Our daughter Anabelle almost didn't get into pre-nursery this year. Last November, when I was six months pregnant and unsure when we could go on holiday with two children under the age of two, my husband and I went on a 'babymoon' with Anabelle - during the application period. I hadn't realised she would start school before she was even two; I had only gone to preschool at four. As a Sydneysider unfamiliar with the Hong Kong education system, where does one start?
We got our act together after our holiday. After writing to three schools said to be among the top in our neighbourhood, we nervously waited for replies. The crucial next step was an interview.
Meanwhile, we debated whether it was really necessary to send Anabelle to school and how much she could benefit when she was still so young. However, parents with children of Anabelle's age expressed shock at our laid-back approach, so there was peer pressure to join the herd mentality. We also didn't want to affect Anabelle's chances of enrolling for kindergarten by failing to give her prior schooling.
But could we have been too late? One school said applications were closed; the second placed us on the waiting list for interviews. Thankfully, the third school, which apparently everyone was clamouring for, invited us for an interview early this year. A few weeks later, the second school also offered us an interview.
The nerves didn't stop there: we had heard that the interview was not only to ascertain whether the child was a suitable fit for the school but was also an assessment of the parents. The school would evaluate our interaction with our daughter, and the level of engagement and participation in her life. By putting our parenting skills under the microscope, the school was giving us one of the first 'tests' on whether we were doing a good job.
In the first interview, the teacher asked Anabelle to stack wooden blocks and fit blocks of different shapes and sizes into others. I was a bit nervous as Anabelle hadn't played with such blocks before, but she grasped the concept quickly. During this time, I asked the teacher about the school and its teaching approach. The interview felt more like an informal chat that allowed parents to get a feel of the school and its teachers.
The interview with the other school took place shortly after I had delivered our son, Ethan. This was more of a 'group interview', with all of the children and one parent with each. The teachers observed and took notes. Children sat at different tables and, after about 10 minutes of playing with the toys, were asked to tidy up before listening to a story and singing. The teachers were fantastic and engaging. Using puppets to tell the story, they interacted with the children and got them involved in the learning process. Anabelle was having so much fun, she didn't want to leave.