindergarden, but not where the school only taught english. We found a school that taught in 60% English and 40% Chinese. This would eventually give her a strong start up with her cantonese writing.

We had problems deciding local v. international for Primary. My daughter was accepted to a good, local chinese school where english was the main language. However, after speaking to a few of the Primary students there, I was quite appalled at the low level of spoken english that was given to me. I'm not saying all local english schools are like this, just the one we were accepted to.
We eventually decided on a small international school in the NT where they follow the British curriculum and also have a strong mandarin program. So far I have not regreted my decision and although our language at home is english, her mandarin is more advanced that I could imagined it would have been at 6 years old. I I have to admit, I have to send her to private tutoring for mandarin as I can't help her with her homework!...ha ha

We do plan on sending my daughter back to the UK to do her 'A' Levels and then University and whether she returns to Asia, it will be entirely up to her. I don't sending her to a local school would better equip her better for life in Asia, look how many expat florish him Asia.

I don't think you need to worry about your child blending in Asia, especially if they will are raised here, they will already know the culture etc. Being at an internatioanl school would have its advantages in terms of mixing with children from 'western' countries but if your main language at home is american english, then they are already being exposed to western terminology from you.

I hope this helps in some way.

 

[barbwong_130]

I can understand your dilemma as choosing schools seems to have been the hardest decision of my parenting. It is such an important decision and one that can’t be changed from day to day. (Not like potty training where you can go back on your decision to do it and leave it for another six months.)

Having said that, I know very few children in Hong Kong who haven’t changed schools, if not systems, as they grow. All four of my children have changed schools as their needs changed. I would just worry that the school you are looking at currently suits your child now. If in the future it doesn’t continue to suit the child change then. No one can be expected to know at age five what will be the best university qualifications for the child in 10 or 12 years.

One of the nice things about Hong Kong is that it opens your eyes to the way others do things. Often we assume that our children will return to our home country for further education but it may be that a course in a third country will suit best. We can not know this in advance and so have to make the decisions at the appropriate time. Usually by the time the child is 14 or 15 it becomes clear what they are good at and where their interests lie. And if not, then this is telling you to choose a more general and lower level qualification like the USA entry requirements than the more specialized and intense qualifications such as English A-levels.

Education is a changing field. Ten years ago most of the schools in Hong Kong were studying A-levels now many of the international schools are changing over to the IB. Who knows what will be in fashion in another ten years. We need to wait and see and make the best choice we can at the time.

Best wishes,
Barb

 

[HKfornow]

Ladies, thanks for the comments/insight. It's comforting to know others have walked this very same road and that we are not alone in all of the concerns. . . I've worried that I'm being neurotic.

I guess in the next few months, as we attempt to look at more school, we should just concentrate on what feels right for now, & where my son would be happier in his school environment instead of worrying about what's gonna happen 5 or 10 years down the road. Taking a deep breath!

 

[Eliza Han]

International School?

Hi HKfornow,

If you think that English and Madarin are the languages for the future, why don't you consider a school that offers both English and Mandarin? Maybe you can check out Singapore International School? Pretty decent English and Mandarin standards (my hubby is the Chinese Subject Head there). If you would like to find out more, can private message me.

 

[Eliza Han]

Oh yes, another thing, please don't be confused by the "Chinese" in Hong Kong, it actually means Cantonese, which really does not really help if your goal is to have your child make inroads to China. You have to look for a school that teaches Putonghua/Mandarin. So it is not true that sending your child to a local school will ensure that he can blend in better in China. It will only serve him well if he stays in HK.The local English standard is also flailing as the schools can now teach all subjects in Cantonese.

 

[HKfornow]

Eliza, hubby and I did tour SIS, however, we were told that the Chinese used there was 20% and 80% English. That reply shocked us as we were under the impression that it was 50/50. Can you confirm? Thanks.

 

[Littlequeen]

In the search for an international school for my child, I had also considered SIS but after knowing that they use simplified Chinese, I started looking for other options.