Best preschool kindergarten in Tainan?

Hello everyone! So my wife and I will be studying Chinese at NCKU this coming year.
Flying to TPE June 1 to give us a chance to explore tainan and choose the perfect neighborhood (preferably w a park and a juice stand) for our daughters to grow up in. (3&4.5yr olds)
Aaand, we are looking for the best pre k and kindergarten. Suggestions?
We don’t mind commuting to Uni in order for them to go to a better school.
We love hands on learning, but probably can’t afford a Montessori school.
Our oldest has been in a Chinese immersion classroom, so speaks English, Spanish and Chinese. I’m not too worried about going to a bilingual school. But it would be nice to know the options.
Also. HOW TO SIGN THEM UP!?
The one school I contacted is already full!

Thanks in advance for all your help.

Also. Looking for a 3-4 bedroom :house:. Or even a 2 bedroom apartment. We all sleep in one room, but would like a space for our office/sewing workstation. 591 is too Chinese for me… ;-(
Plz pm me w ideas! (Everyone tells me it’s better w realty shops in person)

Carlos, Forly, Elisa & Genji

3 and 4.5 yr olds go to kindergarten. Kinder is for 3~5/6 kids. No pre-K in Taiwan.

Did you already search in this forum for kinder in Tainan? Iirc, there was a thread on this topic recently.

If you are looking for a public kinder, it’s almost impossible in Taipei, though I don’t know the situation in Tainan. Private kinder, you can put your kids anytime if they are not full.

Where does that come from?
Our children never had any problem signing up for public kindergarten for 小中 or 大班 where we lived in Taipei.
And if there is any problem (no opening in the nearest one), you just put your children’s name in nearby public kindergartens during the summer and get notified when spots open up.

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The posts I found where close to 10yrs old. I posted there anyways and recieved a good explanation of how they works but that they fill up.

Question now is WHICH DO YOU RECCOMEND?
PARTICULAR ONES THAT MAY BE BETTER?

The signing up part just goes with it. I figure I can call em w my Chinese friend and figure that out.

Tks for ur quick reply.
And I’m uncertain I can afford private. Though the one I had a friend check is private and is full.
We are going to be living off my savings if I don’t get the Huayu. Fingers crossed n I will. But we will see.

Tks for the waiting list idea.

You may not get too many Tainan’ers reply to this thread about where to live, but considering you want some parks, just look around the google map of Tainan City (the city city, not the outskirts which made up the now-defunct Tainan County) to see where the bigger parks are and start you search from there.
Once you find a place to live, then sign up at the nearby public kindergartens (say, maybe 4-5 just to be safe). Even the younger child may be able to get into 小班.
And yes, it is best to have a Taiwanese friend help out on this.
Talking personally to the schools’ main office people (who should be there during summer) can help you figure out what to do.

OP, sorry for off topic.

are your kids taiwanese? public kinder has a long priority list, and the priority of foreigner kids are at the bottom. At many kinders they do lottery, and schools become full before foreign kids can apply. Though, this is the case at some kinders in taipei. So, in Tainan, situation might be different.

I sent mine to a private one, albeit it wasn’t a bilingual institution.
My buddy is English and he didn’t have any issue with getting his boy into one. Which to recommend is a very tough question, because you have to be there physically and check it out. That’s what we did. We did take in recommendations, but ultimately we decided after numerous visits to many other schools.
“Best school” is very subjective here, so you have to come and figure out what matches you and your family’s needs.
Not sure how accustomed you are with Taiwan, and even Tainan. Tainan is very different from Taipei and sense of community is pretty strong here, as it is a smaller city. I suggest you do some research and continue to call while you are abroad. Like others have said, it is much easier once you are here in person.

Best of luck

Thank you very much.
Getting together w a Chinese friend tmrw to decipher maps n zoning and try to find a few schools to attempt to contact.

But as you said. We will check em out in person. That is why we are flying in 3mo early.

Fingers crossed n we get it figured out soon, and can spend the rest of our time exploring the island before school starts.

The below is a document on the procedure of public kinder registration, for your Chinese friend.

台南市107學年度公立幼兒園新生入園注意事項
https://www.google.com.tw/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://boe.tn.edu.tw/boe/wSite/public/Attachment/f1520493660194.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwjI0NGaq_LZAhWDVZQKHTxiBYoQFjAAegQIBhAB&usg=AOvVaw1Fsi9bYrKNsP1vApmKy0eB

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thank you very much!

