Pre-schools- which is your favorite?
meimei
I'm starting my pre-school research for my little one... I have a basic list of the ones I'd like to visit, but would like to get a show of hands for all these other ones that I have come across (pls see below). If you can note your TOP 5 from this list that'd be really helpful for me. I realize every parent has a different criteria. I'm looking for one that is fully bilingual, has with children from different backgrounds, and encourages more nature and play than "teaching"... Oh, and somewhere where they don't overcharge! ^^
And if I have missed out any good ones, pls let me know! Thanks so much in advance!
Plumpudding Protectory
Buzybee International Kindergarten
Kikelet
Delfino Playhouse
Mother Goose
Under the Rainbow
Belvárosi Játékóvoda
Superkids Pre-school Kindergarten
Happy Kids Kindergarten
American International School of Budapest
A-Z International Centre for Children
The English Garden Pre-School
Koala Language House - Bilingual Kindergarten
Planet Kids
Kid's Kiosk
julia....@ch.pwc.com
Hi Meimei
From those on your list we visited Superkids and Kikelet. In the end we did not go with either one but that was mostly a belly thing - we liked the third one we had seen best, and that was Habakukk.
What was nice about Kikelet was that it was brand new - new(ly refurbished) facilities, toys, etc. For us, at the time, it being new was also one of the disadvantages as they only had one group of children at the time, and most of them they were quite a bit younger than our son. The other was that the head teacher does not speak any English. We were shown round by the secretary and whilst that was ok I prefer being able to communicate with the head teacher. Without a car it is a bit out of the way. The son of the friend of a friend has been there for quite a while though and she is very happy with it I understand. I don't remember all the details now about their activities etc but if you are interested I will see if I kept my notes.
Superkids has very small groups in pre-K/babycare, 4-6 children with two teachers. That may be a good thing with kids who don't yet speak the language and it also means that they have plenty of time to help children adjust. What I liked most is that they had a male teacher there as well, I think it's great for children to be with/exposed to both genders, especially boys.
We then decided to enroll our son in Habakukk and were extremely happy with the decision. It may not make your list though because up until age 3 it is not bilingual (unless that has changed), biligual groups (German/Hungarian or English/Hungarian) start from age 3 onwards. Maybe still worth a visit though as I am sure that even in the under 3-crowd there are bilingual children. And I seem to remember that even though it is pricey, as all of the private kindergartens, it is less expensive than Kikelet and Superkids.
Anyway, here's some information about it: Habakukk has very nice facilities. Younger children are near Millenaris, older ones a few blocks away in Felvinci ut. The groups with children aged 3 and older go on a weekly excursion - to a museum, the firefighters, concerts, etc (The younger ones do that once a month I believe.). In nice weather in spring/summer they often go to a wood, or to a pond or small river to play, so plenty of opportunities to play and explore. Also, in hot weather, they put up a small pool on the terrace and let the children play there. On "normal" days they have breakfast and afterwards circle time, then the children are free to chose their own activity. The best thing though were the teachers - which of course you can find out about only once your child is there, but all of them are extremely nice and caring and I always had the feeling that they were not just doing a job but actually really liked the children in their care.
Comparing those three, I think Superkids is the most international one with children from all over the world. Kikelet and Habakukk seem to have more Hungarian/European children. However, I guess that can change a lot from one year to another with expat families coming and going. Superkids also seemed to me to be the one with the most "structured" approach to learning from early on but it is difficult to see how they apply this in practice in the course of a visit.
That's my 2c, hope you find a good school for your little one!
Julia
meimei ---30.06.2011 12:45:06---Hi Ladies, I'm starting my pre-school research for my little one... I have a basic list
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kata LaBelle
It seems I can answer both of your questions. This one is about Pre-schools.
I am a school and a Pre-school teacher. I worked at Superkids as a class teacher before I had my daughter who is 4 and a half now. It was quite a while ago but I really liked working there. Back then Superkids was at a different location and in a lot bigger building with a lot more children.
