Is there anything like Montessori in Kunming? Or a kindergarten with lower teacher to student ratios (like 1 to 5)? We prefer a Chinese school.

um, maybe you would consider starting one.

There is supposedly one on the Westside... a friend of mine was sending their son to one. I don't know anything more about it but can try to find out...

Most Chinese kindergartens have "Montessori" (Meng Shi Ban) classes, but they are not the same Montessori style as you might expect, but they are more expensive than "normal" (Pu tong ban) classes. Class sizes are normally 20-40 kids with 3 teachers.

As the Montessori system is not compatible with Chinese primary schools these Montessori classes kids normally switch to normal class for their final year.

It seems that the kindergartens with the "better" reputations have the largest class sizes and are the hardest to get into.

You may try Alphabet Playhouse, a Singaporean set up Kindergarten @ Jiao San Qiao. Something like Montessori, but not entirely. They have a local english teacher that speaks english entire day and one chinese teacher. Ratio is 12 students to 2 teachers and 1 care taker in a class. There will be a foreign english teacher everyday for 30mins. Number is 15911570337

what is the name of the singaporean operating it?

Just to update (since I started this thread 3 months ago), what we found. The Shida kindergarten and Ligong daxue kindergarten and the Yunda kindergarten all came well recommended (though none, of course, have a Montessori program). So we checked them all out. Both Shida's and Ligong daxue's kindergartens have larger class sizes and fewer teachers (like 40 plus kids to 3 teachers per class). But Yunda's kindergarten is pretty nice. They have 4 teachers per class, and 25 kids. (That is for the xiao xiao ban, ages 2 - 3, I'm not sure about teacher student ratios for older classes.) Anyway, our son's been there a couple of months now, and he really likes it. And from what I've seen it seems like a really nice place. They do have an English teacher for the older classes, but that's not really a concern of ours - since he can get English at home.

My aunt attended the AMI conference in Shanghai of this year and met someone operating a Montessori kindergarten in Kunming (which was news to me and I've lived here almost five years!). She'll be sending contact details my way, so I'll pass them on when she does.

Glad your son is enjoying Yunda K, it has a good reputation for a Chinese kindergarten.

thanks for the post manning, its very helpful. We will be in kunming soon and are interested in kindy's. What are the costs of the centre where you have chosen to take you boy? and are these cost comparable to the other kindy's.
thanks again

Our two children currently attend the Li Gong DaXue Kindergarten. They love it and we are happy with the environment. The class size is large, but it hasn't been a problem. Our kids get individual attention and are progressing in Chinese.