Hi! I have just read this post from 1 year ago as I am in a similar situation. We are a couple with a 2 years old boy. We want to go to Taiwan next fall to study Chinese and we are applying for the Huayu scholarship. The thing is we can’t decide between Tainan and Kaohsiung and would like to know what you guys think about these two cities and what you would recommend, considering that we need to find a nice kinder for our kid.
@chichihuil do you live there now? Where? Could you give me some hints?
Thanks!!
Ester

we live in Tainan and we really like it it is not a big city with a lot of public transportation like cow showing his butt if you want to learn Chinese there are fewer people that speak English in Tainan which is why we chose to live here it took us a while to find schools for our girls there now 3 and 5 they were two and four when we were looking for schools for them and especially for the two-year-old there are long waiting list if you go to ncku you have special priority as a student for the ncku childcare / preschool kindergarten thing everything is going to lean to cost between 8000 and 10000 + t / month be aware of that there might be cheaper things and cultural I don’t think so there might be more expensive things in Couch home as it is a bigger city by imagine the prices would go up you’d be here with an arc for at least 6 months before you can register your children and any type of public school and public school starts from first grade public schools are much cheaper maybe a third the price depending on where you go but again very long waiting list so I would recommend you hunt first school and get on there waiting list for the particular age group that you’re looking for right now we can give you context if you like to the school that my elder daughter goes to it is much bigger it’s called New Generation in English nobody here will know what that means because they know it by its Chinese name I don’t know what’s Chinese name but I can find out for you and Aiden c k u preschool kindergarten is called that its stance EKU kindergarten and if you called and CKD you mainline you can get to their kindergarten and talk to the director lady we were emailing with her and those that you like draw straws and we still had to wait like three more months after we got here and went to see her to find a spot for our youngest daughter ncku has one of the best Chinese language learning Institutes the country there let’s eat type a Normal University I think competes with it nothing else is as good as those two so if you’re between Cal shown and Tainan for learning Chinese the best teachers are at ncku for sure this was I don’t know I did like 2 years of research before coming here and waiting to go back to Taiwan 10 years so some planning has gone into it best of luck with everything and drop me a line if you need more advice or help finding stuff housing best way to find housing is walk around walk around look for Ed signs that say for rent call the number you can find stuff online it’s sometimes more expensive if it’s an English it’s definitely more expensive that said ncku itself has older student dorm type thing which cost like 5,000 to 6090 per month per room and you can rent it on a monthly basis until you find something else for my friends rented an Airbnb for 3 months until they found a house now they’re in Australia but anyways hope that helps good luck

Hola, muchas gracias por la respuesta.

Estamos bastante decididos en ir a Tainan antes que a Kaohsiung y ya solicitamos entrar en NCKU. Sabes cómo son los horarios y precios del kindergarten que se ofrece en el campus de NCKU y qué tal está el sitio?

A qué escuela lleváis a la niña de 3 años? Sigue siendo un kindergarten? Nosotros estamos buscando algo tipo Montessori pero no parece haber mucha oferta en Tainan. Encontramos una pero aún no tenemos respuesta y no tenemos ninguna referencia. Simplemente nos gustaría que no fuera todo en chino. Nuestro hijo casi tendrá 3 años cuando lleguemos a Taiwan.

En qué barrio vivís de Tainan? Podrías recomendarnos algún barrio que tenga cerca parques y que no esté muy lejos de la NCKU?

Entiendo que os movéis con scooter? Es fácil moverse en bicicleta?

Hay alguna web para buscar apartamento, aunque sea en Chino? O realmente lo mejor es ir mirando por la calle cuando ya estemos ahí?

Por cierto, tienes algún consejo con respecto al tema de la beca. Nos estábamos preguntando si sería más difícil conseguirla ya que, al igual que vosotros, iríamos con toda la familia.

Igual si no te molesta algún día podríamos hablar por el Skype. En todo caso, muchísimas gracias por tu ayuda!
Un saludo,
Ester G

I’m sorry, we’re out of tacos today.
Would you care for some quesadillas ?
We have a 2-for-1 special on Fridays.

Hmm…ok. Yes, please, book a table for 2.
I don’t get the joke tho.

If u still looking for kindergarten I think Nouveau Jardin Montessori school will good for u kid.The principal is a Belgian. Her husband also is a professor at NCKU. http://en.nj1997.org
I hope can help u

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Hi,
I just realized I replied in Spanish on my last message…:roll_eyes: so here I go again.
I would like to ask you about the kindergarten you are taking your kids. Which school you are taking your 3 y.o. girl? Is it still a kindergarten.
In which neighbourhood are you living? Could you recommend any with parks and not very far from NCKU.
Do you move around by scooter then? Is it easy to do it by bike?
Is there any site to search for an apartment (even in Chinese)? Or is is really better to walk and see?
Thank a lot!
Ester

Thank you! I will check the site, it looks like what we are looking for.

Coméntalo Ester, ya han llegado a Tainan?
Disculpa la tardanza deshubique este post.
We live next to BaoRen elementary. Great townhouse biking distance to NCKU. The above mentioned Montessori is maybe a 15min bike ride (5 to NCKU)
A nosotros no nos gustó el kinder de la uni. Muy amistosos y bonito el lugar (conveniente) y la maestra adoraba a nuestra hija de 3. Se convirtió rápidamente en. Su favorita. Pero Genji retrocedió en su independencia (especialmente pañales). Y no sabía ni usar tijeras, que su hermana a poco más del año ya sabía. Entonces la sacamos. Aparte costaba… si mal no recuerdo el tren 8-9mil NTD x mes (that seems to be the norm for private schools)
I found one for 4k x mo in what seemed to be an adapted house. It was quite dirty and badly organized. Depressing. Never went back.
My new coworker at the YMCA teaches at a Montessori kindy in the mornings. I’ll post more info once I get it. I think it’s in Anang (far north).
Though he mentioned he knew of one on Simen road too.