It is a very friendly and caring environment. You can find kids from all over the world. It is not bilingual but fully English. Kids learn English very very quickly as they hear it all day.
Subject: Re: [budapestmoms] Pre-schools- which is your favorite?
To: budape...@googlegroups.com
From: julia....@ch.pwc.com
Date: Thu, 30 Jun 2011 13:20:04 +0200
joanna piasek
Anna Daria Bartel
When I was looking for a pre-school my criteria were: 1. English only speaking (we use Polish/Dutch/English at home so I am trying to avoid Hungarian language), 2. Hours - I work so was rather looking at nursery that is open till 5pm 3. Location 4. Price
When we lived in first district I put my boy in Plumpudding. The advantages are: open 7:30 - 5pm, quite good pricing policy which allows for some refund if the child is not attending due to e.g. sickness, least of vacation breaks (only August and December). The cons: pretty old facilities (though I heard that they are moving now), it is not registered as school and the teachers are not qualified school teachers plus mainly Hungarian children. I cannot say bad word about it but I did not get a closer touch with the teachers and/or director.
Once we moved to district IIA I moved my boy to Under the Rainbow since it is much closer and I am very pleased with this school. I have very good connection with teachers and my boy loves it. They have 3 groups with max 10 children of different nationalities. They organise lots of Saturday activities with parents thanks to which you can get more familiar with families if you want to. They do not have however English native teachers which may be important to someone, I personally do not care that much about that as long as their English is good and they are good at what they do. Pricing policy is reasonable.
I was contacting some other schools from your list and to be honest I think generally they represent very good level of care and activities, I crossed out many of them however simply because of short hours. If you want the school with children from different background (I assume different nationalities) then check also the particular group your little one will be attending to.
Anna
marta
My daughter goes to Under the Rainbow. She started school in September
2010, and now she can communicate in English, she understands hardly
everything, sometimes she even asks me to tell her stories in English.
I was worried about her, because when I was a child I did not like to
go to kindergarten. But she loves to go there every day. She gives me
a hug, and disappears, sometimes even forgets to give a kiss.... :)
There is a really familiar atmosphere. The building is not like an
institution, its more like you would go "home". There is no pressure
on the children, they learn by playing. The teachers are really
friendly. There are children from many countries, like Germany, USA,
Belgium, Sweden, Poland, Israel, Hungary, France... etc.
But I think you have to go, and visit some kindergarten. I visited A-
Z, Superkids, American International School. I liked A-Z to.
Have a nice search....
Marta
On Jun 30, 12:44 pm, meimei <dmei...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi Ladies,
>
> I'm starting my pre-school research for my little one... I have a basic list
> of the ones I'd like to visit, but would like to get a show of hands for all
> these other ones that I have come across (pls see below). If you can note
> your TOP 5 from this list that'd be really helpful for me. I realize every
> parent has a different criteria. I'm looking for one that is
in...@motherandchildclinic.com
My friend runs a few multi-lingual kindies, check out www.officeovi.com.
Her name is Sarolta Jaszai if you want to contact her:)
x
Monika
Monika Vadai
Mother and Child
Mobile Natural Health Clinic
Anya �s Gyermek Term�szetgy�gy�szat
+36-30-317-0818
www.motherandchildclinic.com
www.anyagyermek.hu
> Hi Ladies,
>
> I'm starting my pre-school research for my little one... I have a basic
> list
> of the ones I'd like to visit, but would like to get a show of hands for
> all
> these other ones that I have come across (pls see below). If you can note
> your TOP 5 from this list that'd be really helpful for me. I realize
> every
> parent has a different criteria. I'm looking for one that is
> *fully*bilingual, has with children from different backgrounds, and
> encourages more
> nature and play than "teaching"... Oh, and somewhere where they don't
> overcharge! ^^
>
> And if I have missed out any good ones, pls let me know! Thanks so much
> in
> advance!
