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hyunone
Joined: 23 Jun 2008
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 Posted: Tue Jul 01, 2008 6:03 pm Post subject: bringing my three kids to kore |
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I'm toying with the idea of coming back to korea to teach. Has anyone heard of foreign teachers with kids? I'm curious about what they do for school. any info would be great.  |
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NightSky
Joined: 19 Apr 2005
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| Posted: Tue Jul 01, 2008 7:33 pm Post subject: Re: bringing my three kids to kore |
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| hyunone wrote: |
| I'm toying with the idea of coming back to korea to teach. Has anyone heard of foreign teachers with kids? I'm curious about what they do for school. any info would be great. |
1) yes
2a) international school = $$$$
b) homeschool them = but you'll be busy teaching
b) local Korean school = they don't speak Korean though and unless they're very young they won't pick it up. |
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ttompatz
Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Location: Kwangju, South Korea
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| Posted: Tue Jul 01, 2008 7:39 pm Post subject: Re: bringing my three kids to kore |
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| hyunone wrote: |
| I'm toying with the idea of coming back to korea to teach. Has anyone heard of foreign teachers with kids? I'm curious about what they do for school. any info would be great. |
It would partly depend on how many kids you are talking about and their ages.
If you are in a hakwon, then they sit in your school during the day and you home school them when you have the time. If they are the right age they can attend/sit in classes at your hakwon - works great for age 3-6.
If you are in a public school, they can attend the Korean classes. They will get lots of help with their Korean. You may need to home school so they don't fall to far behind since they won't understand the instruction in class. Still works OK for kids aged 5-9.
If you have buckets and buckets full of money you can send them to an international school. The AVERAGE cost is about 20 million won per student per year (plus bus and extra curricular fees - another 3-5 million per year per student). Works for any age if you have the money. Standards are very high.
If you are teaching in an international school then your tuition fees for the kids would be virtually nonexistent.
It works fine with pre-school to G3/G4 aged kids. It doesn't work very well if you have older kids.
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Countrygirl
Joined: 19 Nov 2007
Location: in the classroom
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| Posted: Tue Jul 01, 2008 8:58 pm Post subject: |
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I brought my kids last September and they attend the same school I teach in. The major grade 3 test is tomorrow. If my daughter is lucky she will get at least 60% but that is doubtful. My daughter is smart so I am not worried about her long term education, but Korean kids can be mean if you don't get good marks (even though you don't know the language perfectly). The Korean teachers have been awesome and even though they don't have any resources, they have gone out of their way to help my kids adjust.
We brought our kids to Korea so that they would become bilingual and to spend time with their Halmoni. Also, Vancouver was becoming crazy expensive with housing costs and daycare so I can actually work and spend more time with my kids here. Not to mention less taxes and cheaper housing so we have a better opportunity to save money.
Coming to Korea and having your kids in regular public school is possible but stressful. The competition is intense. You won't see it in the beginning but it will catch up with you (study, study, study = time, money and hogwans) I really don't care about marks; I just want my children to try and do their best; but, I can't deny that I am not affected by all the other mothers who are sending their kids to hogwans. Some days I like it here, and some days I think we made a mistake. Basically, with a family, relocating to Korea isn't for the short term. |
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ytuque
Joined: 29 Jan 2008
Location: I drink therefore I am!
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| Posted: Tue Jul 01, 2008 9:44 pm Post subject: Re: bringing my three kids to kore |
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| hyunone wrote: |
| I'm toying with the idea of coming back to korea to teach. Has anyone heard of foreign teachers with kids? I'm curious about what they do for school. any info would be great. |
How old are your kids, and do they know any Korean? |
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joshuahirtle27
Joined: 23 Mar 2008
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| Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2008 2:10 am Post subject: |
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| I would toy with the idea of taking the time to go back to University get your teaching Degree and becoming a teacher in your own country. Nothing personal... it's what I would do if I didn't want to spend all of my money on sending my kids to a school in a foreign country. |
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hyunone
Joined: 23 Jun 2008
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| Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2008 4:32 am Post subject: bringing kids |
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I want to thank everyone who replied. My husband and I had mulled over
what everyone said. One other question to the person from Vancouver, how are biracial kids treated by the Korean kids? Thanks  |
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esetters21
Joined: 30 Apr 2006
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2008 4:35 am Post subject: Re: bringing kids |
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| hyunone wrote: |
I want to thank everyone who replied. My husband and I had mulled over
what everyone said. One other question to the person from Vancouver, how are biracial kids treated by the Korean kids? Thanks |
I'm not that poster from Vancouver, but what ethnicities do you mean by "bi-racial"? That is quite important in giving a meaningful answer to that question. |
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Cheonmunka
Joined: 04 Jun 2004
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| Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2008 5:25 am Post subject: |
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My local school in a real mediocre suburb has a few mixed kids. They get on well.
My own kids were born and bred here. I'm not sure about the others what their background within Korea is.
