The Thailand expat forum for Travel, Lifestyle and Fun.

Butch

Yes. Too young in my opinion.

CSFFan

Got to agree. At the age of three, its called a nursery...5-6 its called kindergarten. After all Bruce, how many years of kindergarten did you attend...3 like in Thailand or just one?

kingwilly

PM on the way Shayno

Smeg

- Does that mean you or the kids?
- Do you think that when they grow up they will thank you for using their education as an experiment in economising?
- Do you think this experiment will affect their chances when applying for places in higher education, or will you expect them to economise by studying for a degree at home with one of your graduates?

mrsquirrel

I read most of Stephen Kings books by the time I was 11.

Only ever got scared by a bit of IT and the one with the sparrows. Otherwise they were good for me.

Read the ones things like Clan of the Cavebear as well.

bruceveld

In my opinion...

My kids seem to enjoy the change of pace.

They are VERY comfortable and confident dealing with adults in a one-on-one situation.

They all speak, read and write at US grade level.

Home schooled kids have an excellent track record of gaining admittance to US universities.

Their very diverse background will make them MORe attractive to universities.

All of them did well when they studied in the US.

andrewdicksonsmith

I worked at an international school for two years it was a con 80% of the staff were either Indian Burmese Phillipino Arabic Turkish not one of them spoke anywhere near half decent English.The white staff we had were in the main unqualified one American guy claimed all sosts of things yet could never confirm his degree's.Snidey git he was too,always trying to get people fired.I have no education qualifications but I was a manager in charge of teachers so it didn't matter.We lost some good qualified experienced teachers in my time there.The school is on Rama 9 near Seacon Square.120,000 + baht a year to be ripped off by the Indian and Arabic directors

kingwilly

aint international then.

good2bhappy

^^ Hi ADS
Good to see you

Marmite the Dog

It's an over-rated money pit.

bkkmadness

Actually aside from the argument this has descended into I think the OP made some valid point about home education being better value for money than the overpriced International school education. It's something I would consider myself.

This is quite an interesting point that I often think of but rarely see brought up when discussing Int. schools. I have noticed that kids that go to international schools are far more likely to do drugs at an earlier age than children at govt. schools.

I really don't know the stats on that, it's just something that's always been fairly apparent to me from knowing people who have been to both types. Money, access and broader social circles is probably the cause.

bruceveld

I do not have statistics but i have spent 18 years in Asia and, in that time, I have known a lot of international school students and a lot of expat parents. I have heard a lot of stories. Both from ISB and HKIS. Pampered expats and the local super rich.

Some of my friends are very religious and they had real problems with drugs (kids with VERY expensive cars and trunks full of drugs and guns), sex (most girls had lost it by age 15 and some were active at 12 and 13) etc. One of my friends actually moved his entire family to Chiang Mai for a year because his daughter's best friend was the daughter of a massage mogul and this girl was already ahving sex at 12. He was VERY concerned about his daughter.

As far as quality of education goes, ISB is cetainly excellent. But socially I would be very careful about sending MY 3 kids there. Some of the smaller international schools are more of a mix of Thai and Western culture--respect of parents, not a lot of drugs, but poor educations and very expensive.

For us, ISB is not even an option--too far away. The other schools MIGHT be an option but we decided on the best Thai givernments we could find + extensive home schooling.

If anyone wants some free advice on websites etc, let me know.

good2bhappy

This is an interesting option.
I have taught Kindergaten, primary, secondary and tertiary levels during my last 6 years in Thailand.
I have taught at both 3rd level Int schools and within a bilingual programme and can truthfully state that I have not come across any outstanding teachers.
As far as Maths is concerned I can teach basic calculus(plus other disciplines) and science at A level standard(Chem and Bio).
So if I can give my kids 1-2 hours of my time a day I reckon they could go to a Thai school and not be disadvantaged.
I don't have 1 million bht spare a year for each of my kids and I don't wish to return to the West so a top school like Shrewsbury is not on the cards.

bruceveld

Yes and my VERY STRONG SUGGESTION is English only at home and UBC exclusively in English.

And don't forget, Math and a few other subjects can be taught by a bright Thai. Maybe a local uni student looking for a PT job.

good2bhappy

^ don't forget the Mandarin

bruceveld

WHAT ARE YOU ON Camel? Cheat a rich person?

As you can see from MY QUOTE, if someone were paying it for me, cool. You can READ, correct?

And I would be happy to answer questions about TEFL International on another thread. Or you want me to "sell" right?

Evidence seems to clearly show that while you THINK you know a great deal, you actually know practically nothing.

Scratch that... absolutely nothing.

Smeg

So, when you were in the US, you happily sent them to school because it was free. In Thailand, you need a "convenient excuse" to avoid paying for them to attend a similar type of school. And you feel proud that you currently spend less than USD1000 per child per year on their education.

I hope you are right about your faith in what you are doing, because otherwise they are paying a very dear price for your unbreakable desire to live in Thailand.

bruceveld

Smeg, the nearest international school (one hour drive from my house--BY CAR) is not a good school. ISB is one thing. This school is not ISB.

I can honestly say my kids are doing well. They are bright, inquisitive, intelligent, and socially well rounded. If this is because of or in spite of their education, we will never know.

Indoexile

hmmm, so are you now conceding the ISB is a decent school after all?

Bit misleading if not just dishonest to include them in the OP then.

bruceveld

I never said ISB was not an excellent school. I said it did not have BANG FOR THE BUCK!

Maybe its from all those years of studying Econ as an undergrad but to me no one (except perhaps the Bill Gates of the world) purchase things strictly upon their quality without regards to price. All of us probably eat steak, but none of us probably refuses to eat any steak except Kobe beef because it is the best (and 100 x the price of normal steak). Intead we get the steak that costs 1/100th the price but is half as good. We all seek value.

ISB is an excellent school. Probably the best in Thailand. But that does not mean that it does not have problems. Is it worth $10,000 + per year? Personally, I do not think so. But, hey, if you have your own opinion, COOL. I guess I am not entitled to mine. lol