The Awesome Playgroup News Online Edition Fall 2012

I'm excited to share the latest edition of our playgroup's student-published newspaper.  The children involved range in age from first to seventh grade.  The theme for this issue was "Book Reviews".

http://www.youblisher.com/p/471989-Awesome-Playgroup-News-Fall-2012-Issue/

Join a daily English language playgroup in Taipei for 3 to 6 yr olds

A gentleman is looking to start a playgroup. I will let him do the talking:

Dear Fellow Parents

We are looking for other parents with children aged 3 to 5 who might be interested in participating in a 3 or 4 mornings a week English playgroup. Our eldest daughter is now coming up to three years old and seems desperate for more social interaction with children of her own age.

We have been considering enrolling her in a kindergarten, but:
a) for a few reasons, we don't really want to send her to a local kindergarten
b) my wife is actually the owner of a small school that is closed during the mornings, so we thought we might be able to get-together with other parents to make use of the free space

Before you get the wrong idea - this is a totally non-profit venture. We would just like to give our daughter a playgroup / school experience with children around her own age, ideally using the free facilities at my wife's school.

For your information, the school is located on Chungshiao East Road, Section 5, next to the Yungchun MRT station.
Our idea, basically, is that for 3 or 4 mornings a week, we could hold a playgroup/class at the school, supervised by a combination of a school assistant, a foreign or local teacher, and two or three other parents for additional supervision (on a rotational basis).

Regarding costs, of course the assistant and teacher would need to be paid, plus there would be a small utility fee contribution; however, compared to sending children to a regular local kindergarten, the cost would be almost neglible. At a rough estimate, if we could get a group of 10 parents together, it would cost about NT$4,500 per month per child, attending four mornings a week. Of course, the more children there are, the cheaper it is for everyone.

Anyway, this is just an idea. If anyone is interested, please leave some comments or email me. My email address is: sbmillward at gmail dot com

Best wishes to all you other hard-working parents and I hope to hear from some of you!

Regards
Simon

More discussion on this idea.

Taichung Parents Google Group/Parenting Group

From the creator of this group in Taichung:

A new Google Group has been created called Taichung Parents.
Here is the description:

This group was created to provide expatriate and Taiwanese parents and families with opportunities to network and share information about living in Taichung with their children.

The further aim of this group is to provide a space where parents can discuss issues related to prenatal health, childbirth, child development and child-rearing, education and all things related to parents and kids in Taichung.

It is our hope that this group can become a center around which parents will organize real-time social activities for themselves and their children in Taichung.

We have 47 families signed up so far [at time of writing - May, 2010].

If you are interested, request an invitation.

Taipei City Playgroup

This is an informal, casual playgroup that meets every Wednesday morning at various locations around Taipei City, as well as holding events (Easter,Christmas, and two charity rummage sales) throughout the year.

There are over 150 members on the list.  The events can have between 50 and 100 members and their families attending.  Turnout for Wednesday playgroup is anywhere from a couple of children to 15 or 20.

There are no fees, no obligations, and no restrictions on who can attend.  It is an English-language playgroup which was set up by parents wanting to give their mixed-heritage children a regular place to use English and to meet children like themselves in Taiwan, but the group has grown to include adults and children from all over the world and all kinds of family situations.

If you would like to attend don't feel shy about it!  Parents who attend are friendly and willing to share a lot of information about parenting in Taiwan, even they might seem busy with their children or chatting with others when you first arrive. 

Sign up for email notifications from the playgroup: cityplaygroup-subscribe@parentpages.net
Check out this and other playgroups in Taiwan at parentpages:  http://www.parentpages.net/ - at the bottom of the forum list.