Three Months at HANA Academy with My Six-Year-Old — A Korean Mother's Review

In March, during the low season, my six-year-old and I began a three-month English study stay. When we first arrived at HANA Academy, what struck me most was that it felt like a small resort. The pool was well kept, and the facilities and atmosphere as a whole were relaxed, so I felt it would be a good place to stay with my child :)

The day we left

At the pool

The HANA Academy pool

The buildings are old and feel a little worn, but they never felt dirty. If anything, there was a warm, cozy feeling, like a house in the countryside, and strangely enough I felt at home within a day.

Because my child ate snacks in our room, ants sometimes showed up, but one line of ant chalk made them disappear quickly, so it never really bothered us.

Children playing freely

A path on campus

Drawing with friends

It was wonderful that my child could run around and play as much as he wanted. Watching the children run around freely together reminded me of playing with neighborhood friends when I was little, which made it all the more heartwarming.

The older kids in kindergarten looked after him well, so he settled in quickly. At first I followed him every time he went outside, just in case, but once he got used to the place he went around on his own and became much more independent.

There was also always a kuya (staff member) at the main gate, so even when my child was out of sight for a moment I could trust that he was somewhere inside the school, and I never felt very anxious or worried.

One-on-one lesson

My child took kindergarten classes in the morning, and in the afternoon, at extra cost, three hours of one-on-one lessons and an activity class.

The main reason I chose HANA Academy was its Montessori kindergarten system. My child had attended a Montessori center in Korea as well, so the environment never felt strange to him and he adapted fairly quickly.

He had also been to an English-language kindergarten in Korea for about a year, so on this stay I wanted the one-on-one lessons to build up all four skills, listening, speaking, reading and writing, more evenly. At first I worried a lot that it would be too hard for him, but the teachers guided him in a way that suited his personality and made him feel comfortable, and he really loved his lessons.

My child is naturally very shy with new people, so I deliberately kept the same teachers for all three months. Thanks to that he built good rapport with them, and as time went on I could see his speaking improve noticeably, which made me really happy.

Birthday party in kindergarten

The cake from his one-on-one teachers

When his birthday was coming up, I asked what kind of party he wanted, and he said he wanted to celebrate in kindergarten with his friends and teachers. So I asked the school in advance, ordered a cake and had it sent to the kindergarten in time for snack time.

The teachers and his friends all sang happy birthday together and even prepared presents, and he was so, so happy. Just watching made me feel happy and moved too.

But that wasn't the end of it! When he went to his afternoon one-on-one lessons, the teachers had prepared another cake and they had all got presents for him. I never expected it and was so grateful.

He carefully packed every present, saying he would definitely take them all the way back to Korea. It was so cute, and I think I will remember it for a long time.

Our three months at HANA Academy felt like the start of a new challenge for my child and me :) I had a lot of worries at first, but this experience gave us the confidence to think, 'We can do well anywhere.'

HANA Academy's great location is already so well known that I think everyone knows about it, so I focused my review more on what life is like inside the school.

The teachers are wonderful, no need to even say it. My child even said he liked it here more than the kindergarten he went to back home! This is our last week, and while he was writing letters to his teachers he suddenly said, 'Mom, it's sad, isn't it…' and I got a little choked up too.

I was also really glad to meet such lovely mothers and fathers here :) Whenever I was worn out from parenting I leaned on them a lot, and they were a great source of strength.

And Manager Minji too!! She is so multi-talented and so capable at her work that I always admired her. Whenever I sent her a KakaoTalk message she sorted it out right away, and I'm really grateful.

Thanks to everyone we met at HANA, this will stay with our family as a warm and happy memory. We will remember these connections for a long time :) I will end my review looking forward to seeing you all again! Thank you for reading ♡

This post is an anonymised translation of a parent’s review on a Korean study-abroad community (Naver Cafe).