WHAT PARENTS SAY ABOUT US
Thank You From the Bottom of Our Hearts for All Your Hard Work
We want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all your hard work and fun zoom lessons. Jordan has had a good term in spite of the current situation.
Quite often we forget to say thank you for all the extra effort that you put in. You have accommodated all our requests and this has helped us to work with Jordan at home.
A recent article in the SCMP talks about the adverse impact on education due to the pandemic, but commends teachers on their ingenuity and how teachers have doubled their efforts to reach out and accommodate all students. We can see this in the way you have handled all the zooms, keeping them fun yet impactful! Thank you!
Mr. & Mrs. Jacob
Hoi Bok had a wonderful time at ICMS. Thank you for the past 2 years.
ICMS is, in my opinion, a perfect school for Hoi Bok and all enthusiastic young learners. Every now and then they offer great selection of learning themes. Children are able learn about the classics in the arts and music. The school gives plenty of opportunities for parents to get involved. I was pleased to see Hoi Bok being extremely active in class. I feel like he could really express himself freely to teachers and classmates. Homework at ICMS include custom-designed work books. Every weekend your child brings home a book to read as well. Hoi Bok says he loves learning and will always remember ICMS!
Parents of Hoi Bok Lew
Our Son Got Tons of Love, Joy and Happiness
We are so grateful to have Ethan study at Island Children’s Montessori for the past three years. Thank you ever so much for all of the teachers’ care and support throughout Ethan’s kindergarten experience. Island Children’s Montessori marks a new start for Ethan’s life and he has gotten tons of love, joy and happiness during this wonderful 3 years at ICMS.
Our Shy Little Boy Has Turned into an Active Kid with a Positive Attitude
Less than a year after joining ICMS, Pak Him has changed from a shy little boy into an active kid with a positive attitude. He is able to communicate with us in simple English and shows great interest in speaking Putonghua in daily life. He is eager to go to school every day. He always talks with us about new things and sings the songs that he has been taught at school.
Pak Him might not have accomplished these without the patience and unfailing support of ICMS. Once again, thank you very much to the teachers of Pre-Casa.
Our Son Made Remarkable Improvements in Less Than a Year
We are grateful to all Montessori staff for providing the happy learning environment to our son. Ryan has joined Montessori for less than a year, yet he has made remarkable improvements in Chinese, English, math and other knowledge. Most of all, he has experienced many memorable moments and made many good friends and all these will become treasured childhood memories.
By the Time My Son Turned 3, He Was Speaking Well in English and Mandarin
Zander had been with the school since he was 18 months old. It was a delightful learning journey for him. He enjoyed all the hands-on activities in the school as well as learning about shapes, numbers, letters and the alphabet during circle time. The teachers were always there to guide him in his learning and track his progress over time.
He went over to Tin Hau main campus when he turned 2. The teachers worked on improving his fine motor skills and language skills. At first he was speaking in short phrases but by the time he turned 3, he was speaking well in English and Mandarin. Needless to say, the teachers deserve all the credit for teaching him and giving him the right guidance. The teachers were also very nurturing and constantly gave feedback to parents. A lot of effort has also been made by the school in organising field trips, sports days and events for the children. All of these required lots of painstaking planning and coordination between different parties. I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to the teachers and the school for giving my son a fruitful childhood and getting him ready for the next step in life.
My Son Has Become More Confident and Independent
I am very happy that we had chosen this school for Karson for his pre-nursery program. All the teachers and staff have been very caring and have taught Karson to learn with an open and positive mind. I still remember that on the first day at ICMS, Karson cried and was very upset when I dropped him off. Now, he keeps telling me he wants to go to school and see his teachers. Karson went from only saying ‘mama’ to now saying lots of words and singing all the time. In addition, Karson has become more and more independent and has confidence in himself.
Our Daugher Has No Problem Expressing Her Thoughts and Ideas
Both our children have hugely benefited from a wonderful education at ICMS. Since joining ICMS, our daughter Annabel has blossomed into a very talkative toddler who clearly has no problem expressing her thoughts and ideas to us at home! She may seem quiet in class but we know she’s been an observer. What she has learnt in school over the past 1.5 years has been a fruitful adventure – making her very curious about the world she lives in.
At the end of each day, we always ask Annabel if she had a lovely time at school and her answer is always ‘very good’. And she would go on to tell us a bit about her friends and what she did that day, etc. To us that is what we refer to as a ‘happy education’. And because of this, we are forever grateful for the start she’s been given with and the teachers who have taught her.
Our Two Boys Have Learned a Lot and So Have We
ICMS has always been a special school to us and our two boys. Our children have learned a lot, and so have we. That’s how different and good ICMS is: it let our family learn and did not lecture us as an authority, unlike what we are all used to in Hong Kong.
