Bilingual Pre-schools near Neihu Miramar and Dazhi area

Does anyone here have recommendations for Montessori or Montessori Style pre-schools in the Neihu (Dazhi station) area? Please!

dishs.tp.edu.tw/ There’s Dominican International, that’s the American school near Dazhi and Miramar. You got money? You’ll be paying it if you want that kind of education.

It’s within our budget but doesn’t really seem to have much in common with Montessori programs our child has been attending in the US. I’d also prefer something more secular, do you have any first hand experience with this school?

That’s the best I can do for you. I hear it’s a nice school. No experience because I’m neither a father nor am I wealthy. I hope you find what you’re looking for, but as far as schools in that area, that’s all I know that’s anything close to what you’re asking for.

I have seen one around that area that looks beautiful but don’t know it’s address. :ponder:

It is across the street from the Carrefour I believe. It is a wooden building with a big yard and loads of outdoor play equipment.

HTH

[quote=“piwackit”]I have seen one around that area that looks beautiful but don’t know it’s address. :ponder:

It is across the street from the Carrefour I believe. It is a wooden building with a big yard and loads of outdoor play equipment.

HTH[/quote]
Kang Chiao Bilingual? I don’t think that’s Montessori. It’s probably closer to a Hess kindy than a Montessori kindy.

The only one I’ve found so far that indicates a Montessori program is the Jason Kindergarten South of the Dazhi MRT station. Just having a sign that says ‘Montessori’ doesn’t necessarily mean it’s an accredited program. We may end up going with something besides Montessori, it’s just that’s where our oldest started. He’s thrived in the program and we figured it would be an easier transition if we could find a good one.

Our two children will be four years and two years when we come back for the permanent relo in September.

[quote=“XinBiDe”][quote=“piwackit”]I have seen one around that area that looks beautiful but don’t know it’s address. :ponder:

It is across the street from the Carrefour I believe. It is a wooden building with a big yard and loads of outdoor play equipment.

HTH[/quote]
Kang Chiao Bilingual? I don’t think that’s Montessori. It’s probably closer to a Hess kindy than a Montessori kindy.[/quote]

That must be the one a block South of the A Mart. A large play area is very appealing as our kids are high energy and need to be ran like dogs.

Used to work there. They aren’t Montessori. They’re a scary joke and far inferior to most Taiwanese kindys, although they do have expensive facilities and silly fake Burberry print uniforms. I walked out after a few weeks. They may have got their act together since, but back in the day, there were live wires and heaps of rubbish outside my classroom, there was no syllabus or program, no teaching or learning facilities apart from expensive and inappropriate rubbish (pencils and paper and books? No. 2 40 station ‘language labs’ for elementary school kids. Yes. :roflmao: )

The waiguoren are not all ‘licensed school teachers’ - many of the people there are EFL teachers, or newbie folks with internet courses.

Complete idiots. Terrifying ineptitude. High expense doesn’t buy good quality.

I assume you are talking about the Dominican International School?

No, about Kangchiao, immediately above my post.

they’re all much of a muchness. Just check for safety, and see whether you’d be happy that they could take care of your kids in case of emergency. First aid training, stuff like that. Don’t assume it’s a pre-requisite.

The Montessori School located at the intersection of LeQun2nd Rd and JingYe3rd Rd (a block south from AMart) is called Elite’s International school. They accept students ages 2-6 for either a half day program (9am-12:30am) or a full day program (9am-5pm). My daughter goes there and I highly recommend them.

Their website is: elites.org.tw/ and for an English translation of the website just cut and paste the URL into Google Translate. I encourage all those interested to call their phone number: (02) 8502-1622 to schedule a visit to the school. If anyone has a specific question, please send me a PM.

Annie

[quote=“Shaktipalooza”]I assume you are talking about the Dominican International School?

I think she was talking about Kang Chiao Bilingual. Dominican International isn’t really a “kindy” at all, it goes all the way through high school, and some famous and successful people have graduated from there. You can see a list of them on Wikipedia, if you care to. It’s an older institution. Kangchiao is an actual kindy and, from what I’ve heard, a piece of shit.

