Non-International School options for non-Thai kids

[brewsterbudgen]

If a 5 year old only holds a UK passport (neither parent is Thai) what options are there for primary school, if international school is unaffordable? Can foreigners attend bi-lingual Thai schools?  How good do their Thai language skills need to be?

 

Is there something between an International School and a regular Thai primary school?

[lust]

Sarasas Ektra. It’s a bilingual school. 

[brewsterbudgen]

3 hours ago, lust said:

Sarasas Ektra. It’s a bilingual school. 

Thanks.  However, if my kid doesn't speak or write Thai very well, can he still study there?

[jimmyyy]

Where are you located at in Thailand!

[brewsterbudgen]

Where are you located at in Thailand!

Bangkok

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[Scott]

It's my understanding that most of the Sarasas schools will take non-Thai students.   At 5 years of age, he may fit well into a bilingual program.   He is young enough to pick up Thai.  

 

I would believe most bilingual schools would be the same and there are a number of schools with international or English programs would be open to accepting a non-Thai student.

[DavisH]

An EP or bilingual program would be fine. At 5 y.o a child can pick up the language quickly, but I would suggest extra Thai lessons from a Thai teacher who can speak both languages. These lessons need to be consistent and over the long term, until the child can adjust t the new language. It takes a while but it can be done. 

[scorecard]

On 3/5/2019 at 9:14 AM, Scott said:

It's my understanding that most of the Sarasas schools will take non-Thai students.   At 5 years of age, he may fit well into a bilingual program.   He is young enough to pick up Thai.  

 

I would believe most bilingual schools would be the same and there are a number of schools with international or English programs would be open to accepting a non-Thai student.

Especially the schools that are very commercial, they want your cash, but some are not too bad for quality.

 

[scorecard]

6 minutes ago, DavisH said:

An EP or bilingual program would be fine. At 5 y.o a child can pick up the language quickly, but I would suggest extra Thai lessons from a Thai teacher who can speak both languages. These lessons need to be consistent and over the long term, until the child can adjust t the new language. It takes a while but it can be done. 

 

Another option for extra classes for reading, writing, speaking Thai is Kumon. They follow the official curriculum, their teaching methodology is excellent, their teachers are trained and their materials are very well structured, helpful and professionally presented, and they have well structured homework / practice stuff on Youtube. And not that expensive.

 

Kumon also have excellent classes for maths and English, worth checking. 

[DavisH]

1 hour ago, scorecard said:

 

Another option for extra classes for reading, writing, speaking Thai is Kumon. They follow the official curriculum, their teaching methodology is excellent, their teachers are trained and their materials are very well structured, helpful and professionally presented, and they have well structured homework / practice stuff on Youtube. And not that expensive.

 

Kumon also have excellent classes for maths and English, worth checking. 

The thing with Kumon is that a child must start as early as possible. I had my son do the maths for a while but it is tedious and one can spend months on just one section. They can also end up hating the subject as it is very repetitive (for maths anyway). I don't know how the Thai is taught. However, they will start the child in the right part of their knowledge curve, as they do assess that. 5 y.o. is a good time to start actually. As long as the kid enjoys it and is making progress, it can work well. 

[scorecard]

41 minutes ago, DavisH said:

The thing with Kumon is that a child must start as early as possible. I had my son do the maths for a while but it is tedious and one can spend months on just one section. They can also end up hating the subject as it is very repetitive (for maths anyway). I don't know how the Thai is taught. However, they will start the child in the right part of their knowledge curve, as they do assess that. 5 y.o. is a good time to start actually. As long as the kid enjoys it and is making progress, it can work well. 

 

Your points taken and I guess every Kumon school will be a little different. My second granddaughter 7 YO, attends one of their schools in Chiang Mai for reading and speaking Thai.  

 

She was struggling at normal school, from lesson 1 at Kumon she made instant progress and still she's still making good progress and she loves the class. I have some education background, I'm impressed with the way their materials are presented and can be easily understood by little kids, also the way they have put together their YouTube vids and the printed materials to follow while they watch / listen to YouTube. My GD does her homework/reinforcement 3 or 4 times.

 

 

Edited March 6, 2019 by scorecard

[Scott]

In  my limited experience with non-Thai speaking students in bilingual programs, they seem to have few problems in KG.   Starting in Prathom 1 it gets increasingly more difficult for them and somewhere about P. 3 or 4, they don't seem to be able to catch up.  

 

Most of the students I've dealt with had some exposure to the language -- such as a nanny or part-time caregiver who spoke Thai.  

 

In the classroom, they caught up with the speaking/listening in Thai very quickly, they lagged a little in the reading and more in the writing.  

[RotBenz8888]

Thai parents are very keen on choosing a school where there are native English speaking kids, so it's a prestige thing for bilingual school to have your kid attend there. And, your kid will be a great asset for the school and all the friends.

[brewsterbudgen]

Ekkamai International School seems competitively priced.

What can one expect from a Seventh Day Adventist school? Presumably most of the Thai students are Buddhist.

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[Number 6]

Amnuay Silpa is bilingual.

 

Assumption College Ban Rak if you can get him in and he can keep up.

 

Sacred Heart Klong Toei may take him, EP side.

 

Bangkok Bilingual School although I only know the classes are entirely dominated by Filipino teachers as Ekamai International. Ekamai International would be the far better option imo

 

Just be careful with the Sarasass thing.