Korean Job Discussion Forums

[2T]

Hi,

I have a 3 year old son and I would like some information on schools here in Korea. Any information would be greatly appreciated. Good reputation, bad reputation, facilities etc.

Thank you
2T

[T-J]

Little more information required. Is your son Korean? Does he speak Korean? What religious affiliations are you looking for or to avoid. If you're interested in private schools, what is your budget range?

If you have questions about the PS system our son is going up to fourth grade next month. Happy to answer any questions here or shoot a PM if you prefer.

[2T]

My son has dual citizenship, Australian and Korean.
He mainly speaks English but can speak Korean also.

I am interested in the foreign schools here but as I do not know that much about the educational system here any information would be appreciated.

Thank you

[Lolimahro]

Hello OP,

My son is also 3 years old. He is also bilingual. He attends a Korean kindergarten and the fees are quite low. (since your son has Korean citizenship, depending on your income you may qualify for some government assistance if you decide to go that route. Please check afek.info for more information on that if you are able to join that group).

Since my son is Korean age 5, he will be in the first year of a 3-year kindergarten program. The program is entirely in Korean but they do have English classes for the kids, too. You can shop around for kindergartens as they all have different programs, but most will offer classes like English, music, art, and P.E., as well as the teacher having their own time with the kids to do games, play with toys, etc. The regular program at my son's kindergarten is from 10am to 2pm every day; I'm paying extra for him to have a "Lego class" from 2pm to 3pm every day, and because I work and my husband is a full-time student, he will be staying an extra 3 hours until 6pm every day (free play, from what I understand). Like I mentioned before, every program is different.

Some major differences from what I've experienced with preschool in my home country (the U.S.) are:

1) larger student-to-teacher ratio (about 15 students to one teacher in the 5-year-old class, and it's 20 for 6-year-olds I think)

2) more structured program (when I taught preschool it was mostly about free play and story time, not with all these extra classes)

3) uniforms (The kids don't wear them all the time - just on field trips and such - and they have P.E. uniforms for P.E. day)

4) they take the school bus (there are at least 2 teachers on the bus, in addition to the bus driver, but I think very few people have their 3-year-olds riding on a school bus to preschool in the U.S., from what I recall)

5) since I'm utilizing it as a daycare, the cost is way cheaper than daycare in the U.S. - I'll be paying 400,000 a month (that includes the regular program, the Lego class, and the extra care until 6pm); I paid the first of two annual installments for food and extra classes (English, art, etc.) in January and it was roughly 600,000 won. So it adds up to roughly 500k a month, compared to roughly $200 (USD) per WEEK stateside, I feel like I'm getting a pretty good deal. Because my husband and I are both U.S. citizens, we can't get any discounts, but I think Koreans with a certain income and (from what I understand) all multicultural families can get some funding from the government to help with childcare.

6) The academic year starts in March, so if you're looking to find a space for your son, you'll need to shop around quickly; there will be few spots available as it is. If you're not in a hurry, though, then you can take your time and wait for a spot to open up. If your family is considered a "multicultural family" (one Korean spouse, one non-Korean spouse), then you may have an advantage on the waiting list. Again, check with AFEK for this kind of information - it's not widely disseminated on the Expat Parents' forum, though there are people on the latter forum that do have some experience with that.

Feel free to ask more specific questions. As mentioned in another thread, the Expat Parents' Forum (http://expatparents.50.forumer.com/) and AFEK (http://www.afek.info/) are two forums with a ton of more specific information.

Best of luck to you!

[2T]

I will check out the sites mentioned.

Thanks so much.

[Captain Corea]

My daughter is 4 1/2, and I can confirm that Loli's post is pretty spot on.

I'd like to suggest that you shop around a lot when choosing a school. I was horrified by some of the places I visited...especially in relation to safety and such.

They'll look at you strange if you ask about fire drills and the like, but they're accustomed now to questions about food safety.

Oh, speaking of food, if your child has any strong preferences or allergies, that's something that may become a concern. Most schools prefer a "one size fits all" sort of thing.

[Lolimahro]

[FDNY]

Yeah, my daughter is 27 months old. I'm not sure what age kindergarten starts in Korea. We will definately be enrolling her in an English program with mightey whities on staff. My wife checked out the waeguk government subsidy. Sweet. Up to 800,000KRW/month. That's a sizeable chunk of change. We already have some dude who comes in on Saturdays and teaches/plays with her for an hour. Two months is only about 10,000KRW with the voucher.

[2T]

Dear lolimahro,

Thank you for your post.
Could I ask what area you are in?
If it is near me, I wouldn't mind checking it out myself.

[2T]

Dear FDNY,

Are you legible for the 800,000 cos you are considered a multicultural family?
I'm Australian and my husband is Korean.

[fosterman]

[Nismo]

For the sake of providing one more piece of real data, here is our situation.

We live in Seoul. Our five-year-old goes to a proper Korean kindergarten (not a hagwon-based English program or international school). The monthly fee is about 480,000 for the full-day program, and after government benefits we pay about 300,000 per month. She also does a short weekly private hangeul lesson where the teacher comes to our place. It costs 42,000 per month, but after the government subsidy we pay 15,000. (Total: 207,000 won in subsidies)

Our 1.5-year-old goes to a proper Korean daycare (again, not a hagwon-based English program or international school). The monthly fee is about 300,000, and after the subsidy we pay nothing.

We went through a paperwork-process at the local dong office to determine our eligibility for these subsidies. I'm sure they looked at inter-agency files like taxes and whatnot, but they also required a copy of our health insurance payments, etc. My wife was in charge of it all while I was the chauffeur, so I can't be any more specific.

The government does not give the money to us directly - They send it to the schools. We pay the remainder of the bill.

[meangradin]

[Captain Corea]

Yeah. My experiences echo the last three posters.

[Lolimahro]