Hello everyone,
My first child is now 19 months old, and I’ve been told by my wife to start looking at kindergartens to send Sylvia to when she turns 3 or perhaps just before then, I’m not sure yet. Basically I’m told that the competition for places at kindergartens is fierce, and their systems vary wildly.
To be as concise as possible, we live in the heart of Nantun in Taizhong. Kindergartens indeed are everywhere, but I’ve been warned of the quality; some are poorly staffed, others are top quality but put immense pressure on children with homework and tough classes.
From my own memories of nursery (as we say in British English) I would like Sylvia to have the same experience as me, which is to have fun through playing (maybe outside), reading books and socialising with other children. I don’t want her burning herself out at such a young age as I’ve heard can happen.
Language is not that important because I’m British and my wife’s family are all Taiwanese so she is fully immersed in both languages.
Money… this is not too much of an issue because I do own a property in the UK which is used to rent out and support us (I work at a standard adult school, which is paid the same as a standard cram school + holiday pay) BUT… I’m also a single earner at the moment because my wife has been in and out of university for years and will only have a job in two years IIRC.
As I say, Sylvia is my first and only child and I have never done this before. Any advice you could give us at this time would be greatly appreciated.
Best,
Tom