>
> Parents for Children Foundation
> Plumpudding Protectory
> Buzybee International Kindergarten
> Kikelet
> Delfino Playhouse
> Mother Goose
> Under the Rainbow
> Belv�rosi J�t�k�voda
> Superkids Pre-school Kindergarten
> Happy Kids Kindergarten
> American International School of Budapest
> A-Z International Centre for Children
> The English Garden Pre-School
> Koala Language House - Bilingual Kindergarten
> Planet Kids
> Kid's Kiosk
>
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>
hu
Adri den Broeder Bruckner
> Subject: Re: [budapestmoms] Pre-schools- which is your favorite?
>
> Hi,
> My friend runs a few multi-lingual kindies, check out www.officeovi.com.
> Her name is Sarolta Jaszai if you want to contact her:)
> x
> Monika
>
> Monika Vadai
> Mother and Child
> Mobile Natural Health Clinic
Lisa Steele
I have experience working at Belvarosi Jatekovoda, I was the English language manager for a few years in one of the groups. Very lovely place. Not really mixed backgrounds, 90% Hungarian with the odd Italian or Russian or Chinese or American child. Excellent teachers, still true now I know too. Hungarian is the language of operation and English is around, less so than Hungarian and only in the mornings.
Its around 70,000/month plus food which is really good for getting English and being private and right downtown.
Also, it has what is pretty standard for regular Hungarian kindergartens which is mixed ages. This was one of my favourite things about the kindergarten compared to others which are private and/or offer English. From what I am aware, research indicates that mixed ages is the way to go, for several social, psychological and development reasons.
I would add another I think very important one to your list which is is Daisy kindergaten on Remenyseg utca in Obuda, or Szazszorszep Ovoda. Best developmental program that I know of, native English teachers who are outstanding and thoroughly trained and who also almost never leave their jobs because everyone is so happy there (big indicator of a good place to put your kids is staff turnover), English teachers are there the whole day from 8am-5pm, great garden, pretty cheap 55,000/month maybe? and only drawback is that the kids are not mixed ages, but some prefer this...although I think mistakenly because development is just as if not more effective in mixed aged groups from what my reading indicates.
Otherwise, best in town from what I know for bi-lingual education.
http://www.szazszorszepovi.hu/cimlap.html
Olga
I am new to the list, but have already benefited from many discussions
as I prepare to move house to Budapest for a year in mid-September. I
thought I would use the opportunity to piggy-back on Meimei's
preschool question. My daughter, who will turn 5 shortly after our
move to Bp, is a Russian-English bilingual, and I am hoping to find a
preschool that will allow her to make friends in one (but ideally
both) of these languages. I have been following your discussion very
closely, and would like to ask the list members if they are aware of
any schools that have some number of Russian-speaking children in this
age group.
I have been in touch with Sarolta Jaszai of officeovi, who sounded
lovely, and said that they have considered opening a Russian-English
group in Mary Poppins Preschool. However, there isn't one yet, and
there are no guarantees that they will find other interested parents
in time for the new year. Would any of you know of any other current
initiatives along these lines?
Thank you all in advance for the local knowledge. I look forward to
meeting some of the list members in a few months.
Best wishes,
Olga
--
Olga Shevchenko
Associate Professor of Sociology
Department of Anthropology and Sociology
Williams College
Williamstown, MA 01267
http://www.iupress.indiana.edu/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=84765
On Jun 30, 6:44 am, meimei <dmei...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi Ladies,
>
> I'm starting my pre-school research for my little one... I have a basic list
> of the ones I'd like to visit, but would like to get a show of hands for all
> these other ones that I have come across (pls see below). If you can note
> your TOP 5 from this list that'd be really helpful for me. I realize every
> parent has a different criteria. I'm looking for one that is
Olga Shevchenko
Greetings all,
I am new to the list, but have already benefitted from many discussions as I