As parents, we learn from the Montessori philosophy that we should see everything – every object and experience around – from the growing child’s angle. What is best for the child is for his needs to be fulfilled, for her curiosity to be satisfied in the appropriate way at the appropriate time, and his motivation to interact, to learn and to master will build up. At the same time, the child also needs to know his limits and learn to live in harmony with others. ICMS showed us that this is all done best from the child’s point of view.
When our first child joined ICMS, it was the only school in Hong Kong with the full set of teaching/learning tools as specified officially with a certified, fully-trained and experienced head mistress to direct. Our kids learned and flourished in a non-competing but not slack environment. They have now graduated and gone on to our top-choice local school. Everything has been good!
Montessori Philosophy Has Been Successfully Proven In Our Son
“In the words of the child – I hear and I forget, I see and I remember, I do and I understand.”
“These words reveal the child’s inner needs: ‘Help me to do it alone!’”
“Never help a child with a task at which he feels he can succeed.”
“Character formation cannot be taught. It comes from experience and not from explanation.”
-Dr. Maria Montessori, 1870-1952
We really love these quotes from Dr. Maria Montessori and would like to share with all parents that they have been successfully proven in my son. We highly recommend parents choose a kindergarten with a Montessori philosophy, especially Island Children’s Montessori School (ICMS) from 1.5 – 6 years old. You will see amazing development in your child as a learner and in all-around personality.
Marcus has been studying in ICMS since playgroup and will be graduating from Casa K3 this year. He has had a lot of fun and loves school very much. We are so proud of his development in this environment. He has built a strong foundation in bilingual language skills and concentration skills. It is amazing how mature his social skills are. He is considerate, helpful and is caring to younger children.
We love the Christmas Performance. This is a splendid event and we are so amazed to see the significant changes and improvements in Marcus. He was scared and cried in the first performance but got better and better each year. His last performance in Casa K3 was simply unforgettable. He was a narrator in the drama and his performance was adorable and professional. He could not have done it without proper training and coaching by the teachers. Once again, we thank all teachers and assistants at ICMS.
No words can express our gratitude to all ICMS teachers and teaching assistants, especially Ms Zhao (趙老師), the Putonghua teacher, who had put a lot of effort into training the children and gave Marcus many opportunities to participate in speech competitions to gain experience and build up confidence.
Last but not least, in the Montessori environment, Marcus has developed autonomy, self-confidence, self-motivation and initiative, as well as spontaneous self-discipline, sympathy for others, and a love of learning. All these will accompany him as he enters the next stage of his education.
Thank you and goodbye, Island Children’s Montessori School. My family will miss you.
In a Nutshell: Hong Kong Education System Should Copy ICMS
The contribution of ICMS to our daughter’s upbringing and overall education has simply been outstanding. ICMS is more than a school, it has given our daughter self confidence, a great appetite for learning, still with a sense of soft discipline.
In a nutshell: Hong Kong education system should copy ICMS’s education system.
Time Has Proven That This Has Been the Right Choice
My husband and I are very pleased that ICMS has been Giulio’s first school of his life, as time has definitely proven that this has been the right choice!
Every teacher and staff has shown outstanding dedication and extreme patience while taking care of each and every child, devoted to understand their needs and improve their skills daily.
Today, it is thanks to ICMS’s amazing work that Giulio is very fond of school, of the classroom where he learned to express himself with confidence, where he started to deal with situations by using his own sense of initiative. So far, every day in the class has been a happy one for him. Even when he is away from school, the philosophy of learning has been instilled into his young life. Such influence accompanies Giulio’s positive growth, which is naturally leading him to another very important stage forward.
ICMS Has Made My Children Stand Out From the Crowd
ICMS has made my children stand out from the crowd. Small class teaching with great teachers who are native in English and Mandarin allows them to build confidence communicating in both languages. The true Montessori environment at ICMS gives kids freedom to choose their favorite activities (sensorial, practical life, etc.). They built self-discipline by not disturbing other classmates’ activities. They also developed strong analytical and problem solving skills with a high level of independence and logical thinking as compared to other kids at similar ages. They often contribute ideas that surprise me as they can think out of the box.
ICMS often invites professionals or parents to give children talks about their specialties. Field trips are organized throughout the academic years, such as visits to fire station, police station, Road Safety Town, etc. It certainly helps my kids broaden their horizons.
The final year in Casa is especially rewarding. Academically, my kids not only can do extensive reading and solve elementary arithmetic problems, they can also help younger classmates with class activities. They built up social skills and established confidence in presenting their ideas.
I am proud of my children being Montessori graduates. Their childhood development would have been quite different if they had not studied at ICMS!