@Janjal - she's "out of state"...We're thinking of transferring her hukou to Kunming - but I don't see any overwhelming advantage over her home province.

Probably easier to just move jobs than move hukou, as far as education is concerned.

@Michael:

Yeah, I understand. For sake of migrant workers and their left-behind children, I hope the hukou restrictions ease in future.

For us foreigners with possiblities to relocate in and out of the country, the problems are less severe.

@Michael
You said, "it's the culture and behavior of the classmates, so watch carefully for signs of garbage behavior from your kids." What do you mean by garbage behavior?

Is this a bullying behavior or acting out behavior?
I believe that the Yunda school they said my children could attend is the one just Northwest of Green Lake, near Yi'eryi Street? What is a Yunda 'affiliated' school?

We were just told it is a school that faculty (my husband will be working at Yunnan University) children can go to.

Thank you for your insight!

If your child is a normal happy communicative child - then sudden changes in personality, behavior, hygiene, speech patterns, falling or plummeting grades, etc. Typical child psychology signals or signs.

This can result from bullying or just hanging out with the wrong crowd.

Yunda is the university. All schools owned and or operated by Yunda are "affiliated" - as for what that precisely means - no clue.

And yes - Yunda operates a middle school (I think) in the proximity of the green lake campus. Not sure about the primary and definitely NOT the high school. I'm just looking into these issues now, also.

Feel free to PM (private email) at your discretion.

Let's bring back another old thread, because time has passed.

Our son is turning 5 this spring, and apparently he gets to enter primary school in autumn next year - at 6 years old due to the cutting date in China being in autumn rather than end of year.

I'm looking for intelligence on what to expect in grades 1-2, primarily about education itself, and specifically reading and writing Chinese language.

This could be issue for us, because wife works weekday evenings and weekends in training school, and let's just say that I'm not qualified to help with Chinese homework.

My wife tells me to not to worry, because the recent crackdown in educations means grades 1-2 get no homework whatsoever, Chinese or otherwise.

Other side of the coin is that the same crackdown bans buying tutoring, should we need that.

I'm looking for recent experiences to confirm these things. Kid is treated as Chinese if that matters, and speaks the language fluently given his age.

Bumping this thread again because new school semester is just beginning, as reference of recent experience for any families in similar situation - specifically about the choice between public vs private schools.

We live in northern Kunming, but much of this applies elsewhere as well.

Our son is treated as Chinese national, so last spring we went through the standard preregistration process for primary schools. Essentially the local education bureau then informs you which public (government funded, and therefore the cheapest) schools you could choose from.

Parent's of foreign children would skip this, and ask directly from schools.

Because we have not bought property here, we were only given a public school choice outside the city, one that caters to nearby villagers, and were told to seek a private school if such suits us better.

Situation may be different for foreigners who have bought property in the area.

Related to private schools, at least in our area lot of primary schools that were originally started as private schools have changed into public schools in last few years. This was bit of a downer, because in our immediate surroundings there are several primary schools, and all of our son's friends in the neighborhood go to one of those.

The one private school we found around here, and the one our son will attend, is Haibei Chinese-English Primary School, which is located close to Yunnan Wildlife Park. They have campuses elsewhere in Kunming too. It's about 3x more expensive than the public schools around here, and teach normal Chinese curriculum with some added emphasis on English language.

Somewhat related recent development - starting this semester, public schools are banned from teaching English in grades 1 and 2.

If your children don't have a hukou, they may not be eligible for transcripts aka formal enrollment. They can still attend school, but the school may not formally record their transcripts. Allegedly, schools must be authorized to accept foreign students, speaking from personal experience from elementary school through high school and into vocational schools.

Look into formal academies specializing in foreign students, such as KIA. Ask them about scholarships and financial aid as many foreign and private schools charge rates not accessible by normal foreign teachers.

Other private schools include BeiDa (Beijing University affiliated) and ShiDa (Normal University affiliated - not sure if that's Beijing or Kunming Normal University). Yunda also has private academies.

If you're teaching at any of the universities, ask about discounted rates and admittance requirements, but expect difficulties.

If you're here for tentatively long-term employment - don't forget to ask about retirement (as in 15 years of employment). Make sure these things are included in your contract.