300 children poisoned in China kindergarten
This was a productive Saturday as we:
1. Checked out the new neighbourhood
The place is *almost* as nice as the one we live in now. There’s a better playground (although smaller) and a public park nearby. It’s in a higher density area with many people going in and out of the area. Nearer to restaurants and shops. Just 5-6 minutes away from his potential preschool 2.
The apartment we visited is much, much smaller than the current one but the furnishings are newer. That means the owner maintained the place! Cleaner, brighter bathrooms and kitchen.
No lake view. Further from the market. Further from the supermarket. Further from my favourite public park.
We’ll need to wait for the agent to call us to view other places.
2. Checked out potential preschool 2
I’d mentioned earlier that we will enroll him in abilingual Chinese preschool soon. We checked out another two this week.
PRESCHOOL 1
I’d call this a local Chinese preschool as there are no foreign students there. The building is really old although the playground and fields are nice and spacious. It’s also one of the most established preschools here and near to the wet market.
A lady was stationed at the entrance to check each kid’s mouth and hands. She also took their temperature using a digital thermometer but she merely wiped the tip with a cloth! Hmm…
Children who have a fever will be sent home but those with a slight cough or cold will still be allowed to attend. Yikes!
Their fees are RMB750 per month and no uniforms are needed. When we popped in for a visit, I was introduced to the English teacher. I perked up and was happy to meet a smiling Chinese lady.
She couldn’t understand “August” until I said, “ba yue” and her spoken English was limited to introductions and greetings. Sigh…
I also didn’t like the interior as the classrooms reminded me of my old Convent primary school in Kuala Lumpur – rackety desks with paint stripping off, dusty floors, noticeboards full of holes, autographs and other markings LOL
With a 1.3 billion population, it’s common to have 30 kids in a group, even for toddlers aged 2.5-3. I had *the wind knocked out of me* when the principal of Preschool 1 told me that.
With 2 teachers to a group, that’s a 1:15 ratio of teacher:super-active, uncooperative, unpredictable Terrible Twos! O_O My Malaysian mum group confirmed this.
All the kids appeared rather messy that I shudder to think of the conditions of the food and toilets.
I almost cringed when she said, “Zank-you for coming”.
PRESCHOOL 2
Preschool 2′s surroundings appear cleaner and airier than Preschool 1. Naturally, they charge higher fees i.e. RMB1,500 for 9.00-4.30 pm (2 snacks, lunch).
There’s a registration fee of RMB150. Uniform fees are RMB120 (winter) and RMB70 (summer). But they will only wear these on Mondays! Expensive costumes…
What’s nice is that they have a max of 15 kids for his age group. This brings the ratio back to the accepted level of 1:7/8 plus an ayi to clean up after them.
The dining hall is huge and looks like a mini image of dining halls in boarding schools. I told the principal that he’s a fussy eater and also wouldn’t sit still for his meals. She *assured* me that the ONE ayi would ensure that he ate all his food. Do you think so? I’d like to believe that but…
The WCs are really cute as they have mini-sized sinks and toilets. I’ll definitely take photos IF he enrolls there.
For now, Preschool 2 sounds OK as they allow me to take him home at noon and will adjust the RMB399 charged for meals. If he’s just going to nap away in a *crowded* room with 20-30 over kids, he may as well do it at home!
My observations as a teacher and a mother:
The standard of English is unbelievably low, even in bilingual kindergartens. The certified or experienced English teachers are either at the international school, training adults or running their private tuition centers. What’s left then?
The expat English native speaker who is on holiday in China and in need of funds to support his or her backpacking trips! Bear in mind that they are hired if they show up in decent-looking attire, demonstrate good social skills and of course, speak with a distinctive English accent.
It doesn’t matter if it’s an American, British, Australian, Latin American, Irish or Scottish accent! Of course, I’ve yet to see Africans being hired…
Foreign-educated Chinese have it a bit tough because the Chinese (similarly with many Malaysians) tend to have a bias towards their own race. They think that another Chinese *couldn’t* possibly be more fluent in English than a proper Mat Salleh (Malay=Caucasian).
Sigh, I wish Confucius or Lao Tzu had a wise saying along the lines of “don’t judge a book by its cover”…
Preschool 2 has an English teacher from Italy but I’ve yet to meet her. I hope she’s OK. Many Chinese-educated families who come to China worry for their kids because when they return to Malaysia, their kids would be in trouble for English…
I’ve already got many interested Mums asking me to set up an English tuition class for their kids!
My biggest worry is his well-being.
Reading the article above deepens that fear – I was firm with the principal that I want a few days to settle him in. I will NOT adhere to the Chinese practice of just dropping him at the gate and saying “Good bye” on the first day.
As it is, he hardly saw his Papa since last June and he’d just lost his Grandpa. He’s very clingy to me and will wail for “Mi-mi” each time he wakes up from sleep.
Should I go to the toilet etc, he’ll come looking for me and loudly call, “Mi-mi! Mi-mi!” My Mum and sister witnessed this when we were in Penang.
Whenever I went out on errands, he’d be so happy when I return and exclaims,
“Mi-mi come back!”
Imagine his trauma if I were to leave him with a group of total strangers in a strange place and all chattering Chinese to him??!!
How did the boy take the visits?
1. He’s a potential A student in English. The school’s population is largely Chinese and Korean. When the principal heard me conversing to him in English, she said he’s good.
As I’ve been speaking in English to him nowadays, the Chinese around smile indulgingly when they hear his childish voice piping out,
“Blue taxi! Yellow taxi! Or-rain taxi!”
“Butter-fai (fly) over there! Liu-ther hands dee-tee (dirty).
“Gordon number 4! Poh-mas (Thomas) number 1! Bames (James) number fai (five)!”
“Taxi, pop (stop)!”
with right hand outstreched.
He happily explored the playground with Hubby’s colleague’s kindergarten age son. And of course, he HAD to comment on everything he saw, my little reporter.
I just hope he won’t return home and start arguing with me that his English teacher is right and I am wrong (unless of course, she is)!
2. He *loves* the school
The principal was impressed when he:
- climbed up and down the stairs (carpeted) himself
- played with most of the Little Tikes apparatus (rides, climbing, pretend play) with ease and confidence
- stepped boldly into new rooms and went straight to the piano, musical instruments, blocks, chairs, books, toys and pointed out many items in the room by name
- smile broadly and greeted men “Ahn-ter! (uncle)” and women “Aun-tie!”
Hahaha, my little brown noser earned many “hau ker ai“s again…
When I asked him,
“Do you want to go to school?”
He replied,
“Want play-round (ground). School oo (Hokkien=has) train. Got! Got!”
Hmm…all the best to his teachers!
Sigh, I have about 2 months to decide as the new semester begins in August. We’re checking out Preschool 3 this week and then arrive at a final decision.
Tell me, what do you think of the preschool so far?
