School visit

Today we went to see the kids' new school.  It was my first time visiting it.  Our appointment was at 8:30 and school starts at 8:15, so it was nice to see the end of dropoff.  There were a lot of moms standing around chatting after the kids had gone to class.  Everyone keeps commenting on how this school has a greater community feel than most of the other schools in Hong Kong, mainly because it is the only school in this area so everyone in the community goes to this school where most other areas have many schools so the neighbors would be spread out between multiple schools.  First off, we met our next door neighbor.  It was the first neighbor we have met.  She knew someone new was moving in and figured it was us when she saw us.  They are from the US (although they have been in HK for 2 years and London 6 years before that) and have 3 kids.  Their youngest is a 6 year old girl and will be in Tommy's class next year.  Her name is Chloe and Charlotte is already talking about her like she is her best friend even though we haven't even met her yet.  It was the first conversation I have had with someone since we have been here that is a native English speaker from the US.  Most other native English speakers are from England or Australia/New Zealand and have accents (to me).  :)

The principal showed us around the school.  She was very nice.  She said about half the kids would have Mandarin or Cantonese spoken at home, about half would have English spoken at home, and there might be a couple that have a completely different language.

Charlotte is going to be in Reception next year.  That is what they call kindergarten here.  I was concerned at first because Charlotte would have 1 or 2 more years of school in the US before she went to kindergarten and I didn't think she was ready, the principal she said there is a lot of pressure here to send the kids to kindergarten as early as possible, so they start at 4 and call it kindergarten (or reception), but the curriculum is appropriate for an (advanced) 4 year old program.  We met Charlotte's teacher, she was very nice.  We also saw her classroom as well as visited the classrooms of the nursery students who will be in her class next year.

                                                Charlotte's classroom for next year.

                                                Reception and Nursery outside area.
Tommy will be in Y2.  He is excited to "skip" 1st grade even though the Y1 is more on par with what he did in his kindergarten class and Y2 is the correct grade for 6 year olds.  He is excited to have Chinese class everyday where he will learn to speak, read, and write a little in Chinese as well as learn about Chinese culture.

                                                 Tommy's classroom for next year

                                            Classrooms for older students (Y1-Y6)

They were both excited to see their school has a library.  They will both have books at their reading level sent home by their teacher each week(picture books for Charlotte and a fiction, non-fiction, and Chinese book for Tommy), but they will also be able to check out whatever they want from the library.

                          The library.  They loved looking at the books and didn't want to leave.

We also saw the playgrounds.  The classrooms, especially the reception and younger students, go outside a lot.  They have hats with flaps on the back to cover their necks they have to wear anytime they are outside.  The school has an outdoor garden with a planting box for each class.  They also have a green field to play on.  Apparently it is the only school in all of Hong Kong to have a green field.  Grass is hard to grow here and land is really expensive.  They are very proud of their field.

                                    Outdoor basketball courts with green field in the background

The kids were a little reserved, but I think they will really like going to school here.  They both really liked their old school, but I think they will adjust fairly quickly.  Charlotte was ready to go to school this morning (the last day for the current students) and was asking when she could invite her new friends over.  Her only concern was she doesn't know any of their names yet.  Tommy is more than happy to wait 2 months before starting school.  :)