I’m still not sure which one she was referring to since she didn’t specify the name, and there was more than one mentioned above her post.

Elite’s is one block South of the A Mart, not too far from the Carrefour. It is in a wooden building with a nice yard. We met anestlerode several days ago at one of the local parks and she had mentioned it as the school her daughter attended. Checked it out yesterday and signed up today for October when we make the move back to Taipei. I was chasing our two kids around quite a bit while my wife handled the details. I did get some information I can pass on.

It is a Bilingual Montessori school with certified teachers. Max class size is 20 students with one certified teacher and one assistant per class for the 3-6 year olds. I didn’t go inside the classroom but it did appear to have all the standard Montessori learning materials as stated by the guide. The guide who gave us the tour was very friendly and spent a full hour showing us the facilities then nearly another hour asking us questions about our children. When our kids go in October there is a several day period where we sit in on the class and observe our children, this is partially to aid in the transition for the child (and our peace of mind).

All of the teachers are certified in CPR and basic first aid. It looks like the standard reports are created when there is an incident, even minor ones. It’s not a large school with facilities I would guess to handle somewhere around 60-80 kids. Our guide seemed to know all the names of the children. There is a gardening area in the back similar to the one’s at my son’s school back in the US. All in all it should be a very familiar format for our son when starts attending, with the exception he will now be learning Mandarin!

[quote=“XinBiDe”][quote=“Shaktipalooza”]I assume you are talking about the Dominican International School?

I think she was talking about Kang Chiao Bilingual. Dominican International isn’t really a “kindy” at all, it goes all the way through high school, and some famous and successful people have graduated from there. You can see a list of them on Wikipedia, if you care to. It’s an older institution. Kangchiao is an actual kindy and, from what I’ve heard, a piece of shit.[/quote]

A great list of what to look for when visiting a Montessori school. Much of this I copied and pasted from other sources, but added some of my own. If they do not have these things, it’s somewhat fun to ask them why not.

  • Children choosing activities themselves and having sustained focus on the activities.

  • Children helping one another in a natural way, (without looking for approval or praise from adults).

  • Older children giving lessons to the younger ones.

  • Children solving their own disputes without adult intervention.

  • An orderly, pleasant environment, with materials that are complete and well-cared for.

  • Materials should be in regular rotation on the shelves, especially in Practical Life, but also in other areas.

  • Children moving about and talking to one another freely, but still respecting each other’s space.

  • Teachers who speak quietly and respectfully to the children.

  • Teachers giving individual or small group lessons. Teachers should also be able to have time to simply observe the classroom in action, without taking an active role her/himself.

  • Teachers who don’t yell, threaten or have to spend much time disciplining children.

  • The overall impression should be one of a happy, busy, harmonious community.

-Teachers giving individual or small group lessons. Teachers should also be able to have time to simply observe the classroom in action, without taking an active role her/himself.

  • Typical Montessori materials are present in the classroom, and are styled in the traditional Montessori way. So expect to see a pink tower, a brown stair, a bead cabinet, access to water and children using it, plants in the classroom . . .

  • A lack of toys in the classroom. ]

  • Furniture sized appropriately to the student population.

-Classrooms with at least 3 year age span, evenly divided (ie, not 15 six year olds, 4 seven year olds, and 1 eight year old) with a fairly larger number of children per classroom (around 35) compared to “regular” schools…

-No workbooks, grades, worksheets, etc.

  • Children moving about and talking to one another freely, but still respecting each other’s space.

  • Teachers who speak quietly and respectfully to the children.

-Teachers observing and writing notes about the classroom.

-Long (2 1/2 - 3 hour) work cycle. Don’t just think because their schedule says class goes from 9-12, that will be a 3 hour work cycle. I have seen many times here in Taiwan (and elsewhere) where they’ll have an hour or hour and a half long work cycle, some extra class thrown in there, and a lot of teacher directed learning.

Sorry I can’t give advice about schools up there. I just don’t know them. I hope this helps with finding a good Montessori school, however.