How old are your ones? I'd imagine it would be hard on a 3rd grade student being thrust into a Korean classroom if new to Korean entirely, but then, I don't know his/her past to guess how well he/she will adjust. Only you can know that. |
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hyunone
Joined: 23 Jun 2008
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| Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2008 3:04 pm Post subject: American kids in Korea |
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| My girs are; 3, 7 and nine. Biracial means 1/2 korean 1/2 caucasian. And for the record they only know how to say "hello" in Korean. My husaband's family is really nice I thought it could be interesting for kids. Is this nuts? |
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ED209
Joined: 17 Oct 2006
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| Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2008 3:39 pm Post subject: |
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| I'm not sure but if you are a proper qualified public school teacher then most international schools will offer free tuition, or at the least heavily discounted. |
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Mr. Pink
Joined: 21 Oct 2003
Location: China
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| Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2008 4:24 pm Post subject: Re: American kids in Korea |
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| hyunone wrote: |
| My girs are; 3, 7 and nine. Biracial means 1/2 korean 1/2 caucasian. And for the record they only know how to say "hello" in Korean. My husaband's family is really nice I thought it could be interesting for kids. Is this nuts? |
As a previous poster said, the competition here is nuts. Your kids are still young enough they could adapt to being in a Korean school. However, since you have no idea on the educational system here, if I was you I would do more research.
There is a very good reason why parents from Korea are sending their kids abroad for school. Also why foreign parents with kids here leave once their kids hit a certain age and schooling becomes more important.
Your 3 year old could learn Korean in about 3 months. I am not sure how long it would take for the 7/9 year old...but I can tell you they would be behind in math/Korean for a LONG time.
Parents start their kids reading Hangul (Korean) at like 3-4 years old...this goes for writing it too. They also start kids off on math at 4 years old. |
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Countrygirl
Joined: 19 Nov 2007
Location: in the classroom
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| Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2008 4:49 pm Post subject: Re: American kids in Korea |
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| hyunone wrote: |
| My girs are; 3, 7 and nine. Biracial means 1/2 korean 1/2 caucasian. And for the record they only know how to say "hello" in Korean. My husaband's family is really nice I thought it could be interesting for kids. Is this nuts? |
My son is 7 and my daughter is 9. My children knew only a tiny bit of Korean but in Canada they went to Korean school on Saturdays (so my daughter could read and write hangul when we came), a Korean church and a Korean babysitter when I was working. Despite how much I tried to help them learn Korean, they were not even close to fluent, and adjusting to Korea was hard.
My son went to an all-day kindergarten and he was stressed for the first 3 months. He is now very comfortable with Korean. My daughter had an easier time because the students that could speak English helped her along. Now that she is in grade 3, and the novelty of having her in the classroom has tapered off, she is having a more stressful time with the classwork, although her speaking and comprehension is good.
It's not crazy to want to come to Korea to give your children an international experience and to help them to learn Korean. But don't come here thinking it's going to be all roses. My daughter remembers how fun school was in Canada and she is having the hardest time adjusting to Korean style education. Right now she is taking a 4 hour exam which will determine her mark for the first part of grade 3.
On the other hand, my kids can run down to the playground by themselves or the cornerstore without the fear of being kidnapped or worse. After school, they play at the school playground while I work. I am happy that they are getting the social skills and independance that kids used to get in America when they used to be able to play by themselves in their neighbourhoods (think My Girl or Stand By Me). I am also happy to be done with daycares. My school is awesome in letting me have the kids hang out in my office during working hours.
Racism is not an issue. Some kids will be nice and some will be jealous because your kids speak English. Korea is changing and I don't think that only half caucasion/half Korean are treated well. As long as your kids speak English they will be treated well by the majority.
The only advice I would give (that worked for me) is work in the same school that your kids would be going to. Even though I didn't know much of what was going on, my kids could run to my office if something bad happened. And my co-teacher would help translate things between myself and my kids' teachers if needed.
(Sorry for the long post...I just wish someone could have given me this info before I came last September. Feel free to PM me if you want to ask more indepth questions) |
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CentralCali
Joined: 17 May 2007
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| Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2008 5:22 pm Post subject: |
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Before you consider sending your child to a Korean public school, ask yourself this question: "How do I feel about coroporal punishment?"
And when you answer, remember that corporal punishment in South Korea is not the dainty thing it is in North America. |
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Countrygirl
Joined: 19 Nov 2007
Location: in the classroom
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| Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2008 7:44 pm Post subject: |
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| CentralCali wrote: |
Before you consider sending your child to a Korean public school, ask yourself this question: "How do I feel about coroporal punishment?"
And when you answer, remember that corporal punishment in South Korea is not the dainty thing it is in North America. |
My kids have been in Korean Elementary School for almost one year and they have never been hit. I'm not saying it doesn't happen but it should be put into perspective. My grade 3 co-teacher walked around with a stick and would gently tap the bad students on the hand when they were bad. No, it wasn't effective and no, it didn't hurt.
My daughter has had two teachers (grade 2 and now 3) and my son, one teacher. They have been nothing but helpful and kind to my children and they have never, ever hit my kids. My son's kindergarten teacher in Canada was worse than the teachers he's had here.
Again, I'm not saying it doesn't happen or not to be cautious; which is why I suggest working at the same school your kids go to; but my personal experience has not been as bad as others throw around. If I was concerned for my children's well-being, I'd be back in Canada in a second. |
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