Where do Asian expats in Sing send their kids for school?

[lchen2975]

Where do Asian expats in Sing send their kids for school?

Looking for a primary school (1st grade) with strong emphasis in Mandarin for my 5 1/2 year old. We're Americans and my daughter just completed kindergarten in California. We're looking into int'l schools but would like her to have more exposures to Mandarin than the couple hours a week in most int'l schools.

I speak Mandarin but my husband doesn't. He would love to send her into an immersion program, but i'm concerned that it would be too traumatic for a five year old. And coming from California, I'm worried that the local school / style might be too rigid / not as well rounded.

Anyone have any feedback on Chinese International School? Seems like a nw school. Not too much history / track record?

[wk]

Yes, the local system is much more rigid compared to the US system, even at 1st grade level. Much emphasis on academic results, with exams, & regular tests, in addition to weekly English "spelling" tests, as well as the Mandarin equivalent of "spelling" (the kids have to memorise a list of Chinese words, and are tested on them by the teacher). Classroom size is large, at 30 per class.

Our kids were in local school for 4 years till we switched them to the American School where they were much happier & given a more well-rounded education.

Having said that, there are expats who are quite happy with sending their children to local schools. I guess it depends on what your expectations are where education is concerned.

No experience with the Chinese International School - I think they started just last year.

SJI (International) is starting a Primary school next year. (SJI=St Joseph's Institution). You may want to look into that.

[gmsale]

Hi, we had a look at Etonhouse in Broderick Road and they have two streams of Mandarin offered to the students. They offer the "watered down" version of Mandarin to expat kids. Local kids who attend the school attend the more difficult classes so that they can keep up to par with the local system expectations. They are on the East Coast and we were impressed with the warmth and friendliness of the teachers there.

[lchen2975]

Thanks for all this feedback.

For the person who started his kids in local school, then transferred to American School after 4 years, was this a planned approach? How are your kids language ability. Are they able to keep up their language skills at the American School?

My husband went through American Schools abroad when he was growing up. His thinking is that we'll likely end up with American School when the kids are older, why not experiment with language immersion school while the kids are young.

[SmR]

Hi, we had a look at Etonhouse in Broderick Road and they have two streams of Mandarin offered to the students. They offer the "watered down" version of Mandarin to expat kids. Local kids who attend the school attend the more difficult classes so that they can keep up to par with the local system expectations. They are on the East Coast and we were impressed with the warmth and friendliness of the teachers there.

hi! could you pm me around how much their tuition fee is? thanks...

[gmsale]

Hi, they are charging about SG$13K as of a year ago. The fees are usually pretty constant.

[wk]

For the person who started his kids in local school, then transferred to American School after 4 years, was this a planned approach? How are your kids language ability. Are they able to keep up their language skills at the American School?

No it wasn't planned. We put them in a local school initially because of budget (or lack of it) & when we could afford to, transferred them to the American School. I must admit that there were a few pluses from having attended local school - strong base in Math, some foundation in Mandarin (though they eventually ended up hating learning the language, because of the way it's taught in local schools), discipline.

My older boy transfered into 6th grade & actually had problems with English in the American school because he wasn't used to the analytical approach to teaching as opposed to the rote learning/fill in the blanks/multiple choice questions approach he experienced in the local school. So it took him a few months for his mind to "relearn" how to think for himself!

As for Mandarin, only the very basic stuck, but now that they are older, & have "overcome" the traumatic experience of learning Mandarin in Singapore, they are going back into Chinese lessons more willingly than they did before.

[MacD]

Just go to the American School in Singapore. It's in Woodlands Area.